The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time

by Michael Craig

Traces the events of the 2001 Bellagio Hotel and Casino poker game, a competition involving a twenty-million-dollar stake, in an account that describes the strategies employed by game newcomer Andy Beal and his challenge to some of the world's top players.

Genres: Nonfiction, Games, History, Sports, Biography, Gaming, Business

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

[Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name on GoodReads.]

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. For anyone who is a fan of poker and enjoys playing or watching it, this is an entertaining read. As the description of the book indicates, it is the story of how a billionaire "banker" named Andy Beal took on a group of the best high stakes poker players in the world (who combined their bankrolls into a group called the "The Corporation") for the highest stakes ever played. Being a big poker fan, I thought it was a very interesting read.

[Huié Hólos · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any poker enthusiast.

If you're the kind of person who watched all episodes of high-stakes poker, loves reading news about whether or not X player is broke, or reads about the legendary nosebleeds game that we only hear rumors about and are not even sure if they're real, then I'd be willing to lay 10:1 odds that you'll at the very least enjoy this book.

However, for the Average reader the poker content might come off as repetitive and unengaging, but the book still offers a great and detailed insight on the bizarre world of high-stakes professional gambles. You won't resist, and will have fun, googling to see what happened to the people involved in the whole story, and the book works as a brief biopic for the billionaire Andrew Beal, whose life story and achievements are more than enough to erase the public image most people form when they hear of a Texan billionaire who decided to play poker for millions against pros (what a donk! I bet he's a stupid oil billionaire that wears a silly hat.)

It's certainly no "The Hustler", but it's real life, and it reads almost like fiction.

[Kevin G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super interesting book from the start to the end, I read it all the way through in less than 24 hours. The book focuses on a group of Poker pros who teamed up to play a series of super high stakes poker against a billionaire banker. The book tells the amazing battles between the high stakes pros and the amateur banker, but it also focuses on the background of every one of the persons involved, which are by no means less interesting than the main story itself. The book is an amazing read that will let you wondering if it shouldn't be labeled as fiction, if you are into poker then is definitely a must read, if you're not, you should still read it, it won't be difficult to follow.

[MsSwisis · Rating 2 out of 5]

'The next best thing to gambling and winning is gambling and losing. The main thing is to gamble.'

[Nick Hattrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging look into the lives of the best pokers players. The author was able to paint a clear picture for the personalities of each player. If you didn’t understand the mentality possessed and demanded at the top levels of poker, you will after this book.

[Martin Moleski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read with which to end my sabbatical.

The author handles introduction of a huge cast of characters very well. He explains the nature of the game of high stakes limit Hold 'em without getting too technical, and he seems to be scrupulously fair to all involved "inside the richest poker game of all time" (up to 2005, of course).

If I had time and money, I'd be a gambling addict. I've played hundreds of games on a poker simulator. It's interesting to see what the life of a professional gambler is like. The author's conclusion is that in order to be a pro, you have to stop enjoying the excitement of the game. When you have no feelings about the money lost and won, you don't transmit tells.

I guess I'm happy enough being an amateur player.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It's a tale about some very interesting people, and it's told well.

Knowing nothing about poker, I was surprised by the characterization that the professionals never bothered to truly learn the probabilities associated with certain hands. I was also surprised that Beal was apparently unique in trying to add, via his random number generation, some elements of game theory.

my favorite quote: "Elite poker players are drawn from a pool of gamblers, not problem solvers or people readers."

[Darryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story about an investment banker who got out of the market before it tanked and decided to see how he could do at poker against the best professionals.
He put lots of time into his game to the point that he held his own at the highest stakes game ever played. The stakes were so high that the professionals he was playing were nervous about the money. Any successful professional player is able to separate their decisions from the money, so to get that to happen is crazy.
At the time at least, Andy would certainly be considered one of the best Limit Hold'em players around.

-d

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quote on the front of this book says, "A thrilling portal into a culture the rest of us can scarcely imagine." That is one of the most accurate descriptions of a book I have ever read. Life as a gambler is a such a weird and lonely existence. The focus of this book is the big games vs. Andy Beal between 2001-2004. But in telling that story, we get a glimpse into the rest of the lives of these poker players and the Vegas poker scene pre-boom in general.

[Rishabh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supremely entertaining story of how a banker with tons of money developed his poker game enough over the course of a few years to match some of the top professionals of the time. Be cautious about taking any life lessons from these skilled characters -- not everyone possesses their risk taking capabilities or the grit to keep coming back from massive losses. Read it like a fun story, and you won't be disappointed.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read (a few hours), telling of a billionaire's quest to beat the top Vegas pros. In-depth. Read like a poker TV show. Quite entertaining, but no long term "redeeming" value, just pure entertainment.

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd actually give this book 3.5 stars if I could as it's definitely a fun, enjoyable and quick read, but only if you're a poker fan. I think a background in the game and some of the players is necessary to really enjoy this book.

[Bill Clarkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Liked the insight into how the poker players got to this lifestyle. New respect for Greenstein and his charitable efforts. Would have liked a bit more into the specific hands and the thought process around these. Probably couldn't get access.

[Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick little book to read. More about the psychology of being elite than the nitty gritty of poker, although the background stories about ultra-high-stakes poker are interesting. Thanks to my father in law for the gift.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

2/14/21 Reread: Yep, still love this book/story, even years later!

An extremely interesting and entertaining look inside the world of high stakes poker.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read. The only downside with this book is that it doesn't cover the one story I was most interested in when Andy last returned to Vegas after this book was published..

[Joshua Walcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome.

[Mark Defusco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading about the big game and the interactions of the poker players that I was watching on TV when this game was going down.

[RiskingTime · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous book about Andy Beal and the poker games he played in Las Vegas.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 2005 the book gives you a real insight into the world of high-stakes professional poker. It is quite a compelling read. With some truly unique characters and personalitie.

[Kanya Sros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Craig takes readers deep into the high-stakes world of professional poker in The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, chronicling an epic clash between Texas billionaire Andy Beal and the world’s best poker players. What unfolds is not just a story about money, but one of obsession, intellect, and psychological warfare at the felt.

Craig does a brilliant job detailing both the personalities and the math behind the game. You get to meet legends like Howard Lederer (“The Professor”) and follow Beal’s bold challenge to the elite. The stakes are astronomical — tens of millions — yet the tension lies in the mental strategies and egos on display.

As someone interested in both the psychology and evolution of gambling, I found this book fascinating. It also made me reflect on how far poker — and online gaming in general — has come. Today, platforms like MissLuna.io offer a new digital frontier for players who want to experience excitement and strategy without needing to sit in a Vegas penthouse suite.

https://Missluna.io/ brings the thrill of online slots and digital gaming to a global audience, with a modern interface and easy access through QRIS deposits. While it’s not hosting $10 million poker duels (yet!), it captures that same essence of risk, reward, and strategy that Craig so expertly illustrates in this book.

If you're into poker history, psychological showdowns, or just love stories about bold risks and even bolder minds, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King is a fantastic read. And if you’re curious where today’s gaming culture is headed, https://Missluna.io/ is a prime example of how digital platforms continue to evolve the legacy of competitive gambling.

[AndrewMillerTheSecond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Craig’s book about the richest poker game–or really, series of richest poker games–might facially appear to satiate only serious fans of the sport, but as a novice myself I found it quite readable and enjoyable. The author does an adequate job of explaining various poker terms and concepts while introducing the key figures. With any book recapping a short event such as this, most of the book is dedicated to the development of poker during the early 2000s and the lives of the challenger, billionaire banker Andy Beal, and his many professional opponents (Ted Forrest, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Todd Brunson among others). I won’t spoil anything, but the story itself is quite astonishing, both in the wagers and the back-and-forth nature of the matchups. Unfortunately Craig is hampered both by the at-times minimal detail he can provide for each session, given his information comes mostly from personal interviews, and his somewhat dull prose. This can be largely excused, because the story itself can be so captivating that even a checkered writer can keep you on tenterhooks. 4 stars.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that not only aligned with my interests, but was very well written, and had a number of great insights into the minds of great poker players and gamblers. Some interesting things I learned:

-> Casinos make very little money from their poker operations. Prior to the poker boom in 2003, most casinos were shutting down their poker rooms. Casinos also rarely make requests to accommodate poker players and don't have heads up poker because it's dealer-intensive
-> Elite poker players are drawn from a pool of gamblers, not problem solvers or people readers
-> The poker pro, once they have an edge, has more in common with the casino than other betters. Their mindset is that they merely have to allow enough trials to even out the role of luck
-> The only poker players who tend to make it to the highest stakes are the serious gamblers, since they refuse to settle on a steady income at the lower levels
-> The best gamblers aren't necessarily the most skilled, but those who were the best at selling a gamble to others and making it fun so that they keep coming back

[Jesus Jose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sounds like a mea culpa to Andy Beal, a portrait to counterbalance the bad press the billionaire received after players divulged what was going down in those games.

Attributing some competency to the patron that challenged the pros and lost a cool 40 million over the span of 3 years in sporadic sessions. He streamlined himself into one of the best heads up poker players in the world by practicing hundreds of hours with the best players in the world. He gave the poker community a memorable experience forever by playing the biggest game ever, poker folklore is always entertaining for enthusiasts such as myself.

Almost redeeming his place in poker by explaining his personal success making this task seem a less dupe idea, this is also simultaneously occurring with the rise in popularity of poker culture in america. He basically arranged the games at the highest limits possible starting from(20K-40K blinds to 100K-200K) wanting to unnerve the players by taking them out of their comfort zone, it worked.....at the beginning.

This goes to confirm whats already common knowledge. Most of the greatest games in poker arent really televised.

[Bucyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

The least poker-intenstive poker book of all time? The author describes only one hand in detail, and that is in the Afterword. Because this is not a book about the intricacies of the game, rather about the world of poker and the kinds of people in it. Almost by coincidence, the Biggest Game which is in the centre of this story took place in the early 2000's when Poker itself was morphing into what it is today. From smoke-filled rooms that only kept their place in Vegas' casinos due to the dedication of a couple of players, poker became a world-wide phenomenon, anyone's game, with thousands of entrants qualifying to the biggest games either online or in satellite events. In the meantime, the pros were grinding it out in Vegas, occasionally entertaining a millionaire banker who seemingly could not get enough.
Definitely don't read this as a textbook. Read it as a story that is almost too good, too intriguing and perfectly timed to be true.

[Kubuś · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nie najgorsza książka, jaką czytałem. Opisy konkretnych osób często są zagmatwane oraz rozrzucone po różnych rozdziałach, co więcej, nazwisk do śledzenia jest sporo.
Nie jestem graczem pokera, ale książkę tak czy siak przyjemnie się czytało, oczywiście było dużo żargonu pokerowego, który jest na końcu książki wytłumaczony, ale zdecydowanie nie jest niezbędny do zrozumienia, że Ci prawdziwi ludzie grali naprawdę o prawdziwe kwoty sięgające dziesiątek milionów dolarów. Nieco przerażająca myśl.

Kupiłem tę książkę za 1 zł i nie żałuję, za taką kwotę mogę ją śmiało polecić dla fanów książek opartych na faktach oraz fanów hazardu/pokera/gier karcianych.

[D K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining tale of the early poker games between "The Corporation" and Andy Beal. Nothing special but a perfectly well-composed and enjoyable retelling. Page-turning, provides both nostaligna in bringing to life some of the important figures in the early 21st century poker boom while also providing some insight into the pre-Moneymaker days and who the key cash games figures were before a lot of big, dumb money flowed into the game. If you're interested in poker, and especially if you were a casual player 15-20 years ago, this is definitely worth the read.

[Kaitlin Swann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got locked out of my apartment the other day and wandered around my neighborhood for hours on end. I found this book in the little free library on my block and I sat down in the sun to read. I don't know a thing about poker except what I played of it in RDR2, but this book kept my attention and was entertaining toward the end. I don't know a single person in this book but every one of them sounds like they'd be a great time out on the town with (but not gambling against)

[Blake Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never played nor read a page about poker but this book is one of my favorites because of it's storytelling and how cool the events, just by themselves, where. Micheal Craig was able to introduce and explain the rules of all the games with out boring his audience and planting the seeds for new ideas that would come up later on in the book.

[Kishore Dandu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent book that covers an offshoot of what was transpiring in world series of poker, about a texas business man cutting across the world champions and having his day.

The book starts becoming montonous and dry in the second half.. the book should have been cut down by 30-40 pages to make it compelling.