Diary of a Mad Poker Player: A Journey to the World Series of Poker

by Richard Sparks

Chris Moneymaker parlayed $35 into the 2003 World Poker Championship of $2.5 million, and got players thinking, If he can do it, anyone can! Diary Of A Mad Poker Player is the story of one such player's journey to Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker, from March 30th - May 28th 2004. This is the heart of poker, where professional players are treated like rock stars, and tables are peopled by angry amateurs, cheats, insiders, legal experts, and Internet moguls. Here are up-to-the-minute, behind-the-scenes views of card-rooms and even poker websites, culminating in the greatest tournament of them all.

Genres: Nonfiction

250 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2005

About the author

Richard Sparks has written over sixty hours of broadcast TV worldwide (among others, The Famous Five, Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Worst of Hollywood, Valentine Park, The Optimist, The Flying Kiwi.) On stage, a dozen plays for companies all over the U.K., such as the Welsh National, the Chichester Festival and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and London theatres including the Victoria Palace, the Latchmere, the Orange Tree, Greenwich, Hampstead and the Bush. It was at the Hampstead Theatre that the then-unknown Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) performed Richard's Schoolmaster sketch, which launched him to stardom in John Cleese's show/film The Secret Policeman's Ball. He is now living in the U.S., and writing many opera libretti for leading companies such as the National Symphony (Washington D.C.) and the Los Angeles Opera -- four of which have their world premieres in 2006. He has even written an opera for puppets, in the New Line film The Adventures of Pinocchio, with composers Lee Holdridge and Brian May of Queen. A lifelong poker afficionado, he used to play in a home game in London that included poker authors A. Alvarez, David Spanier and Anthony Holden.

Reviews

[Dancomfort · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting idea; a writer decides to attempt to qualify for the WSOP online, and writes about the process, his results, and online poker in general. A good look at the time before Black Friday.