Bigger Deal

by Anthony Holden

Fifteen years on from Anthony Holden's undisputed classic BIG DEAL, the poker world has changed beyond recognition. When Holden played in the 1988 World Series of Poker there were 167 entrants competing for a prize of $270,000. At the 2006 WSOP, where this book climaxes, there were 8773 players and a first prize of some $12 million - the richest in any sport. What happened in the years between BIG DEAL and BIGGER DEAL is thanks to the Internet and television there has been a worldwide explosion in the popularity of poker. The game even has a new respectable image, much to the disgust of die-hard players. Gone are the seedy, smoky rooms of the Horseshoe, and celebrities now crowd the tables at huge Las Vegas Martin Sheen, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are all dedicated players. In the UK, LATE NIGHT POKER draws some 2 million viewers (Holden was banned from the last series for doing too well).In BIGGER DEAL, Holden is your guide - and the only guide you'll need - to the world of new poker as he prepares to enter the WSOP once again. Will he win the title? Place your bets ...

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Sports, Games

Hardcover

First published May 8, 2007

About the author

Anthony Holden is an English writer, broadcaster and critic, particularly known as a biographer of artists.

Reviews

[Tom Stamper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weak follow up to Holden's classic Big Deal book. He posits that only 5% of online poker players make money. How could he know that? I tracked over 100,000 online hands on Poker analyzer and 39% of the players in those hands were winners and 61% were losers.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

About halfway through this book, I was ready to give it a 4.5. Then it all fell apart. There was too much complaining about AK (and referencing it to Anna Kournikova). I usually don't mind reading bad beat stories, but the non-stop whining about AK was too much.

Mistakes started to show through. At one point, he calls the river the flop. Another time, he talks about a hand and said the flop showed and then listed off five cards.

He seemed to misunderstand when hands were behind. At one point, he talked about his team of poker having AK against AT, with the board showing Q-5-J-4. When the T comes on the river to give the AK team a straight, he writes that at England has finally "rivered someone else." That's not quite accurate, as the AK was always ahead. There's no miraculous river card that won them the hand.

Another hand had A3 vs KT, with K-4-6 on the flop with a five on the turn. He then writes that only a 2 can save the A3 hand, which comes on the river to beat 10:1 odds. Again, that's not correct. An ace would also give the A3 hand the winning hand, and the A3 had a 25 per cent chance of winning.

These are two examples, but there are several more.

He also kept switching between people's first and last names. It made it even more confusing to follow at times.

When he gets to the WSOP main event at the end, he's mostly complaining about what is happening in the casino hallways days before the game begins. I think it bothered him to the point that it impacted his game.

So while I enjoyed the first half of the book, the number of mistakes and whining dropped it way down.

[Liam Keogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost gave this 3 stars, but I always try to judge a book based on how much I look forward to picking it up again (I tend to take c.12-15 sittings for the average book), and I always looked forward to getting back at this one. It is extremely readable, but a little too much name dropping and sycophancy, and there were just certain things that grated on me for reasons I can't explain. One being his use of "moll" or "the moll" when referencing a potential female companion or indeed the many many mentions of his ex-wife. I can't explain it, I just didn't like it.

Anyway, it is pretty well informed and an enjoyable journey through a year in poker. If you enjoyed the first I think it's almost certain you would enjoy this.

[Jonny Brick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written just before the double whammy of the 2008 Crash and the new US legislation which put the kybosh on online betting, the author heads back to Vegas and chronicles the clash between old and 'new poker'. Repugnant in parts, lyrical in others, and with a thorough glossary of terms at the back for lay readers.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too British focused. Uncomfortable references to women throughout. The author is very bitter about the new generation of poker players. He comes across as whiny.

I enjoyed the book because it IS about poker, but it lacked the depth I expected about the day to day struggles of being a real modern-day poker grinder, as the title suggests.

[James Vogl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite the same charm as Big Deal, but very thorough assessment of the poker landscape in 2005/2006. And who else interweaves poker and opera in such a way?

[Matt Cromartie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for fans of Holden's first work, Big Deal. Instead of interspersing the history of the game amongst his poker playing escapades, this time around he addresses the game's present and future. Having exploded in popularity in the early aught's, the face of poker looks far different today than when Holden first spent a year as a semi-professional. He discusses the pros and cons of the new poker scene, as well as staying on top of the current developments of online poker and how it is changing the game. Just like his previous book, his trips to actually play poker are fascinating and gripping. Poker makes for decent television when the hole cards are known to the viewers, but for whatever reason I find it much more interesting in prose. Perhaps it is the fact that we are getting inside Holden's head and knowing what he is thinking when he describes his poker failures and successes.

Any poker player from beginner to expert will find much to like in this book, and non-poker players will likely find several things to interest them as well. The whole narrative is helped along by Holden's playful style. This is not a how-to book, nor an academic tome, it is a story and Holden is an excellent story-teller, keeping a good pace, making you care and mixing in a lot of humor as well.

Somewhat unfortunately, through no fault of the author, the book ends on a bit of a downer, at least for US-based poker players, as the last several pages are devoted to the US government's nanny-like actions in restricting online poker in the states, both depriving players of places to play and destroying a surprising amount of wealth in one careless stroke. But don't let it get you down, things seem to be coming around since this book was written and Holden's story is more than entertaining enough to make up for it.

[Tung · Rating 2 out of 5]

Holden is best known for his previous work Big Deal, to which this book is a sequel. The first book chronicled his desire to become a full-time poker player, and the highs and lows of such a life. He detailed the psychological war that poker is as a game, and as a lifestyle. After the release of Big Deal, poker really came into its own and grew exponentially, especially with the meteoric rise of online poker. This sequel attempts to chronicle Holden’s foray into this new age. The strength of this book is similar to that of his first book: Holden details his thoughts and emotions well, and as a narrative device it engages us in his struggle. Overall, however, I found this book to be weaker than its predecessor. First, online poker is the single biggest change to the poker scene, and while he takes some time to describe its importance to the game and to this new age, he doesn’t jump into the scene and spend time personally in that world. It’s a shortcoming to make a personal documentary of this new age and ignore its biggest contributing force. Secondly, and this may be due to having read both books, I tired of his pessimism. Throughout the book he bemoans his poor luck (especially when playing AK). The man has a great life, travels all over the world playing poker and meeting celebrities, but then still sighs throughout his writing. And he’s aware this is a problem as he comes to his senses a few times throughout the book and counts his blessings. But these moments are few and far between, and I tired of his attitude. A recommended read for poker fans, but for all others, take it or leave it.

[Damien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anthony Holden decides to pretend he's a professional poker player for a year. This isn't a horrible idea. Last time he did it he came away with successful book, "Big Deal". Eight years later poker has exploded in popularity and he already has a contract for this book, "Bigger Deal".

But his story is not particularly interesting, personal, or unique. There is a lot of talk about how the poker world has changed, which might be interesting to someone who wasn't there to watch it happen.

A hundred years from now this might be a fascinating account of the world of poker at the turn of the millennium. But right now it's just a repeat story of another wanna-be pro-poker player with some superficial insight on the industry.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that illustrates the inner workings of the crazy poker world. Funny tidbits about professional poker players and long stories about the author's experiences within poker tournaments make the book readable but not great.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not quite as good as his first, Big Deal. Holden talks a lot about the new wave of online poker but plays relatively little of it in the book. Great set of anecdotes though and given me a list of other books to follow up on. If you've read the first, it's a nice followup.

[Declan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. Got me back into playing poker lol.

[Dayini · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enoyable read that provides a nice look into the current poker tournament circuit. Nothing in the way of poker strategy or knowledge - this book is about life as a poker player.

[Ken Cheah]

Avoid Avoid Avoid

[Richard Herbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not in the same league as his original & basically covers alot of poker stories that in 100s of other books.......

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holden becomes disillusioned about Poker in the 21st century. BFD!