Salman Rushdie
“Vivid, engrossing, superb… the best description of world–class poker we've been given.”

From the Publisher
Big Deal is best–selling biographer Anthony Holden’s mesmerizing account of a year spent in the tough world of the professional poker player. Holden spent days and nights in Las Vegas, Malta, and Morocco, mingling with the greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee, and learning a great deal about himself in the process. Poker, Holden would insist, is not gambling. Like chess, it is a paradigm of life at its most intense, a gladiatorial contest that brings out the best as well as the worst in people. Its heroes and eccentrics stalk the pages of this remarkable book, along with all the hair–raising, nail–biting excitement of the games themselves. A classic of the genre, Big Deal is reissued here with a new introduction by the author.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Big Deal is best–selling biographer Anthony Holden’s mesmerizing account of a year spent in the tough world of the professional poker player. Holden spent days and nights in Las Vegas, Malta, and Morocco, mingling with the greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee, and learning a great deal about himself in the process. Poker, Holden would insist, is not gambling. Like chess, it is a paradigm of life at its most intense, a gladiatorial contest that brings out the best as well as the worst in people. Its heroes and eccentrics stalk the pages of this remarkable book, along with all the hair–raising, nail–biting excitement of the games themselves. A classic of the genre, Big Deal is reissued here with a new introduction by the author.

FROM THE CRITICS

Salman Rushdie