|
Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players
|
| Price: |
41 new or used available from $0.64
Average customer review:
Product Description
In Hunting Fish author Jay Greenspan sets out on a cross-country drive---from Connecticut to Los Angeles---looking for players he can outclass. In casinos, underground clubs, and home games throughout the country, Jay shared tables with the most inept gamblers America has to offer. In South Carolina he wiped out some racial-epithet-spewing good ole boys; in Houston he fleeced the country club set; and in Vegas he happily pounded drunken tourists.
Hunting Fish is, however, not merely the story of a hustler’s travels. In addition to fleecing suckers, Jay was convinced he could beat the very best and make it as a full-time pro. This trip gave him the opportunity to build his bankroll to the point where he could test his mettle in high-stakes games when he reached Los Angeles. Although to play in the high-limit rooms at Commerce Casino he needed a steady nerve---and a fatter bankroll. In his three months on the road, he needed to pad his roll with an additional twenty thousand dollars. That’s a lot of fish to hunt.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #863034 in Books
- Published on: 2006-08-08
- Released on: 2006-08-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 240 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Greenspan, the editor of Winning Internet Poker for Dummies, narrates a three-month odyssey in which he hopes to win enough money to take on the power players at California's Commerce Casino. This is partly a technical book, replete with Greenspan's exhaustive musings on how to play particular hands (which will be arcane and tedious to nonplayers) and partly a sophisticated insider's exploration of the dynamics of the poker world. Greenspan theorizes, for instance, that this world is a "giant inverted pyramid" where "the richest and most skilled reside at the bottom." It's to those pros, the Doyle Brunsons and Phil Iveys of the world, that the money ultimately falls. A surrogate for the millions of Americans who fantasize about becoming professional poker players, Greenspan ends up debunking the myth that it's an easy lifestyle, pointing to the long hours, the stress of high stakes poker, and the dysfunctional personalities that inhabit the poker world. Accordingly, despite concluding that he is good enough to play professionally, Greenspan decides the poker life isn't for him. Readers will applaud the good sense of this able and likable writer. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Were we the fish?
I left the book wondering if we were the fish for buying the book. I expected far more stories of soft games and how he exploited inexperienced people. However, the book is really more about the problems and experiences related to trying to play poker professionally. The book is valuable as a realistic look into the real poker world; hours of boredom for a few minutes of excitement.
I wish he was able to tell us more about the people he played against but since he skipped from game to game that probably was impossible.
I enjoyed his self-awareness that this wasn't the lifestyle for him. He seem so be a good tournament and internet player, so it makes you wonder why he ever left home to start with.
I agree with other reviewers that some of the hands he played were long-shot hands not normally played. However, I wasn't sitting there and didn't have the feel of the table or the players. Many times you make a play with 7,2 offsuit against a weak player to steal the pot but that may come only after you have built a super tight image and they believe you have the best hand.
Overall, I did like the book and it re-enforced my idea that the television version of poker is massively over hyped. The reality, not told in this book is that very few poker players make real money compared to the masses that play. At least, he shared his feelings and concerns about other poker players and what he might become if he continued. His decision in the end was correct and, perhaps, a lesson in gambling for all of us.
Riveting Poker Odyssey
I know almost nothing about poker beyond the basics. A friend who makes his living playing pro poker gave me this book with the comment, "This will help you understand me better." And it certainly did. I was immediately hooked by Greenspan's description of the unglamourous world he had entered when he decided to embark on a three-month trip across America playing Texas Hold'em in casinos and back room joints. The conceit of the book, that he is always on the lookout for a "fish" to outplay, holds up. The real strength of the book, however, is Greenspan's realization that the world he has entered is not quite what he had expected. He is also disarmingly frank about his own limitations as a player and how much that old rascal Luck enters into the game. Greenspan's decision about how to frame his future, the experiences that contributed to that decision, and his reflections on his tour across America is what made the book a fascinating read for me. Experienced poker players will probably also enjoy the descriptions of poker hands he plays along the way.
in league with "big deal" as one of the best poker narratives
this book tells it like it really is. I've read many many poker books and I found this to be among the most riveting and realistic narratives. I would rate it up alongside Big Deal by Tony Holden as one of the most entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable poker books ever written. The author comes at it from a fairly unique angle, as a budding semi-pro player who is trying to make a living at a game he loves. Poker is about different things to different people, and this book tells a realistic tale about making a living as a "blue collar" cash game specialist.
