King of a Small World: A Poker Novel

As a current player of underground games in MD I really liked this book. It portrays a real description of poker life. Poker players can relate to this book in an eerie kind of way. Winning makes you feel like the king of the world, losing makes you feel like the scum of the earth. Book could have been alot better if it concentrated more on poker playing scenarios, but I was content.

I read in Poker Pro magazine that this was one of the top 6 poker books ever, and I read the first 4 allready, but not this one or the last one they listed. So I read this one and it was great. I'm new to poker, but still, this a really good read. I sometimes watch Rounders to get excited about going to Vegas, but I think maybe sometimes I'll read parts of this, too. And this is not even a lot about poker, its about the slacker life, to me.

I wasn't expecting much when I got this book. I am a big reader and a relatively new and still small wager..... poker player. I have been reading every poker book both instructional and literary I can find. The poker in this was great and very realistic to me though I have never played at the larger bet levels of the characters. The game is the same and losing still hurts. I was most surprised and pleased by the writing. It's not Shakespeare or Tolstoy, but it isn't too bad. It is a good read with real people for characters and true feelings. While there is action it is not nor does it try to be Hollywood. It will sit on my poker shelf next to the Cincinati kid, Shut up and Deal, The Biggest Game in Town, Big Deal, and The Education of a Poker Player.

An excellent grasp of the poker world and how it relates to life. Rick Bennet is a great poker player that I first met in early 1996. I played WITH him and then later dealt TO him. This is the first time in print, film, or television that I wasn't forced to watch some incredible Hollywood poker hand where one player has four Aces and the other player says "no good, read 'em and weep". As a poker dealer that has played for a living, I am thrilled to finally find someone that undertands my world well enough and can also translate it so that others can see it. This novel IS what all of us in the poker industry HOPED the movie Rounders would be but fell so short. King of a Small World is the most accurate account of poker life from the many different aspects; professionals that grind out a living, dealers that blow all there tips, and recreational players that are there to enjoy themselves because they rarely win and are where we all make our money. Poker is a game of skill with short term luck. There has to be some luck or people wouldn't "gamble". I never heard of chess being played for big money. Finally an accurate portrayal of the life of a person that plays for a living. It is done by reading people and playing the odds, not by someone in a tuxedo betting $100,000 per hand on a table game where the house has the edge. Through the eyes of a professional poker player, the reader learns how poker gives us the tools to perceive the rest of life. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, the characters are very realistic; I know people like this. At the same time, I learned about the charity and underground games in Maryland that I have always heard about from the many poker players that have moved from the D.C. area to California, the new poker capitol of the world. I highly recommend King of a Small World.

My boyfriend asked me to read it, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. I actually bought it for him because I read a good review about it in a woman's mag and I knew he liked playing cards. I wasn't planning to read it myself. But when I read it, I didn't think it was about poker, as much as about the narrator's relationships, and becoming a young father. Just excellent, really. And really great writing.