Essays by a diverse group of writers capture the joys, regrets, friendships, philosophies, and adventures experienced through neighborhood poker. This collection of 52 original pieces features a section of practical and impractical tips for home poker games and a cornucopia of fascinating facts about poker paintings, poker movies, poker books, and other poker-themed masterpieces of popular culture. An interview with Edie Adams demonstrates Ernie Kovacs’s poker obsession; Nick Tosches reveals Lester Bangs as a sucker; Chris Ware illustrates Bert Williams’s “Darktown Poker Club”; Bill Zehme discusses Johnny Carson’s celebrity poker game; and Neal Pollack discloses how his grandfather brutally introduced him to the game. With far more humor and clarity than a formal poker guide, these essays encapsulate the experience of spending a long evening drinking beer and playing pasteboards.

From the Sacramento Bee:
“52 juicy poker tales . . . all are informative, all are amusing.”

From Publishers Weekly:
“There’s no such thing, of course, as a friendly game of poker,” says James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street, in a blurb for this entertaining collection. So perhaps it’s best to play as Ira Glass does-online. Glass also poses the central question: “if poker’s so wrong, why does it feel so right?” Greg Dinkin describes the agonizing, moment-by-moment thought process of playing a hand. Bill Zehme explains why Johnny Carson, who hates parties, attends sessions of the Gourmet Poker Club (“the card game becomes secondary the minute somebody has a good story to tell,” says fellow player Carl Reiner). And David Quantick and Karen Krizanovich explain why Americans prefer poker and the British prefer bridge (poker is more democratic). Anyone who’s ever been in a weekly poker game will find much to identify with in this delightful volume.”Essays by a diverse group of writers capture the joys, regrets, friendships, philosophies, and adventures experienced through neighborhood poker. This collection of 52 original pieces features a section of practical and impractical tips for home poker games and a cornucopia of fascinating facts about poker paintings, poker movies, poker books, and other poker-themed masterpieces of popular culture. An interview with Edie Adams demonstrates Ernie Kovacs’s poker obsession; Nick Tosches reveals Lester Bangs as a sucker; Chris Ware illustrates Bert Williams’s “Darktown Poker Club”; Bill Zehme discusses Johnny Carson’s celebrity poker game; and Neal Pollack discloses how his grandfather brutally introduced him to the game. With far more humor and clarity than a formal poker guide, these essays encapsulate the experience of spending a long evening drinking beer and playing pasteboards. From the Sacramento Bee: “52 juicy poker tales . . . all are informative, all are amusing.” From Publishers Weekly: “There’s no such thing, of course, as a friendly game of poker,” says James McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street, in a blurb for this entertaining collection. So perhaps it’s best to play as Ira Glass does-online. Glass also poses the central question: “if poker’s so wrong, why does it feel so right?” Greg Dinkin describes the agonizing, moment-by-moment thought process of playing a hand. Bill Zehme explains why Johnny Carson, who hates parties, attends sessions of the Gourmet Poker Club (“the card game becomes secondary the minute somebody has a good story to tell,” says fellow player Carl Reiner). And David Quantick and Karen Krizanovich explain why Americans prefer poker and the British prefer bridge (poker is more democratic). Anyone who’s ever been in a weekly poker game will find much to identify with in this delightful volume.”