The Biggest Game in Town

By A. Alvarez,

Book cover of The Biggest Game in Town

Book description

Al Alvarez touched down in Las Vegas one hot day in 1981, a dedicated amateur poker player but a stranger to the town and its crazy ways. For three mesmerizing weeks he witnessed some of the monster high-stakes games that could only have happened in Vegas and talked to the…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Biggest Game in Town as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Poker is an American game—maybe the most American game—but an Englishman elevated it into something literary: in 1981, Al Alvarez, a poet, editor, and critic best known for introducing the world to Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, traveled to Las Vegas to chronicle the World Series of Poker. His deceptively breezy account of the larger-than-life characters who played a card game for nosebleed stakes inspired a new generation of players to discover the world’s hardest way to make an easy living.

Want books like The Biggest Game in Town?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 72 books like The Biggest Game in Town.

Browse books like The Biggest Game in Town

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in gambling, Nevada, and Las Vegas?

Gambling 41 books
Nevada 36 books
Las Vegas 40 books