the professor the banker and the suicide king by michael craig

He had not read any books, practiced with any computer poker programs, and had played poker in a casino only once before. Unlike counting cards at blackjack, playing poker was not work. Though he did not spend lavishly on most things, he had long passed the time when making $50,000 was worth the effort a professional card counter would have to expend to win that much. Winning like that was exhilarating, but he was a different person then. He had even gotten barred from some casinos on the Strip, an experience more fun in the retelling than when it had actually happened.

He counted cards, treated the trips like missions, and won as much as $50,000 in a weekend. More than twenty years earlier, when he was just out of college and starting his real estate business, he would travel to Las Vegas to play blackjack. He did not chase women or enjoy showrooms, and he was traveling alone. The forty-eight-year-old owner of Dallas-based Beal Bank had finished his day's business and found himself with nothing to do. In early February 2001, Andy Beal was having a fun evening during his first visit to the Bellagio poker room. Filled with vivid characters, sensational tales, and riveting human drama, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King is a unique, suspenseful journey into the world of people who live on the razor’s edge of fortune-where incredible wealth, or utter ruin, turns on the flip of a card. Putting you railside to observe the pulse-pounding action, where you can almost hear the distinct sound of clay chips on felt, Michael Craig takes you inside the iron-nerved mind and pathological psyche of the professional gambler. For the first time ever, here is the detailed, true account of the Big Game that has already achieved legendary status in poker lore.

By the time the battle of wits ended, there was more than $20 million on the table. As the games intensified over the coming months and Andy developed into a great player, he realized how he could take his adversaries out of their comfort zone-he raised the stakes to put everything they had on the line. A self-made billionaire by the name of Andy Beal, the stranger challenged some of the world’s greatest poker players-including Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Howard Lederer, and Jennifer Harman-to heads-up matches in the richest poker game ever played This is that story…īeginning the scintillating contest that would shock the world of poker, Andy and each opponent had $1 million, betting $10,000 and $20,000 per round.

The Players: the best poker professionals in the world The Challenger: a wealthy banker from Dallas The Game: the richest poker stakes of all time… In 2001, a rich stranger from Texas descended upon the high-stakes poker room in the opulent Bellagio casino in Las Vegas.

The professor the banker and the suicide king by michael craig