This book is the story of a year spent by biographer Anthony Holden in the tough world of the professional poker player He spent days and nights in the poker paradise of Las Vegas, in Malta and Morocco, even on board a ship, mingling with the legendary greats, sharpening his game, perfecting his repartee and learning a great deal about himself in the process Poker, Holden insists, is not gambling Like chess, it is a paradigm of life at its most intense a gladiatorial contest that brings out the best as well as the worst in people