Friends: Steve Popuch, who introduced me to poker and deluded me into believing my interest in it was not abnormal. Ted Corse, who rekindled my interest in poker during early 2003 and told me during a Vegas trip in October 2003 an unbelievable story he heard about a $15 million poker game going on at the Bellagio. Ken Kurson, a tremendous writer, a tremendous mentor, and a tremendous friend. I would have no success in writing without him (ask him; he’ll tell you). Hillary Schmulenson and Elena Wayne, who were instrumental in arranging my initial contact with Barry Greenstein. Elena’s thirty-year friendship with Barry, which she was willing to place on the line to put me in touch during a period when everybody wanted a piece of Barry, started me along the way of penetrating the story from inside the group.
Howard Schwartz, owner of the Gambler’s Book Shop, a remarkable Las Vegas institution that was my home away from home during several of my research trips to Vegas. Howard is a friend to all writers and students of poker, not just for his tremendous selection of books but his (completely unorganized) clipping files and heroic efforts to keep classic poker books from going out of print.
Poker player-writers: Wendeen Eolis, Max Shapiro, Nolan Dalla, and the late Andy Glazer. Wendeen gave me good advice at the beginning of the project. Max has set a high standard for poker writing for years and his excellent account at Pokerpages.com of Mike Laing’s win at the Reno Hilton’s 2001 World Poker Challenge gave me background and insight into Laing’s methods and madness. Nolan, who had a full plate with his own poker book and the World Series of Poker in spring 2004, offered help and friendship. Andy, literally and figuratively, was a giant among poker writers. He befriended me when I knew almost no one in poker, introduced me to Ted Forrest at the end of one of the most remarkable days in the history of poker, and showed me how an artist works his craft in writing about a poker game. I barely got to know Andy Glazer, but I miss him very much.
I expected at the outset that my research would be met with some hostility among players and poker room personnel. Despite the tremendous popularity of poker, the top players generally keep their business in the cash game secret. Industry sources said none of the Table One players would talk to me, giving reasons from fear of attracting attention from the IRS, to fear of upsetting Andy Beal (and future Andy Beals), to fear of demystifying their success.
I was thrilled that I have been able to approach nearly everyone who played a part in the story, and nearly all of them agreed to talk to me. Some were eager. Some were reluctant.
I am grateful to two employees of MGM Mirage who placed their trust in me early in the project. They asked not to be named and were reluctant to provide more than background information, but I would not have been able to advance my research in some important ways without their help.
Later in my research, I received significant help from many people in the casino business, most notably the following: from MGM Mirage and Bellagio, Doug Dalton, Jack McClelland, Debbi Callihan, and Karen Van Horn; from the Bicycle Casino, Yosh Nakano; and from Casino Arizona, Bob, K.C., players Shoes, Vegas Mike, and Bob Goldfarb.
I started this project with great respect for professional poker players. That admiration has grown during the past year. Although they had little to gain and plenty of reasons to be wary, nearly every player I contacted took me into his or her confidence and helped me understand their lives and games: Lyle Berman, Vince Burgio, Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Eric Drache, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein (and his friend, Alexandra Vuong), Mike Laing, Howard Lederer and his wife, Susan Lederer, Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, David Plastik, David “Chip” Reese, Erik Seidel, Ron Stanley, and Jennifer Harman Traniello (and her husband, Marco Traniello).
Among this group, I can’t express enough appreciation for the efforts of Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein, Howard Lederer, Chip Reese, and Jennifer Harman Traniello, who generally tried to keep a lid on the big games with Andy Beal, yet still cooperated, most of them in multiple interviews and by answering numerous queries by telephone and e-mail. Howard (for introducing me to Doyle and Jennifer) and Doyle (for introducing me to Andy Beal) helped this project tremendously when they could just as easily have killed it.
I’ll let you in on another secret: Even though poker players spend their professional lives hiding what’s inside, they are almost without exception the most open, trusting group I have ever met. I consider many of these people my friends. Even if they are really no more than merely sources who managed to bluff me, it has been a wonderful experience getting to know them. I understand how men who can afford it will lose huge sums of money to these players, enjoy the experience, and want to repeat it.
While working on this book, I received an opportunity to participate as one of several poker players in an instructional video produced by Michael Berk. My thanks go to Michael, Edna Dalton (who made it easier for me to approach her husband, Doug), Mat Sklansky, Eddie Novak, Brande Roderick, and everyone associated with the video for making it a memorable experience. It gave me a chance to meet Todd Brunson less than a week after he played the $100,000-$200,000 game with Andy Beal, as well as Mike Matusow and David Sklansky. Todd and Mike were both generous with their time in interviews.
Even though I gave his son Mat the proverbial shirt off my back—I’m not making this up—David Sklansky responded to my e-mail by saying, “I do almost nothing unless it is worth VERY big bucks to me.” That was too bad, because Andy Beal and several players had very strong opinions about Sklansky and, even apart from that, it would have been interesting engaging poker’s leading theorist on the application of his theories to this unusual poker game. But I wasn’t offering him even SMALL bucks, so he was certainly within his right to refuse.
Finally, among my sources, I am indebted to Andy Beal. Even though he generally avoids publicity and I planned to write this book without his cooperation, the book is much better for his involvement. He was unbelievably generous with his time. Without exception, the players I spoke to early in the project stressed what a nice guy he was, something I assumed was code for “don’t rile the pigeon.” But Beal really is a nice guy, one of the nicest I’ve ever known. Thanks also to Craig Singer of Beal Bank, and Andy’s staff, who put up with my frequent phone calls and requests for information.
This book would not have been written without the efforts of my agent, Eileen Cope, who stuck with me through failure and frustration and championed this project at Lowenstein-Yost Associates, and in the publishing world. I was lucky that she convinced Warner Books to publish it. Colin Fox, at Warner, kept me constantly fired up with his camaraderie and enthusiasm, and he made a beeline for the weakest parts of my writing, and helped me fix them up. Jamie Raab, Colin’s boss, has been terrific in her support for this book. Getting a book published can be difficult, but not with people like Eileen Cope, Colin Fox, and Jamie Raab in my corner, and their numerous colleagues at Lowenstein-Yost and Warner who helped in ways too numerous to mention.
Several people helped in the preparation of the manuscript. In addition to many people I already mentioned, thanks to Linda DiFrancesco (who conducted the background research on Andy Beal in Texas), Melanie Croft, Joanne Schlesinger, and Kay Creighton.
The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King Page 26
