I'm on one of my (increasingly regular) self imposed breaks from poker after the 'year of the run good' did not start well at all. I'll spare you the details but I ran awful and rightly cut my losses with my bankroll intact. Thankfully writing is going so well at the moment I've been very busy.
I actually got interviewed by an American sports radio show last week, which was a bit bizarre. Mainly giving them an insight into what UK poker was like for visiting Americans and generally disappointing the host no end when I revealed stud games were barely ever played in the UK and Ireland. I think its being broadcast next week and I think I probably dont sound that great because I could barely hear the guy most of the time.
I've been thinking about doing it for a few years and think 2009 will be the year I attempt it - a book. I know I have one in me, and being as I write about a billion words a month it shouldn't take forever. There are a million 'how to play poker' books out there and although I reckon I could write an OK one, whats the point? Its a really saturated market and I reckon the only way I could write a poker how to book that would sell would be if I ghost wrote one for an established and hugely successful player.
But I have had an idea for a few years now, one which I think people would buy and even non poker players would read. A book about the worlds greatest poker prop bets, a chosen specialist subject of mine. I think almost every poker player has took part in some stupid prop bet and of course, Amarillo Slim has a whole biography of them. I love prop bets as an observer and think there is so much material out there (I got a pen and paper out last night and wrote down 64 bookworthy prop bets from memory) and it would make great 'bog reading', ie. a book you could pick up and put down intermittently and still enjoy.
So thats going to be a little side project for me, I am going to be literally asking every poker player I know if they have any funny prop bet stories they would like to share, whether its themselves involved for just stories they've heard. I'd love anyone to drop me a line with any stories they may have of any silly wagers they have made, even if they were not high stakes, because they all make great 'bog reading'. The only stipulation is that they have to involve poker players (there are already books about silly wagers, but nothing about those made amongst poker players)
News editor for PokerStrategy and co-author of The Mental Game of Poker. I blog mainly about the Poker Media Industry
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5 comments:
Sounds like a good idea man!
if you need someone to proof it once you're done, give me a shout mate.
What’s the angle going to be? I think if you could get a perspective from those involved, why they thought they had an edge in the bet and why they choose to do it, how it made them feel.
I think that would be interesting, give it an insider feel if you know what I mean that would probable get me to buy it, the Michael Craig book about the Andy Beal HUP matches is a good example of that style. Good luck chap.
You are on my page there Kev, I loved the Michael Craig book and did have it in my mind. What I was thinking was just that as you say, for all the stories I think merit a whole chapter/can get the people involved and then a number of smaller, matter of fact, anecdotes for all the rest (I want to include every prop bet I believe is worthy of mention).
So if I had say 100 stories, about 85 of them would probably half a page to a page long, with another 10-15 stories (Like the Erick Lindgren golf bet) meriting a whole chapter with interviews and such
Its a big ask, but thankfully I get to meet a lot of these folks in my day to day work.
As soon as you said a whole chapter on a prop bet I thought of the lingren golf bet and immediately felt compelled to read that, so I reckon you’re on a winner.
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