The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time Review

February 19, 2009 by Nick Wealthall

Nick Wealthall The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time
It’s a great title that sounds like a variant of the Cluedo characters – actually the second bit tells you what it’s all about – this is poker at phenomenal stakes. The book follows what happens when a billionaire banker comes to Vegas and challenges the best live players in the world to play poker for stakes higher than ever before. I know what you’re thinking – what’s a suicide king? I assumed it was King ‘turn everything to gold’ Midas with an annoying itch he just had to scratch…turns out I was wrong.

What’s it all about?
Andy Beal is a unique individual – a guy who started his own bank that ended up making him a billionaire. When he turned his massive brain and wallet to poker playing for 20 bucks in his home game wasn’t ever going to be enough. He came to Vegas and started playing heads up live games for huge stakes.
This book follows the games played between Beal and players like Howard Lederer (the professor of the title) Doyle Brunson, Ted Forest and many other household poker names. Over a couple of years and several visits the games escalated to the point where the pros had to pool their resources and both sides had 20 million dollars on the table. It details not only the games played but gives an insight to the characters that were capable of putting the national debt of a small country on the turn of a card.

Why will I like it?
I honestly think it would be impossible to write a dull book about this story. The source material is so great. If you like poker at all you’re going to want to know about the richest game of all time so author Michael Craig was onto a winner. He isn’t lazy though and has obviously gone to great lengths to get the details of the games played correct.
Reading the book I felt like a veil was being lifted – games this big have only happened a few times in history and feeling as though you have a seat on the rail is really exciting. It’s also fascinating to find out about the players and their backgrounds. Finally Andy Beal is a great character and the book is excellent at communicating what makes someone like him tick. He’s probably the most interesting banker of all time …. actually the only interesting banker ever.

Why won’t I like it?
There is one problem with the source material – despite the players playing for huge stakes and in the case of the pros more than they can afford – they still manage to be fairly nonchalant about it. Like me you probably start sweating and feeling a little nauseous when you play any game a bit outside your strict bankroll requirements. These guys need to risk mortgages on their properties, their first born and one of their limbs to get distressed. Having said that the pros come perilously close to being busted which brings its own drama. Also the poker geek in me could have done with a few more specifics about the hands played but there’s more than enough colour in this story to make up for that.

And so….
This book chronicles one of the more amazing stories in poker in recent years. In fact the game pumped so much money into the poker economy it changed the games for years. If you don’t want to read about pots with several million dollars in them that’s cool – but it got my heart beating a little faster.
Turns out the suicide king is one of the kings in the deck that looks like he’s about to top himself with a massive sword…four guesses which one…

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