Read Straight Flush: The True Story Of Six College Friends Who Dealt Their Way To A Billion-Dollar Online Poker Empire--and How It All Came Crashing Down . . . (2013)
Straight Flush: The True Story Of Six College Friends Who Dealt Their Way To A Billion-Dollar Online Poker Empire--and How It All Came Crashing Down . . . (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Straight Flush, Ben Mezrich, 10 East 53rd street, New York, NY 10022: Harper Collins Publishers, 2013, 288 pages.In Straight Flush, Ben Mezrich narrates the true story of six college buddies that start a small little online business that soon expands to a multimillion dollar business only to end in trenches. Learning about each boy in the story is intriguing. Each boy has a separate way of thinking but their main interest was to make money off of an online poker business. The story is very captivating and keeps the reader engaged throughout the book with drugs, girls, and big money.These young boys were interested in poker and wanted to reinvent the game of online poker in the online network. This had led them to become the founders of Absolutepoker.com. After a shaky start the boys get the site up and running. Very soon after the website actually started to run properly, it became a money printer bringing in an unimaginable amount of income to the boys. This blinded their best judgement and soon arouse the downfall of AbsolutePoker. The government had also taken a dislike into the online poker business which the boys ignored to continue to strive for money.Straight Flush definitely had a great story line but the first chapter of this story is big hint of what's to coming at the end of the story. In some ways it seems like Ben Mezrich could have delayed the first chapter to the last chapter. Despite the first chapter everything throughout the story flowed pretty well and kept the reader on their toes. If you are a reader that finds a dislike in knowing what happens at the end of the story start the book out with the second chapter in order to avoid disappointment. After you are done with the story then read the first chapter and the epilogue. Giving the story 4 stars was tough because it was such a thrilling story but it just had a weak introduction. I typically like Mezrich's books, but this was not his best effort. I don't mind time jumping forward, particularly when nothing meanwhile has happened, but he dives right back into the story after a several months to a couple of years time jump without alerting the reader to the time that has passed. But, the thing I found most distasteful about this book is the hero worship for Scott Tom. He might have a forceful personality, but he wasn't really deserving of the fawning. The frat-boy antics were annoying. However, the biggest reason I feel like others deserved more adoration is if Scott Tom truly believes he has been wrongly accused, then go to court and make your case. Instead, he let his others, especially his brother, take the fall. The book could have been just as strong if Mezrich tried to give us the full portrait of Scott Tom.
What do You think about Straight Flush: The True Story Of Six College Friends Who Dealt Their Way To A Billion-Dollar Online Poker Empire--and How It All Came Crashing Down . . . (2013)?
I had never heard of this when I picked up this book. Fascinating.
—kittyboom5
It is what it is -- entertaining as hell, not much else.
—Beth
Good book...but not the best work by Ben Mezrich.
—redro
Kind of underwhelming and light on the details.
—EMM
