Poker Face

[maurile]

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What were the exact charges against Lederer in Vegas ? and what was his penalty ?

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I read the book nearly a year ago (right when it came out), but as far as I remember, there were no charges against Lederer in Vegas. There were charges against him in New York, but the charges were dropped, so there was no penalty. I don't know the formal name of the charges, but he was pretty much charged with running a sports book even though he was not running a sports book at all (which is why the charges were dropped).

[submariner]

Now I'm interested..what is the book about? Sounds like non-fiction?

[Beavis68]

It is about the Leberer family. I believe it is Katy Lederer that wrote it. The reviews I read of it were not that good.

[Stew]

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It is about the Leberer family. I believe it is Katy Lederer that wrote it. The reviews I read of it were not that good.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, Yep and the reviews you read were off, in my opinion. The book isn't great by any stretch, but it may possibly the best written piece of poker literature ever and I'm including Alvarez and Holden. It's a quick, simple read. Borrow it from someone, read it, trust me, you'll be glad you did.

[maurile]

Here's a review by "Felix Gallo" posted to RGP.

Katy Lederer
Poker Face: A Girlhood Among Gamblers

The good news is that Katy Lederer can write like hell. She can write all day. She can probably write underwater, or in space. I would not be surprised if Katy Lederer could write while bicycling. Katy seems to be the one woman exception to the rule that anyone who goes into the Iowa writing program never comes back out with their talent intact.

The bad news is that the readers of this newsgroup are probably the sole audience for this particular book of hers. This isn't bad news for us so much as her, and her publisher.

Consider: Anthony Swofford writes Jarhead. Does pretty well, he gets on Letterman -- but he's writing the deeply intimate memoir of a conflicted, literate Marine sniper sent off to Gulf War I.

By comparison, Katy is writing the intimate but largely observational memoir of a woman growing up inside the nefarious Lederer Tong of poker and sports betting fiends. This is topical in so much as the Travel Channel and the WSOP have finally created a television-friendly personality-driven Olympian battle mythos around poker, and obviously Howard Lederer is one of those titans -- but the intersection of the sphere of largely male, ego-driven dopamine fiends who populate the poker world and the sphere of readers of tender, powerful, poetic memoirs seems to me to be a fairly small one.

As Amazon says, "Customers who bought titles by Katy Lederer also bought titles by these authors: David Sklansky, James McManus, Phil Hellmuth Jr. (!!!), Amarilo Slim Preston, A. Alvarez."

Me, I think putting a book by Hellmuth (ram and jam those Aces!) into an Amazon shopping cart with Alvarez's Time of the Butterflies would either trigger Amazon's bad beat jackpot or signal the start of Armageddon. It's a strange little niche that I don't quite get. On the other hand, that's more of an indictment of Katy's publisher than of the book. As long as we're in the niche, the book makes sense.

Katy starts out with a brutal, if beautifully put, depiction of a dark early life in a conflicted, loving family. It's wrenching enough that one can only imagine what it must have been like for Howard and his family to read this book and be forced back into the past.

As we get taken through time, the sheer power of Katy's writing fades a little, overtaken by facts and events rather than amazing observations; but it never gets dull. The sideways-and-upwards growth of the Lederers from dysfunctional family unit into miniature gambling empire, and Katy's outsider interaction with same, keep interest even when the obstacles the Lederers face are unremarkable.

On the subject of Katy's outsider interaction: this is maybe the only beef I have with this book. In Daniel Sumrall's review of her book "Winter Sex", he puts it thusly:

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There is an I in every one of Lederer's poems but it is an I that exists to be looked through rather than looked at. When a poet is able to create such an abdication of ego in favor of delicate, shared intimacy I trust that poet's voice impartially.

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Yes, yes. And although I think this is part of her nature as a writer, it doesn't work so well in the second half of the book, where I as reader was very interested in finding out what she felt about the situation, rather than being presented with generally unadorned tableaus. More internal dialogue, please. This is, after all, a memoir. Bring out the ego and the partiality.

In the close of the book, a veritable Greek chorus of gamblers advises Katy to put down the pomegranate and get the hell out of gambling while she still can. I would echo this advice. Not that poetry pays for crap -- as Katy and I have both learned, if you're going to choose a career in poetry or a career in financial services...choose financial services; but Katy obviously has a powerful talent, and it seems wasted talking about the tribulations of even the most engaging gamblers. Even though this book is fantastic, and should be bought by anyone who has read this far in this review, she can find a bigger, better audience somewhere, somehow, I feel sure of it.

At the end of the day, I rate this book KQ offsuit -- good potential, some flaws, but worth playing in many situations.

Now for what you've obviously been waiting for: an in-depth Sklansky-style analysis of how to extract EV from this book when playing against Howard Lederer!

1. A few hands of play are mentioned. Who knew Howard Lederer rams and jams with King high when he knows he's beat on the river? Obviously it's +EV to play against Howard if he's trying to show off for his sister, so try to make sure she's standing behind him while he's playing on the 3-6 table you're sitting at. OK, this may be rare, but every edge counts.

2. This book is full of intimate details of Howard Lederer's personal life and history. Why not use those to your advantage? Memorize the most embarrassing parts and counter the infamous Lederer Stare with some choice quotes. For extra fun, try to make it through the parking lot to your car after the game without getting Bicycled!

3. For reasons explicated in the book, Howard names Queens full of Threes "The Gay Waiter". Whenever you get that hand, mention that you have it, thus making him wonder if you're going to employ tactic #2.

4. Howard is, or was, a vegan. Noisily eat BBQ pork chops at the table, incessantly offer him Slim Jims, and use any suited connectors as napkins.

5. Howard suggests not playing QJ due to the heartbreak of pairing up and getting beat by a better kicker. Subtract 5% or so from the probability that he'd have that hand when you're in the tank.

There! Now you can beat Howard Lederer. See you at the outlaw penny-nickel table on the sidewalk outside Commerce. I'll be the one trying to sell handbound books of poetry to fund my bankroll.

Felix