Nights at the Round Table - John Walker - Bog

A Life of Poker, Adventure and Travel. The Round Table must have been the favorite assembly point for those knights of old where they would guzzle mead from large pewter tankards while plotting battle strategy against their medieval foes. A poker table is also round; or it could be oval, square, rectangular, or perhaps nothing more than the surface of an old olive drab blanket stretched tightly across a G.I. bunk. But whatever the texture or terrain of his battlefield, the good poker player, like the knight, plots his battle strategy against formidable foes. But this is not so much a book about poker as it is a book that includes poker. Those qualities that make a winner in poker are also prerequisites for winning in life. Poker quickly reveals and bares one's character, because at the poker table a man is faced with the showdown after each hand; in life he may escape that showdown for years, or even decades. But sooner or later, perhaps it'll be behind the closed door in the solitude of his bathroom, he will recognize that "moment of truth" staring back at him from the mirror on the wall. The stories and anecdotes that follow are true, although the identity of most characters has been disguised (for reasons that'll probably be obvious). Otherwise, there's just enough fictitious embellishment to leave me a few shrouds of protective raiment for an otherwise starkly naked soul. There has been no conscious effort to instruct or guide the reader in the subtleties and stratagems of winning play; but an experienced and perceptive poker player will recognize that the outcome is always predictable: good players have a sure and profitable advantage over bad players.