''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'' is a book by
Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author.
He has written well-known non-fiction books, including '' The Accidental Billionaires'' and '' The Antisocial Network'', which have been turned into the films ''The Social Network'' ...
. The text was published on May 28, 2013, by
William Morrow and Company
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The ...
. ''Straight Flush'' tells the story of a group of
University of Montana
The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...
students who turned their weekly poker game into
AbsolutePoker.com, one of the largest online gambling companies in the world.
Reception
''Straight Flush'' received mixed to scathing reviews.
James McManus
}
James "Jim" McManus (born March 22, 1951) is an Americans, American teacher, writer and poker player living in Kenilworth, Illinois. He is a professor in the Master of Fine Arts program for writers at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Poker and ' ...
wrote in ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' that ''Straight Flush'' was "not just a book about clueless adolescent venality, 'Straight Flush' is that sorry thing itself, and in spades." Haley Hintze, a writer who helped uncover the Absolute Poker scandal, labeled the book a "literary fraud" in an eleven part series.
Don Oldenburg writing in ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' notes one of the book's problems is "how much Mezrich himself seems in awe of" the sordid activity he is describing.
USA Today: All bets are off in 'Straight Flush'
/ref>
See also
*''The Eudaemonic Pie
''The Eudaemonic Pie'' is a non-fiction book about gambling by American author Thomas A. Bass. The book was initially published in April 1985 by Houghton Mifflin.
Overview
The book focuses on a group of University of California, Santa Cruz, p ...
''
References
External links
*
Poker books
2013 non-fiction books
William Morrow and Company books
Non-fiction books about gambling
{{gambling-book-stub