Rating: 
Summary: On TV and in a Book
Review: Been watching Mr. Konik on television for months now and didn't put two-and two together and realize he's the writer of one of my favorite poker/gambling books. Saw him on a show recently and they mentioned something about "telling lies and getting paid" and I was like, wait a minute! Sure enough. Same guy. If you watch Konik on the poker shows on TV you know how good he is at talking about the game for people of all abilities. His books are like him on TV. I would say they're very thoughtful and a liitle provocative. Funny, also. If you don't like Konik on TV you probably won't like his books. If you do like him you're going to love reading his stuff. It's like having a private conversation with a smart friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Had liked Konik's earlier book and so I was excited to read this one. It's slow, tedious, boring and not worth the price of admission. I am giving the book two stars because one or two of the articles were "fair" and even had a surprise or two buried among the hashed-over stories. If you know anything about gambling, you will not be surprised or enlightened by this volume, which seems to be rushed and even banged out. Let's hope Konik's next book is better.
Rating: 
Summary: The National Enquirer of Gambling Books
Review: Half this book is a series of re-printed airline magazine articles-- written in a highly sensationalized, non-informative style. The other half of the book chronicles various aspects of the WSOP, including some of the authors' personal bad beat stories. Ho Hum.
The worst of 40 gambling books I own... look elsewhere
Rating:
Summary: Thankful For This Book
Review: I did not become a better poker player after reading this book because it did not cover any sort of strategy for the game. (I knew this when I bought it). I purchased this book hoping it would have some of the humor and creativity the author shows on his regular Tv appearances and it certainly did. Even more nice however, was what I would call the humanity of the writing. It's very honest. Sometimes it is painfully honest especially if like me you have been the victim of someone lying to you. Haven't we all? Mister Konik is an excellent writer and a very smart person. As I said, I didn't come away from "Telling Lies" feeling like I was a better poker player but I feel like I came away a better person. Read it and you'll see what I mean. It's a great book. Thanks for your time.
Rating:
Summary: Really Enjoyable
Review: I read this book in two sittings. It's very hard to put down. The starting stories are short. The main story about the World Series of Poker is long and intense. There's not a lot of How To information in this book. Like the title says, it's stories. They are highly entertaining stories and they are written very cleverly. The only other book I have that's like this is Mr. Konik's book about the Man With the Breasts, which also has many entertaining stories aboput gambling. I can't imagine anyone who likes gambling not enjoying this excellent collection.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike Any Other Book About Gambling
Review: I saw the author on TV over Thanksgiving weekend when he was commentating on a poker tournament they had on Fox from Atlantic City, playing for a million bucks. He was very articulate and entertaining. This book is exactly like that, or like having a witty conversation with a very smart friend. I liked all the stories, especially the ones about the backgammon hustler and the sports nun. My favorite of all was of course the title story about playing in the World Series of Poker. I felt like I was right there and I couldn't put it down. If you like poker like me you will want to read and reread this story. It's pretty long like 100 pages but it flies by. Truly the outstanding story ever written about gambling. Enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: ready to play online?
Review: i was able to use this to make a good amount of money online at
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Rating:
Summary: I sent this one back
Review: I'm an avid poker player. I love poker books and poker stories, but I found this book unreadable--I sent it back to Amazon. The author is a poor writer, too much of his ego is on display, his stories are sophomoric, immature and not very believable. Certainly if you have a New Yorker or NY Times book review sensibility, you won't get through this. I'd recommend Poker Nation as something written for the educated reader.
Rating:
Summary: Impossible to Put Down
Review: I've read all the gambling books even the author Mr. Konik's first collection of gambling stories and this is the best book in the catgory. A real eye opener in that it takes you deep inside the world of gambling from an insiders perpective where most people never go except in their imaginations. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Must For the Collection
Review: If you're building a collection of books about gambling this one is a must. One of the classics in the genre. Alvazrez, Holden, Konik are the writers who have covered gambling and especially poker tournaments better than anyone and "Telling Lies and Getting Paid" is probably the best of the bunch.
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