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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 .

by Ben Mezrich

From basement poker games to an online gambling empire

Regular price $17.85 USD
Regular price $27.90 USD Sale price $17.85 USD
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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

From basement poker games to an online gambling empire

Ben Mezrich traces the rise of AbsolutePoker.com from a weekly game among University of Montana fraternity brothers to a major online company. Drawing on insider interviews and participation, the book follows the founders’ early operations in Costa Rica, where rapid growth, money, and an extravagant social scene accompanied their venture. The narrative also places the company within the uncertain legal territory surrounding online poker in the United States and internationally, as scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice intensified. It is a business story shaped by risk-taking, digital entrepreneurship, gambling culture, and the consequences of operating in a legally contested industry.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in the history and business of online poker
  • Fans of nonfiction about startup growth and high-stakes entrepreneurship
  • Those curious about gambling culture and legal scrutiny of online gaming

Themes

Online pokerEntrepreneurshipGambling cultureLegal ambiguityRise and collapse of a business

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House--the sources for the film The Social Network and 21--comes the larger-than-life rags-to-riches tale of a group of University of Montana frat brothers who turned a weekly poker game in the basement of a local dive bar into AbsolutePoker.com, one of the largest online companies in the world.

Based on extensive insider interviews and participation, Straight Flush tells of the company's initial operations in the exotic jungle paradise of Costa Rica--where its founders embraced an outrageous lifestyle of girls, parties, and money--and of the gray area of U.S. and international law in which they created an industry. Soon, the U.S. Department of Justice was gunning for them... Should they fold--or double down and ride their hot hand? Impossible to put down, Straight Flush is an exclusive, never-before-seen look behind the headlines of one of the wildest business stories of the past decade.

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