Poker Book: History of Poker

Most poker players know that current U.S. President Barack Obama likes to play a hand of poker now and then, but did you know that former president Richard Nixon financed his first run for office with poker winnings earned during his WWII service? That's just one of the interesting tidbits included in a well researched new book by James McManus titled 'Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker'.

The work has been attracting favourable critical comment as the "definitive history" in an excellent, comprehensive account of the game from the author of the widely hailed poker memoir 'Positively Fifth Street'.

McManus traces the game from its early 19th-century roots in New Orleans to today's global phenomenon with substantial amounts of money changing hands both online and in live tournaments around the world.,

“My goal is to show how the story of poker helps to explain who we are,” says the author. The “national card game" embodies essential American qualities, he claims, and the book achieves this objective by linking the game to American cultural, political and historical events ranging from the Civil War to the Cold War. Just one of the book's many interesting facets is its coverage of the re-emergence of poker in recent years as a pastime for millions both on and offline.

Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, the book retails for around $30.

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