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New Poker Book Straight Flush

June 4, 2013

Author Ben Mezrich is renowned for spawning films like “21″ and “The Social Network” through his works. In the new book, Straight Flush, he weaves a dramatic plot full of twists and turns, telling a rise-and-fall story without ruining the ending.  The story is about a group of University of Montana fraternity brothers who are inspired to start an online poker company and how the government’s decision that it’s illegal affects them.

Mezrick says the actual online poker operation was started in Seattle, in a basement. “The ma in character, whose dad lived in Seattle, started the business in his dad’s basement.”

It was established in the early 2000s, a time when the rules of online poker were almost non-existent. According to Mezrich, “There was no specific law that said online poker is illegal, and there was no reason to think that you could get arrested for having an Internet company like that.”

The online poker gaming market was definitely huge and soon enough, the founders of the site found themselves with a Costa Rica operation earning them $1 million a day.  “Essentially they were bringing in $1 million a day, there were about 15 million U.S. people playing poker online and it just grew into a massive industry.”

One fateful day, though, the government made its judgment on online poker, thus changing the story of the online poker company.  Mezrich said, “There was a day which is known as black Friday. It was April 15 of 2011 when the U.S. government raided all these sites,” adding that “This was the sort of moment [...] known when to hold them, know when to fold them.”

This is a book likely to follow in the footsteps of Mezrich’s other books and land on the big screen someday, but the writer says there is yet to be a movie deal in place. So for now, if you like the sound of the story, just pick up the book.

Written by Mac · Filed Under Poker News 

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