Phil Hellmuth is publishing a book focusing on the stories behind the poker’s most well known faces.  This may be his John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage for the poker world.  Course I can’t believe I just somehow referenced John F. Kennedy to Phil Hellmuth, I guess if Annie Duke is Hitler anything goes with past world leaders in comparison to poker players.

Hellmuth takes a time old tradition of packaging other people’s biographies and making money off them.  In this book Deal Me In, not to be confused with the book of the same name, discusses what a long list of pros went through to ascend to their current lots in life.  It deals with the shame of families about their smart capable children or brother or sister playing cards for a living.  Jen Harman was disowned and faced the threat of being written out of a will.  Scotty Nguyen talks about playing soccer as a child and watching his friend blow up after stepping on a land mine.  So you’ll feel some of their pain. 

The old guard is represented by Doyle Brunson, Jen Harman, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivy, Carolos Mortenson, Chau Giang, Erik Seidel, Layne Flack, David Ulliot and more.   The new guard is in there too, with Tom Dwan and Annette Obrestad, maybe more well known as Durrrr and Annette15.   For the last two like Peter Eastgate who is also profiled (a former substitute teacher)  this book makes a lot of sense.  None of them have lived long enough to fill out a biography but they all have interesting background details.

Brunson’s life will probably one day be a movie.  Phil Ivy’s life arguably should already be one.  The book is most interesting when it gives insight about things we couldn’t possible know and we definitely wouldn’t expect.  Allen Cunningham who takes a TV live tournament beat about as graciously as anyone screams at his computer when he plays online.  Never would have thought that. 

Course, if Hellmuth tried to tell us his online beats are also taken the opposite of his live ones we’d know there was some fiction in this book.  Thankfully, he doesn’t though he does to admit to being a bit of a stalker when wooing his wife.

This will be a good read and maybe the type of summertime reading WSOP participants should consider taking along with them to Las Vegas.  There won’t be too much about poker strategy on here but it should be good way to take your mind off the action for a little bit.