Traces the rise of the world's most competitive online poker players, profiling a group of former college students who banded together through online communication networks to organize a multi-million-dollar winning team in Las Vegas.

A lot has been written about the time contractor Raymond Davis spent in a Pakistani jail in 2011. Unfortunately, much of it is misleading—or downright false—information. Now, the man at the center of the controversy tells his side of the story for the very first time. In The Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a Diplomatic Crisis, Davis offers an up-close and personal look at the 2011 incident in Lahore, Pakistan, that led to his imprisonment and the events that took place as diplomats on both sides of the bargaining table scrambled to get him out. How did a routine drive turn into front-page news? Davis dissects the incident before taking readers on the same journey he endured while trapped in the Kafkaesque Pakistani legal system. As a veteran security contractor, Davis had come to terms with the prospect of dying long before the January 27, 2011 shooting, but nothing could prepare him for being a political pawn in a game with the highest stakes imaginable. An eye-opening memoir, The Contractor takes the veil off Raymond Davis's story and offers a sober reflection on the true cost of the War on Terror.

DUTCH BOYD is a three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner who has won and lost millions. Read his amazing true story of the sky highs and cavernous lows living the life of a professional poker player, and his struggle to hang on to his bankroll and his sanity.

A lot of people have made up their minds about Rachel Doležal. But none of them know her real story. In June 2015, the media "outed" Rachel Doležal as a white woman who had knowingly been "passing" as Black. When asked if she were African American during an interview about the hate crimes directed at her and her family, she hesitated before ending the interview and walking away. Some interpreted her reluctance to respond and hasty departure as dishonesty, while others assumed she lacked a reasonable explanation for the almost unprecedented way she identified herself. What determines your race? Is it your DNA? The community in which you were raised? The way others see you or the way you see yourself? With In Full Color, Rachel Doležal describes the path that led her from being a child of white evangelical parents to an NAACP chapter president and respected educator and activist who identifies as Black. Along the way, she recounts the deep emotional bond she formed with her four adopted Black siblings, the sense of belonging she felt while living in Black communities in Jackson, Mississippi, and Washington, DC, and the experiences that have shaped her along the way. Her story is nuanced and complex, and in the process of telling it, she forces us to consider race in an entirely new light—not as a biological imperative, but as a function of the experiences we have, the culture we embrace, and, ultimately, the identity we choose.

The Players: the best poker professionals in the world The Challenger: a wealthy banker from Dallas The Game: the richest poker stakes of all time... In 2001, a rich stranger from Texas descended upon the high-stakes poker room in the opulent Bellagio casino in Las Vegas. A self-made billionaire by the name of Andy Beal, the stranger challenged some of the world's greatest poker players-including Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Howard Lederer, and Jennifer Harman-to heads-up matches in the richest poker game ever played This is that story... Beginning the scintillating contest that would shock the world of poker, Andy and each opponent had $1 million, betting $10,000 and $20,000 per round. As the games intensified over the coming months and Andy developed into a great player, he realized how he could take his adversaries out of their comfort zone-he raised the stakes to put everything they had on the line. By the time the battle of wits ended, there was more than $20 million on the table. For the first time ever, here is the detailed, true account of the Big Game that has already achieved legendary status in poker lore. Putting you railside to observe the pulse-pounding action, where you can almost hear the distinct sound of clay chips on felt, Michael Craig takes you inside the iron-nerved mind and pathological psyche of the professional gambler. Filled with vivid characters, sensational tales, and riveting human drama, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King is a unique, suspenseful journey into the world of people who live on the razor's edge of fortune-where incredible wealth, or utter ruin, turns on the flip of a card.

The tumultuous rags to riches, fame to fortune, dream to nightmare autobiography of the most volatile and colorful poker player in the world, fan and media favorite Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. This book has it all: drugs, sex, partying like a rock star, jail, suicidal depression, bipolar bouts and world championship poker. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, one of the top professional poker players in the world (with over $6 million in tournament earnings) has become more than just a household name. He’s a favorite among the millions of television viewers who have come to count on his outrageously candid comments, emotional outbursts, and constant taunts that affirm the aptness of his nickname and make for great television theatre. A rags-to-riches success story, Matusow’s life has been as much nightmare as it has been dream. His struggle with undiagnosed bipolar and ADHD disorders led to self-medication with illegal drugs, such as crystal meth and ecstasy, and a tumultuous descent in the drug-fueled Las Vegas club scene. As drug use turned to drug abuse, Matusow’s descent, taking his multi-million dollar bankroll along, went on the downward spiral that led to an arrest for a narcotics buy and the specter of a ten-year prison term (subsequently plea bargained down to a six month jail sentence). The Mouth’s story is a high stakes rollercoaster ride featuring an insider’s view of some of the world’s largest poker tournaments, unbearable depression and suicidal tendencies, the Las Vegas party scene, rock star-like excess, outrageous antics, drug abuse, jail, and, in many ways, salvation. And through the worst of it, Matusow’s phenomenal talent and tenacity prevailed; there was never a year that Mike failed to make a final table in a World Series of Poker event. This memoir is funny, outspoken and brash, while humbly and painfully honest about the highs and lows of poker, life, and the odyssey of overcoming psychological illness in a bastion of pressure and temptation. There is also a foreword by Phil Hellmuth, 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet holder.

In "Farha on Omaha," Sam Farha, the world's greatest Omaha player, and Storms Reback, a noted poker writer, offer those new to the game of Omaha poker simple strategic tips that will help transform them into winning players. The authors provide strategies on how to beat the three most popular forms of Omaha--limit, eight-or-better, and pot-limit--in both cash games and tournaments. Providing practical advice and advanced strategy tips, and discussing specific hands from his victories at the World Series of Poker and high-stakes cash games in which millions of dollars were on the line, this book promises to turn beginners into winning players and winning players into champions.