The Man With the $100,000 Breasts Reviewed

Michael Konik has written numerous articles about the colorful characters and events that have shaped Las Vegas and other gambling scenes. Early in 1999, Huntington Press published a collectionNick Christenson is widely regarded as one of the best gambling book reviewers publishing today. He is a contributor for Poker Player magazine, and has published in Full-Tilt and Gambling Times. He is also the editor of the very funny 'Casino Death Watch,' which chronicles the comings and goings of casinos in Las Vegas. He is an avid poker and blackjack player.  Nick's website is www.jetcafe.org/~npc/  of his work titled, The Man With the $100,000 Breasts. Late that year it was reprinted as a paperback with the same name by Broadway Books.

The book contains a total of 26 stories broken up into six sections. The sectional division isn't really very important, it's merely there to break up the book a bit. Many of these stories originally appeared in other magazines such as Sport, Maxim, and Cigar Aficionado. They're all expertly written and provide some interesting insight into their own special world. Some are better than others, but I didn't feel there were any true duds.

Some of the stories, like those about poker legend Johnny Moss, the meteoric rise and fall of craps legend Archie Karas, and the history of race handicapping legend Andrew Beyer are fairly well known, often even outside of gambling circles. Others, like the stories of the "Cold-Deck Crew" or SCA Promotions are likely not nearly as widely known. There is something here for just about anyone with a sports, gambling, or Las Vegas interest.

I've read a lot of books that are collections of gambling stories, and The Man With the $100,000 Breasts is one of the better ones. While I wouldn't rate it quite as highly as, say, Alvarez' The Biggest Game in Town, it does score well above the median. It's well worth reading by those with an interest in the topic, but I recommend purchasing the paperback version.