TAKE ME TO THE RIVER (Paperbound)

The author writes about the perils of growing up -- at age 50, no less -- and trying to finance his pending nuptials by involving himself in the World Series of Poker in 2005. Alson boards a plane bound for the Vegas on his way to the biggest game in town and begins a first-person account of one inveterate gambler and bad boy’s quest to grow up while at the same time compete with more than 5,000 players vying for over $56 million in prize money during a scorching Vegas summer. All this makes for an inside look at what it means to be part of one of the fastest-growing and most popular games in the United States and of the lessons poker has to teach about probability and luck, good and bad fortune, patience, perseverance, and -- most fitting for a man with marriage in his near future -- commitment. 304 pages, paperbound, 2007.