Straight Flush: The True Story of Six College Friends Who Dealt Their Way to a Billion-Dollar Online Poker Empire--and How it All Came Crashing Down…
Written by Ben Mezrich
Narrated by Sean Pratt
4/5
()
About this audiobook
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House—the sources for the films The Social Network and 21— comes the larger-than-life true tale of a group of American college buddies who brilliantly built a billion-dollar online poker colossus based out of the hedonistic paradise of Costa Rica.
One problem: the U.S. Department of Justice was gunning for them. . . .
Based on extensive insider interviews and participation, acclaimed author Ben Mezrich's Straight Flush tells the captivating rags-to-riches tale of a group of University of Montana frat brothers who turned a weekly poker game in the basement of a local dive bar into AbsolutePoker.com, one of the largest online companies in the world, on par with some of the behemoths of the Internet. At its height, Absolute Poker was an online empire earning more than a million dollars a day, following savvy business strategy and even better luck. Its founders set up their operations in the exotic jungle paradise of Costa Rica, embracing an outrageous lifestyle of girls, parties, and money.
Meanwhile, the gray area of U.S. and international law in which the company operated was becoming a lot more risky, and soon the U.S. Department of Justice had placed a bull's-eye on Absolute Poker. Should they fold—or double down and ride their hot hand? Impossible to put down, Straight Flush is an exclusive, never-before-seen look behind the headlines of one of the wildest business stories of the past decade.
Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich worked variously as a cartoonist, legal researcher, communications specialist and television production assistant before writing his first novel Threshold, then Reaper. A Harvard graduate and X-Files fan, he lives in Boston.
More audiobooks from Ben Mezrich
Busting Vegas: A True Story of Monumental Excess, Sex, Love, Violence, and Beating the Odds Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ugly Americans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rigged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reaper Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seven Wonders: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs and the Greatest Wealth in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive one of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Straight Flush
Related audiobooks
The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prodigy: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Masters: A Hole-by-Hole History of America's Golf Classic, Third Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Double or Nothing: How Two Friends Risked It All to Buy One of Las Vegas' Legendary Casinos Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Last Great Game: Duke vs. Kentucky and the 2.1 Seconds That Changed Basketball Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Ichan: The Biography of a Renegade Capitalist Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlay It Right: The Remarkable Story of a Gambler Who Beat the Odds on Wall Street Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhil Gordon's Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold'em Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sports Betting for Winners: Tips and Tales from the New World of Sports Betting Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The High-Beta Rich: How the Manic Wealthy Will Take Us to the Next Boom, Bubble, and Bust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundless: The Rise, Fall, and Escape of Carlos Ghosn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inner Game Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sports Betting For Dummies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bird Watching: On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Bet: How Science and Math Are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arnie: The Life of Arnold Palmer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arms and the Dudes: How Three Stoners from Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Smart Money: How the World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Adventures of Herbie Cohen: World's Greatest Negotiator Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Data Baseball: Math, Miracles, and the End of a 20-Year Losing Streak Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Straight Flush
33 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Boy, I got this wrong. I thought this book was going to be about those guys who had a card-counting scheme going and made beaucoup bucks playing in casinos. Whoopsy!Nope, this book was full out some guy's gripe about the US government nailing their company for setting up an online gambling company. How totally unfair, dude, like... wow, man, the government is so unfair to shutdown their company and leave some other companies alone. I mean, even though they know it's wrong, and even though they use daddy's money for the startup money and hit up their frat bros & friends for big bucks (to the tune of $100,000) and even though they look for loopholes to skirt the edge of legality, that's totally hard work man! This is, like, grass roots, bro, they *earned* their money for sure... and women, and booze... and gambling... and drugs... (but not in the house, strictly verboten! they're not like the scummy Costa Ricans who live around them, no way). Yup, a true hardworking rags to riches story, minus the rags, and minus any ethical values. Basically, it's an absolutely perfect example of US entitlement.In all fairness, the book flows pretty fast, is easy to read, and the audiobook narrator is excellent. Definitely recommend this book to all frat bros who also want to make big bucks fast and live a totally shallow life.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I really wanted to like this book, but I was immediately turned off by the annoying frat-boy characters. I ended up really disliking the whole thing. I am disappointed.