In 1987 there was legalized poker in Nevada and in one county of California Author Jesse May was seventeen years old and already hooked By 1996 poker could be legally played in casinos in over twenty states of the union and five countries in Europe Legalization changed the face of poker and as the game came of age so did May who by 1989 had dropped out of the University of Chicago after one year due to irreconcilable differences between Tuesday and Thursdaymorning classes and Monday and Wednesdaynight poker gamesBased on his experiences in the strange world of poker Mays debut novel Shut Up and Deal is the story of a nontraditional 90s slacker a dropout with an incurable obsession and incredible stamina who makes a career in a profession where the only goals are to stay in action and to not go broke In Shut Up and Deal a professional poker player takes readers along on his adventures over several years in and out of casinos and card rooms in locales such as Las Vegas Atlantic City and Amsterdam Told in a catching likeable voice this story offers up one riproaring pokertable drama after another with narrator Mickey ultimately finding himself in a spot that jeopardizes his entire bankroll and calls into question his morals such as they are In rhythmic highoctane prose that is as addictive as the game it describes Shut Up and Deal zooms in on the swirling feverish microcosm of the contemporary poker world from its very first line and never cuts away