Dead Money: A No-Limit Poker Mystery

by Rudy Stegemoeller

The poker gods are smiling on Mark Newcomb. he's in his element-playing against the best at a million-dollar Texas hold'em tournament. Mark's no pro, just a criminal defense lawyer with incredible... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738710911
• ISBN13: 9780738710914
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Midnight Ink
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

good mystery, not just for poker player

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a fan on Texas Hold'em, however I also lent it to 73 year old friend and mystery-lover who has no knowledge of cards outside her canasta league. She enjoyed as much as I. Plot is interesting, characters likable, by and large, and dialogue pithy without being trite.

Great Mystery, Good Poker

I agree with the other reviewers that this is a well-written, tightly-plotted mystery with interesting characters and a satisfying pace. Unlike them, however, I am a serious poker player and can recommend this book as an accurate picture of a poker tournament. The author has a keen eye and a flair for description. I won't go so far as to say you can learn poker from the book. The protagonist is a mid-level player, a serious amateur but neither a top-level player nor a theorist. The advice in the book is consistent with what you would get from a guy like that. It's not clear whether the poker commentary is supposed to be part of the fiction or the author's personal views. Either way it's better than what you would get from a casual player, but contains errors you won't find in the best poker books. Only a tournament poker player will care about errors like the claim you should play tight early in a big tournament, because the small amounts you can win will be trivial in the late stages if you survive. Most amateurs play this way, because they hate to get knocked out early. But for a pro, the second-best outcome to finishing in the money is to get knocked out on the first hand so you don't waste your time. While it's true that the chips you win on the early hands are trivial compared to what you will need later if you survive, those chips increase dramatically your chance of surviving. So buy it for the mystery and the poker color, but don't throw away your good non-fiction poker books.

Hopefully the first of many!

Rudy Stegemoeller is off to a great start with his first novel! Dead Money is a great read, and we can only hope Mr. Stegemoeller keeps 'em coming.

Cincinnati Kid Meets CSI

I didn't know much about Texas Holdem but I do know a great mystery when I read one. Dead Money moves fast but Stegemoeller doesn't cut the corners - between the murders and the tournament and hoping a truant officer shows up in the story to give that kid his comeuppance, it's the definition of a page turner. Great characters, great dialogue and a really good time.

A terrifically entertaining read

This first novel by Rudy Stegemoeller is a fast-paced murder mystery that takes place at a poker tournament. From the first page it is clear that Stegemoeller is intimately familiar with the inside of a casino; perhaps he has some adolescent memories of one. The action alternates between the poker table and the police investigation, with occasional forays into poker strategy and Buddhist philosophy. His wide cast of characters, from the middle-aged waitresses to the big-shot players, are briskly realistic. Like an Agatha Christie mystery, relationships between them unfold as the tale progresses, with a surprise in every chapter. Even so, there are a few twists that the Dame never used. By reading this book you can not only learn the rules of Texas Hold-em, but whether to stay or fold if you are holding an ace-jack on the button of a $10,000 blind hand against a professional who is temporarily down on his luck but has just bet the limit on the flop.