Author of The Biggest Game in Town Al Alvarez Dies at 90

Tributes have poured in from the poker community after news that Al Alvarez, author of The Biggest Game in Town and Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats, has passed away at the age of 90 from viral pneumonia.

Alvarez’s 1983 book, The Biggest Game in Town, tracked the fortunes of players in the 1981 World Series of Poker, the poet and essayist visiting Vegas to write for The New Yorker magazine.

He later recalled:

“I felt like I had walked into a Sam Peckinpah movie,” describing the mix of players in colourful terms: “…cowboys in alligator boots, wildcatters wearing Stetsons and Dior ties, gnarled good old boys with eyes like ferrets, who farmed in West Texas.”

Among the legendary players he encountered were Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and that year’s Main Event winner, Stu Ungar.

His account enthralled poker players the world over, many joining Negreanu on Twitter to offer their condolences and thoughts…

Poker was far from being Alvarez’s only or main love, mountaineering and outdoor swimming among others peppering a life that saw poetry, essays and novels as the mainstay of his phenomenally successful writing career.

His influential 1962 anthology The New Poetry was followed by the best-selling The Savage God: A Study of Suicide, which examined fellow poet and close friend Sylvia Plath’s suicide, as well as others’ including his own attempt in 1960.

Posters on the 2plus2 poker forum added to the game’s sadness at the news, one writing: ‘His contribution to poker culture and the growth of Hold’em cannot be underestimated, RIP,’ while another shared: ‘Great writer...stellar literary career...glad he devoted a bit of his time to poker.’

Alvarez is survived by his wife Anna and children Luke and Kate. PokerTube extends its condolences to family and friends on the sad passing of the literary genius and friend of poker.