Eli Elezra’s Autobiography “Pulling the Trigger” Hits the Shelves

Israeli businessman and high-stakes pro Eli Elezra has finally finished his autobiography titled “Pulling the Trigger”. Elezra has been around the scene for longer than three decades and is one of the most recognisable faces on the circuit, mainly from his numerous appearances on TV poker.

Born and raised in Jerusalem, Israel, Elezra now resides in gambling Mecca Las Vegas. After leaving school he ended up spending three weeks in prison for refusing to join the Israeli Air Force and later went on to pass the selection tests for the Israeli Defense Force’s Golani Brigade - an elite infantry unit.

In 1982 he was discharged after seriously injuring his leg in the Lebanon war and moved to the US to start a new life. It wasn’t to be easy at first, gutting fish in Alaska wasn’t glamorous by any means but the $8000 per month pay packet did smooth matters. 

Later he drove a taxi and bought a convenience store setting himself up in business for the first time and then Las Vegas began to call in 1988. The move was purely to take advantage of new business opportunities but then poker got a grip.

“Pulling the Trigger” is the result of seven years worth of collaboration with fellow poker player Matan Krakow. They recorded lots of interviews after Krakow realised Elezra had such a unique and interesting life story. 

Initially only published in Hebrew in Israel, a country with no legal gambling industry, the reaction was fantastic. This led to the idea of translating into English for a true global audience and they found the perfect man for the job. Cardplayer Lifestyle founder Robbie Strazynski originally from Los Angeles now lives in Israel and understands enough Hebrew along with properly understanding poker. This mean the style and flow of the English text did not leave anything out from Elezra’s intention and meaning in the original.