In 1983 Al Alvarez published The Biggest Game in Town. One critic called it "the origin of contemporary poker literature." The London Evening Standard calls it "probably the best book on poker ever written." McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street calls it "the seminal book on the literature of poker. Gorgeously written. Very cool."

Alvarez covered the World Series of Poker in 1981 on assignment from the New Yorker. The Biggest Game in Town was originally published in the magazine as a series of long articles. "Here was the World Series of Poker," Alvarez says, "and hardly anyone was writing about it." With a few changes, the articles became the book.

Prior to The Biggest Game, most poker books were about strategy or how to play the game. Katy Lederer, in Poker Face, calls this the "head" of poker. Al wrote about the people who played poker: their backgrounds, families, and what they did away from the poker table. He wrote about the heart of poker. And in so doing, he created a new literature.

Alvarez