For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker

By Victoria Coren

In September 2006, Victoria Coren won the European Poker Championship, and with it a cool one million dollars. Overnight, she became one of the world's most famous players. But how did she do it?

In For Richer, For Poorer, Victoria Coren's long-awaited poker memoir, she answers this question. It is an intensely honest story of twenty years of obsession, of highs and lows, wins and losses, friendships, power plays, loneliness and addiction. Coren takes us from the grimy underworld of illegal cash games to the high glamour of Monte Carlo and Las Vegas, vividly capturing the incredible excitement of a poker match and getting to the heart of why poker has become the world's most popular card game. It is a razor-sharp, accessible, entertaining, and intensely gripping story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 5, 2010
• ISBN: 9780771022944

Reviews for For Richer, For Poorer

[yarrow_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I didn't understand a lot of the poker sections but I did really enjoy the book and it kept me up late at night, desperate to read just one more chapter. I really liked the author's voice, and the sense of family she got from her motley crew of associated poker players. It also made me a bit curious about playing poker, which I've never really done before.

[nocto_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've liked Victoria Coren ever since she wrote a column in the Telegraph when she was a teenager (and so was I). All the same I wasn't really expecting to enjoy a book about poker as much as I did. But it's a very entertaining read.

[missizicks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like Victoria Coren when I see her on the telly. I follow her on twitter because she's witty and clever but still seems down to earth. So, even though I know nothing about poker, I thought I'd give her poker autobiography a go. It's a mixture of "how I fell in love with poker and the things that were going on in my life" and "how I became the first woman to win the European Poker Tour", with the autobiographical stuff making up the bulk of each chapter and then an analysis of that tournament winning series of games at the end. I had to read a glossary of poker terms to have the vaguest clue about what was going on in the game. I think I got my head around it 3/4s of the way in! Coren writes well, of course. She is honest about poker, affectionate about the poker family she has made, and very entertaining with her turns of phrase. The only card games I've ever played are Whist, Rummy and Pontoon, so maybe I wasn't at quite the disadvantage I thought I was, but I know that I would be useless at poker. All that analysing other people, working out the odds and deciding how much money to risk would tire me out. But then, I am extremely risk averse. Still, I enjoyed the book, even if it didn't turn me into a gambler.

[paulmorriss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It really is pretty much about poker. If you were expecting a wider biography then you'd be disappointed, but even if you don't play, it's interesting to read about how you get better.