ALL-IN

When Denn first came to Vegas, he was a 16-year-old poker player with $100,000. Now he’s all of 17 and a professional casino Texas holdem player. When Denn falls in love with the cynical casino dealer Cattie, he suddenly starts losing money. Denn has foolishly trusted Cattie, who’s been bought off by Denn’s old enemy Artie (No Limit, 1998). Within two weeks, Denn has lost everything. His only choices are to go home to suburbia or win everything back. If only he can get a $10,000 stake, Denn can compete in Artie’s winner-take-all poker tournament—but why should he trust Artie to run a fair game now, when he cheated to bankrupt Denn in the first place? Besides, where can Denn get $10,000? Denn’s story is told in alternating narratives by Denn, Cattie and Jimbo, a 22-year-old professional poker player with a taste for rhyming slang and a begrudging affection for Denn. Character progression takes a backseat to the details of poker and the quest to win, but the tournament’s tension is top-notch. (Fiction. YA)