All-in Alexander Berresford Pd 3 DD
This book had me going. I could not stop reading, until I got to the part where it does not explain if he wins. Every player has their tales, was this one of Pete’s? Does he always end his books like this? We will have to read more to find out. Anyways I would like to discuss themes, what you think happened with the rest of the tournament, and going all-in.
This part of the book takes place at Kings Crossing, in Las Vegas. It is holding 120 people for a winner takes all tournament. There has never really been a tournament of such, and it is attracting players from all over. The odds are slim, but those odds are good enough for any of them. Denn makes it to the final 2 players on at least 40 hours of no sleep. This is truly amazing, and I think that it is dealing with the theme. I think that Pete is trying to say that no matter what the odds are, there is always that possibility to win. Never give up, give it your all until you are all out! Also I think he is trying to prove the point that there are some people that live this lifestyle. As we see it today with the World Series of Poker. All of these points are proven as Denn still has one chip and he is not negative on his chances. He says “all-in” with some confidence, which really makes me happy. It proves he is not giving up. Do you guys think he won? Write you own ending to the story and include the tournament, plans with Cattie, and what he did in the future. I personally think that he won, and in doing so he took over the casino. He lived the high life and dated Cattie soon afterwards. He grew up to be a successful gambler in Vegas, where he owned some of his own casinos. I do realize as my thoughts on the ending were way off. I think Pete did this to make the reader finish the ending to what they think should happen. Denn in my mind was a kid who found a passion and a skill in a game and ran with it.
As I said I think that he won the tournament. But is that what truly happened? I think that it is amazing as he made it through the whole tournament and with little sleep. Denn is truly the best of the best. What do you guys think of the tournament? My thoughts were that it gave the book more suspense as you wanted to keep reading. Also do you guys think that it is right to violate the rules that you made everybody else follow? This is what happened at the end of the tournament as Artie smoke a cigarette at the table. It is wrong in my mind because it is breaking the rules. I don’t like to break the rules, and I usually like to follow them. It just shows how rude and cocky he is. Another thing we see is that no cheating was seen. It seemed as Cattie played straight up and so did the other dealers. Then Ree even told Artie that he never made Denn go all-in. Was this right to do as it could possibly lose the game for Artie? I think it was because it is only right not to cheat. It is kind of like Karma, as Artie wanted to cheat. Karma says that whatever you do badly always comes around to bit you in the butt later.
Lastly I would like to talk about the title. We see that the title is “All-in” because everybody was going all-in. This is very important to notice because you can see what the author was thinking when he picked the title. Is this the title that you would have chosen? Pick a title or keep the same one. My thoughts were that it made sense as we see that the author built the whole story line to show what he meant as all-in. I could not tell you a better title for this book, and this was a very good book. I recommend it to all that read this blog.
-Alex
Category: Per 3 ToTC DD 3 comments »
April 19th, 2009 at 8:05 am
If I had to make my own ending to the story… Even if it may be impossible…
Denn had come back from only having one measly $1000 chip and beat Artie in a very dramatic game. Denn had gotten the motivation to win from all of the previous players encouraging him, especially Jimbo. Also, when Denn had spotted Cattie wearing the gold necklace he gave her, he got the encouragement and realized that Cattie was on his side and that she loved him. So from there he won, jumping and screaming excitedly, screamed in Artie’s face, got the money, thanked Jimbo, and carried Cattie out of King’s Crossing. From there, Denn took Cattie back to his real home to meet his mother, and get something to eat . Then, Cattie and Denn both decided to get married right then, since they were finally age eligible and they decided what they were going to do the rest of their lives- play poker.
I defiantly do not like what has gone on at the tournament. Artie should have automatically lost, because he broke his own rules. This was not fair. I didn’t think it was fair in the first place for Artie to play in his own tournament. Also I agree with what you said about karma, and that defiantly happened to Artie.
I would most likely keep the title that Pete Hautman had chosen. The title does give the hint that something dealing with someone going “All-in” was going to take place. It is also an appropriate title because the book is all about poker.
I really liked this book. Maybe if Mr. Shank let’s us pick our next book, we can read the other one by Pete Hautman, “No Limit”.
-Leah Sevco
April 19th, 2009 at 10:57 am
First, everybody is saying that this was a bad ending to this novel. I disagree. Pete Hautman is leting the reader use their imagination to make an ending that would fit them. If Pete made an ending some people would be made at how it turned out. This way anything is possible.
In my ending Denn wouldn’t have won it. He had tp little of chips. After he lost Denn relized that poker isn’t everything in life. So, he started a relationship with Cattie. Their relationship turned Cattie into a better person. She stopped stealing and called her mother and sorted things out. As for Denn, he learned reads on Artie in the Big Deal. So, he challenged Artie to a million dollar game and won. This was Artie’s justice for cheating so many times. Alex, I want to ask you why you think that if Denn wins that he will take over Kings Crossing. What does this even mean. That he will buy it from Artie. One million dollars is not enough to buy a casino.
I believe that this tournament was a joke. Nobody would go to a tournament that only gave aprize to the first place winner. I guess it was okay as far as how Denn did. He stayed awake and destoryed most of the competition. I believe that was the best dealer at the tournament. She was one of the only ones that didn’t cheat for Artie. I think that she did the right thing when she told Denn he had $1000 chip left. She is only doing her job. Besides Artie cheated so much in this tournament already.
Lastly, this is a perfect title to fiti this book. These words are said in the most important parts of this book. They also let the reader know that this is a the only oppritunity the player has.
-Julian Garcia
April 19th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Okay if I had to write my own ending this is what would happen: Denn wins the All- In poker tournament and doesn’t rub it in Artie’s face just simply says good job and walks away from the table. Then he rushes over to Jimbo and the rest of the players who stayed and cheer and talk with them. Cattie comes up to Denn, kisses him, and then they go out for the rest of the night and party. Denn catches up on his sleep and then takes a plane back to his home w/ Cattie so she can meet his family and so he can tell them what happened. Cattie and Denn date for a while and then have a Vegas wedding. Cattie continues dealing and Denn opens up his own casino, he still gambles but not as much as he used to.
I agree with Leah somewhat and with you, Alex. Karma definitely played a role at the end of the book and Artie is not fair when he plays poker. I think we have to give a hand to Morty because if he would not have stood up to Artie and gave Denn that fair call Denn probably would have loss to Artie. By the end of the book ideas and possible endings were all over the place. I am just glad the ending was so calm but exciting at the same time. I did enjoy how Pete described the tournament and the players, it felt like I was there and one of the players.
Before I read this book I seriously knew nothing about poker, zip, zero, zilch. I didn’t know what all- in meant but I wanted to find out. Throughout the book Pete keeps you wondering when is he going to say all in or who is going to say all-in? This is a great title for this book and I would not change it.
-Rebecca Krick