A story about poker and plumbing
There are no murders in this story, just killer hands and players drawing dead. Once a week the players come together to play their cards, trying to find the zone and avoid bad luck, bad beats and bawbags. There are many types of poker and many types of players. Vince doesn’t play, but thinks he's a business man who thinks he knows a way of making money from poker. Arthur and Rab both learned how to play when they met in the Mad Hotel and saw fruit Ninjas in throwing cards at bananas. Arthur plays for succour after his wife disappeared. A poker table is the only time that Rab, aka Frank the Penguin, will sit down with anyone not committed to the Cause. Lee learned how to play in prison, for a crime that he's still paying for. Welsh doesn’t want to know what he did, but thinks he's about to find out. Shuffle up and deal.
Bad Beat Hotel
What people are saying…
“Very funny, surprisingly poignant and informative. Good characterisations with great intros to different forms of poker played gives the necessary backdrop as the story develops and ends in an unexpected fashion.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“I found the Bad Beat Hotel a thoroughly compelling read. The characters' stories were fascinating, both tragic and hilarious.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
”I know nothing about Poker (or plumbing) but this was did not inhibit my enjoyment in the slightest. Laugh out loud funny in places (See Frank the Penguin), deeply moving in parts (Arthur) and most of all very relatable, I believed in the characters.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“If you like poker, Scottish comedy (dark humour in particular), gritty thrillers, plumbing, plot twists, or any combination of the above, it has all of this plus more.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk
“A superbly written book. Each chapter stands on its on merits as a story on its own and then all the tales come together in a very well-crafted ending. Full of a mixture of humour and insight. Poker players will no doubt appreciate the level of detail woven into the novel, but a knowledge of the game (or plumbing!) isn't necessary to enjoy this splendid and spellbinding story. Highly recommended.”
— 5 star review in Amazon.co.uk