Greg Winick

A Poker Story Greg Winick

Jerry Nadler is a Jewish kid growing up in Northern New Jersey. Surrounded by Italian mobsters and illegal poker rooms, he idolizes the best player in town: his father. But after making some bad life choices, Jerry begins to follow in his dad's footsteps-no thanks to his friend and onetime childhood tormentor, Tony. Tony Baldino Jr.'s dad is a mafia enforcer who runs a gambling network and a strip club. Tony Jr. walks the same path in life and brings his childhood friend Jerry along for the ride. His small-time coke ring takes him from college to prison to the underbelly of the New Jersey mob. As the head of a network of illegal businesses, he becomes as wealthy as he is deadly. Karen Benedetto grew up with Jerry and Tony Jr. Although like everyone else, Tony sees her as the hottest girl in town with a troubled childhood, but Jerry knows her first as a determined survivor intent on bettering herself, then as his mother's protégée. Karen's journey takes her from working in strip clubs to becoming a renowned author and speaker. A Poker Story is about the tales we tell ourselves about our luck, our past, and our futures-culminating in a high-stakes mob hit at the World Poker Championships.