The Cincinnati kid by Richard Jessup

The end was a bit... unsatisfying, but still not a bad book, in its own way. I was kind of surprised, actually. So little story, so many pages describing poker games, and yet it was captivating enough, not bad; in a way it's the usual 'western' story of 'who is the fastest with a gun', only it is 'who is the best at playing poker'.
The Cincinnati kid, as everybody calls him, or Eric, as his girlfriend Christian calls him ( I thought it was a man's name..), has played poker since he was very young. Now he's a professional, and has made a name for himself. The "Champion", the number one, is a guy called Lancey. Now Lancey is in town and the kid wants to play with him. The kid thinks he's the best and wants to prove it.
He's told that he's not ready yet, but he still wants to play, he still thinks he can beat him.
In the week before the game we get a description of how women should never want 'more' from professional poker players ( :-/ )  and a glimpse into the kid's life: how he misses Christian when she goes back to her parents' home, to the point of going there to spend a day with her before the big game, and yet he tells her father that the game, what he does, is more important than she is :-/ then the day comes.
They play long hours at stud poker, a kind of poker I don't like too much. Long pages but not as boring as I'd have imagined, and at the end... should I say it now? Well, I'd like to remind myself that I have absolutely no intention of reading it again, so yes, let's write how it ends.
Everyone's watching, it's an important game, but Lancey has been the number one for many years, and not for nothing. He wins again, and the kid loses the game and a lot of money, but it's not the loss of money that hurts him, it's having lost the game. He starts drinking.
His friends call Christian to come back and take care of him. Now it's her that has to support him with her job as a waitress. Days go by, he stops drinking but doesn't start playing again until she insists and gives him money to start. He wins, pays his debts and makes enough money to try again.
Another game with Lacey, but this time it's told in two lines. The kid loses again, and the book ends on the kid down, depressed and again Christian and his friends that try to help him...
Come on, get it together kid, or should people call you child instead?? :-/


ITA Cincinnati kid