No Limit

Denn Doyle

by Pete Hautman

Sixteen-year-old Denn finds himself alienating both friends and family when he becomes obsessed with playing high-stakes poker with adult gamblers.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Sports

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Peter Murray Hautman is an American author best known for his novels for young adults. One of them, Godless, won the 2004 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The National Book Foundation summary is, "A teenage boy decides to invent a new religion with a new god."

Reviews

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book No Limit by Pete Hautman. In this book, the main character is Dennis Doyle and he loves poker. He also has a good landscaping business going on and he doing really well. Once he picks up the cards for the first time, he immediately loves the game.
I liked this book because it was a fast read and and it was one of those books where you want to know more about the character and what is going on in his life. Once I picked this book up, I didn’t want to put it back down. It was so good that I read it in 3 days. I really like it because it takes you through the couple of months with Dennis and you get involved in some complicated things. This book is a book you casually read to pass the time. I think that anyone could read this book because it was that great and it was fun to read.

[Caleb Deacon · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Limit by Pete Hautman. I thought this book was a very curious book. I say this because every chapter you didn’t know what was going happen. Pete Hautman got me so interested in the book I didn’t want to put the book down. The book had such an amazing pot line I forgot why I didn’t read that often. I have never been a big reader but for the first time in a long time, I read at my house.

This book is about a kid named Dennis Doyle. Dennis was living an ordinary life. He had a girlfriend named Kelly and a best friend named Murk. His parents were divorced and didn’t see much of his dad. He also had a mowing business. Then he was invited to a poker game. His dad had taught him a few things about poker before he left. Could one poker game mess up his whole life? Throughout the book, you will go through many different difficulties, humbleness, and direct straight forwarded information about the characters and their life. Dennis makes a lot of mistakes in the book and kept making and more mistakes. I think that all of his mistakes gives the book a lot of excitement because you don’t know what's going to happen next. I think if anybody gets a chance to read this book this should be your first choice to choose. If I would rate this book I would give it a solid 9/10.

[D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

STONE COLD tells the story of Denn Doyle, a high school student who discovers, quite accidentally, that he's an amazing poker player. But more than that, it's a story about growing up, the choices you make AS you grow up, and about discovering who you are for better or for worse.

But even more than that, STONE COLD is about the things we do to convince ourselves that we're not making mistakes, and how we justify the things we do as we do them. Hautman's writing here is reminiscent of Robert Cormier, who never romanticized or moralized about his characters, but just let them make their choices and deal with the consequences. Hautman's major success in this book is his amazing way of getting into the mind of a high-school student, with all the questions, heartbreak, successes, and disappointments that come with it. He also manages to put into words the FEEL of a poker game better than just about anyone else I've read.

While he's primarily known as a "YA writer," (probably because his most well-known novel was GODLESS, which won the National Book Award in 2004), Hautman's really just a great WRITER. (He has written some novels for adults -- RAG MAN won an award from the WLA in 2002 -- but he'll probably always be known as the guy who wrote GODLESS, just like Robert Cormier will always be the guy who wrote THE CHOCOLATE WAR, even though he wrote several other fabulous novels.)

This book shows why Hautman deserves to be read by younger audiences and adults -- he crafts a good story, makes you think, and you can't ask for much more than that.

Highly recommended.

[Tariq Abdul-Quddoos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good read keeps the reader engaged and great ending. The development of the characters throughout the book it some of the best I've read. Very good descriptions and cliffhangers at the end of most chapters. I would recommend this book to most young adults it is an easy book to read but also engaging.

[CaidenS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever been addicted to something because you were good at it? If yes, you should read this book. The Main Characters are Denn Doyle, Jason Hicks, Murky, Kelly, Mom, and Denn’s dad. Jason Hicks (Denn’s friend) introduced Denn to playing a bit of poker with Jason’s friends and he is a natural. Denn’s addiction to poker grows and he gains a lot of profit from the games. Denn’s girlfriend Kelly doesn’t support his gambling choices and that she doesn’t like being bought things with the money Denn has. Denn has a yard work business and he lets his friend Murky, a retired gambler, borrow the job. Denn is very good at poker and he eventually gets to play in a mini casino because of his friends introducing it to him and meets new people at the casino.











SPOILERS AHEAD!!







The ending of the book made me think that Denn shouldn’t have chosen gambling instead of his yard work business because it just increases his chance of getting jumped. I believe that he will get arrested in the future for the fake ID for the casino. I think that if Denn didn’t quit gambling that he wouldn’t have met up with his dad because he left him and his mom to write scripts at a young age. The book also made me feel like Denn maybe should have never even started gambling because his girlfriend and his relationship worsened. I feel mixed emotions about his gambling choices because in the end he makes enough money that he buys and owns a casino but that his relationship with family and friends isn’t good and supportive of his ideas. I give this book a rating of five stars out of five stars.

[Martin Newlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Limit tells the story of Denn Doyle, a teenager who starts playing poker with his friends just for fun. At first, it’s all about the excitement, reading people’s faces, taking small risks, and feeling that rush when he wins a hand. But before long, the game stops being harmless. Denn starts playing online, gambling for real money, and sneaking into bigger games with older players. The more he wins, the more he thinks he can’t lose. The more he loses, the more desperate he becomes to win it back. His love for poker slowly turns into an addiction that affects his family, his friends, and his sense of who he is. The story shows how quickly things can spiral when the game becomes more important than everything else.
As someone who actually plays poker for a living, this story hit home. It’s not about the flashy side of poker you see in movies; it’s about the mental grind, the highs and lows, and how easy it is to lose focus if you’re not disciplined. Hautman does a great job showing the tension between confidence and obsession. I liked that the book doesn’t judge poker itself; it just shows what happens when someone lets it take over. The writing is simple but powerful, and Denn’s emotions feel real. I think it’s a great read for teens or anyone who’s ever been drawn to risk, temptation, or the pressure to prove themselves.

[Jacob Perkins]

Denn starts playing poker with a few friends and becomes addicted so he loses his company, friends, family, and his girlfriend. I really liked this book because the hidden meaning in the story can be really helpful for the future. The book showed the things that you can lose due to addiction and the struggles behind addiction. In one of the chapters, the guys Denn was playing against and beating mugged him on his way home. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes stories that have a good meaning and people who like realistic fiction.

[Yusuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story the poker lacks the labyrinthine yet crystal-clear plotting of Mr. Was, Hautman nonetheless holds a wild card in his hand. Denn was always obsessed with money but he was otherwise normal. He has a thriving landscaping business and a longtime girlfriend. But this quickly disappear when Denn discovers poker the he moves from play games in the room with a group of boozy tough kids to the $1000 tables at a local casino, in and out of Gamblers Anonymous and finally to a private game where the sky's the limit. The wild card is that Hautman does not turn this into a problem novel. Instead, it's the story of a boy who finds he has talent and works to develop it. Despite accusations of immorality and addiction, Denn sees himself as a child prodigy. He studies hard--identifying his opponents' ""tells"" and learning the odds for completing different hands--and he wins continuously. This bitter, almost amoral novel ends with Denn, at age 16, living alone and owning the casino.

[Jacory]

He’s co

[Cristo]

It's a good book, really, but it teaches a good lesson about obsession

[Brandon Knoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book No Limit and previously named Stone Cold by Pete Hautman the main character Dennis Doyle or Denn is just a normal kid in the beginning of the summer. He has his own small lawn business, a girlfriend, and a lot of friends. His dad left their family when he was younger to make movie scripts for a living. His dad constantly trying to have Denn visit California so he can see what it is like. Denn always makes up an excuse why he can’t come out and visit. One day Denn was hanging out with his friends and they asked him if he wanted to come over and play a little poker. He went over and he won all of their money. After that he became addicted to gambling. He couldn’t stop. He read books about card games and how to know if someone has a good or bad hand. He works his way up to playing at casinos by using a fake ID. The first time he went to a casino he was wearing a dress shirt tie and a sport jacket. When he sat down at his first table his hands were shaking so much that he could barely even see the card numbers. There was an older man, Cookie as Denn referred to him, sitting next to him and said, “Hey Swanny you okay?” Denn said that he was fine. After a few hands he got back into a zone and he took everyone’s money. After he got home he realized that his tie had swans on it. About a week later he went to the casino after his dad asked him again if he wanted to come to visit. Denn was playing when a man with sandy hair and skin sat next to him. He won a couple hundred dollars then leaned over and said if he wanted to ever play at Marcel’s that Denn could just give him a call. Marcel’s was a restaurant famous for its food, but even more famous for its no limit poker game. Denn was there so long that when one of the opponents left from losing so much money his dad sat down across the table from him. He looked up and almost didn’t even recognize him. His dad made him go home with him and when he cashed in his poker chips he had won 10 grand. When they got home they talked with him and said that Denn had to quit playing poker because he was addicted to it. His dad also made him go talk to the priest of where he used to do lawn business for. The priest makes him go to gamblers anonymous. He doesn’t see the point of going because all of them are losers and people who were addicted to gambling. Denn wasn’t either of those things so he left and never went again. There was one night when one of his friends took all of the money out of his bank deposit and Denn suspected that he would be going to the No limit poker game at Marcel’s with Mr. Kingston the man with sandy hair and flesh. Denn went to try and get his friend out of it by going as well. After the first couple hands he got into a zone. That was it. He was playing in the stone cold. The stone cold is seeing every little thing that a player gives away. Mr. Kingston the owner and Denn were the only two left after a few hours. Denn wasn’t sure if he was giving anything away, but then he saw the slightest little things that he did as tells. Mr. Kingston was all Denn’s.

[Edwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finish reading the book No limit is written by Pete HauntMan and it was great. The main character Dennis Doyle is a worker. He like earning money for himself but when his lawn business doesn't sky rockets as he plans he turns to something else...poker. His neighbor introduces it to him and Dennis turns out to be good at it. He wins wins and wins but when one of his friends bluffs him out of a jack pot of 200 hundred dollars he stops playing... for now. He buys books and cards to help him out for his game. Dennis gets better and starts to hit the casino and now hes playing with the big boys now. He earns 55,000 dollars a night just playing in the casino. But as time goes by his mom and dad start to see a change in there son. He lose all his friends and family cause of his focus in money. So his father shows up one day when Dennis was in the casino and brings him home there he persuades him to do something else. This was a shocker in the book he turns out to be in a priest. I didn't expect that in the book, But when a trip back home Dennis has flash backs of his life and his game of poker and starts to play again. The number one player in poker had a nickname KING , And Dennis was aiming and taking his reputation away by beating him in the game he loves... poker.
Dennis beats everybody and soon its only him and the king. the king try ed to bluff him out of a big jack pot of 30 million dollars but Dennis knows better he raise it and when they reveal the cards Dennis has a better hand now hes the king of poker. This book was really great and i rate it a 10 out of 10 good book.

[Larry Dragani · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Limit the story of a sixteen year old, high stake poker player is a great book with bursts of action. Pete Hautman did a great job with this book and I absolutely loved it. I loved the way he spaced out the book giving every part of the book some action. The author definitely kept us engaged and it had an absolutely amazing ending. Dennis Doyle the main character in this book is in love with money, however his social and family life is just as normal as any of the sixteen year old. I also like how this book is in the first person, and in the eyes of Dennis Doyle. I definitely recommend this book to anyone that is in middle school or in high school. As they can relate to this book in many ways. The characters were also very intriguing, all of them were diverse making the story very interesting. There were a lot of characters and all of them had something to do with the story which I really liked. Since there were so many it gives you a bigger and better perspective of the book. This book goes through many themes of Obsession, Addiction, and Friendship. As Dennis finds out he’s a great poker player he gets obsessed. Then once he started to win money he became addicted. Then as he made poker his number one objective he lost his friends and most of his family. The main reason why I loved this book is because the author did not make this book about Dennis’s problem. As most people reading it would’ve thought it turned out. However, it was about how he found something he was great at and grabbed it and didn’t look back. This is a definite read and I recommend it to everyone.

[Derek Betts]

Stone cold is an amazing book, You wouldn't know what hit you if you didn't read pete hautman's first book, Mr. Was.

Stone cold is about a teen named Denn Dole, who is getting to some pretty high risks, getting into gambling is now his new priority. With selling his booming lawn business to his friend murky, Denn takes his life to a new level raking in all the cash. As Denn gets addicted to Gambling, he gets good. His friend jason is challenging him to some games at his place, maybe it's them who are the people trying to get the money out of him. It won't be long before his girlfriend dumps him, and then battles Mr. Kingston at his biggest game ever.

This was a really good book, L hope to read some more of his books later on. I would definitely recommend this book to someone that loves the book rumble fish, to where it is so similar. This book has in a way been very fascinating to me and I am positive it can be for you.

[Phong042008 · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Money is not everything”. Denn Doyle knowledge this from lots thing happened to him. Then he had a lot of money. He felt so lonely without of family and friends. He just wants someone could call him and listen to him.
He is a one really loves money. He has a lovely girl friend who loves him a lot.
He also has good friends who always listen to him. But he lost them after he learns that he has a natural talent. "All I want is to play cards, to run my fingers over those slick, hard surfaces, to feel that cold power flowing in and out through my hands and eyes." He could beat other people on the card including His peers, even older, experienced players. He gets lots of money. He got everything like he wants to. But he has to pay for everything he did. That is nobody would be with him.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Limit is a book that I read within a 3 week span. It was a good read for me because I am not the best of reader but it also challenged me. The book has strong points in it because he had problems. He gets together with some friends and come to find that they really aren’t the best of friends. I can relate to what he feels at this time because I have friends that have been there for me and know when to push my buttons and know when not too. He never gives up on his plan from when he was young, but doesn’t totally give up. He goes about his plan in a different direction. Which I really enjoy because it’s not boring and the way it should be. He comes to bumps in the road and has to walk over them.
While reading it I was guessing about what was going to happen next, but reading on it took turns and yields then goes on. I loved reading this because of those.

[Max Price · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book lacked character development, and upon finishing the book I realized that I never connected to any of the characters that Hautman introduced.

The storyline is predictable, but I found myself most frustrated by Hautman's decision to not delve deeper into the relationships in the novel. Why is Mark friends with Denn in the first place? Why don't we learn more about Denn's girlfriend? Because Hautman never lets us experience the relationships on a deep level, I found myself indifferent when these characters "strayed" from the narrator.

The book does provide some simple lessons, and it was a page-turner, so I do think it has value for reluctant YA readers, especially those interested in cards.

[Anthony Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really good book. What made me become interested in it was the amount of poker Ive been playing lately. It taught me a bunch of things i didn't know about poker.
This book is about a kid that gets addicted to poker and loses everything, but he is able to buy what ever he wants because he is rich and keeps winning.
I definatley recommend this book to kids that want to get better at poker.

[LaDounia Tescum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book this month because it made me realize that you don't know what you are capable of unless you really go and and try. This book is a great book because it also showed the ups and downs to actually seeing what you are capable of and accomplishing it and it also showed who you're real friends are because they will either support you or put you down and discourage you. And it showed me more of why you don't need someone.

[Laura Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Doyle has a successful lawn business and is slowly saving up money for a used Camaro when he is hit by a bus and knocked off his skateboard. When he escapes the incident unharmed he feels extraordinarily lucky. This luck continues as he is asked to play in his first poker game. Eventually, Denn will have to decide what it worth giving up in order to win the big pot. Sequel = All In

[Justin Regenscheid]

im about half way through the book and it really isnt what i had expected it to be, its not very interesting at all. it is a very fast read so thats one good thing about it. so all in all it was one of my worst books to read.

after finishing the book i thought it was kind of dumb. it wasnt all that good from the begining to the end it made me bored.

[Sam Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book dispiriting having no knowledge of poker. It was an exciting book and was detailed. It's wasn't too stressful because Denn, the main character, didn't care about the money but he had a passion for cards. It's a good read. Four stars because it wasn't the greatest book I've ever read but it's alright. But the ending I felt, was rushed and ended to quicklyz

[AdamS22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was pretty ok, i really only liked when they played poker, Dennis started to be a jerk at the end of this book thought, and he has a friend name seamus, read this book, its not gay like lyddie =), thats always a bonus

[Kim Benouski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised that this book, originally titled Stone Cold, was a fresh concept in YA lit. It's about teen gambling with a twist that I can't say. Students say they enjoy the book, and I really liked the ending.

[Sam Colborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was pretty good. :).. it wasnt a REALLY good book but it really kept me reading. i guess it would be easier if you know something about poker. I would suggest this book to a kid who likes poker lol. :)

[Elaine Klincik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book as a recommendation for some of my freshmen this year. Poker, illegal gambling rings, high school romance --- this book will be good for some of my reluctant readers. Under 200 pages, it's a quick read.

[Yasir Saleem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book...

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Texas Hold 'em so popular with teens today, this books is certainly relevant to their lives. I think Hautman is a GREAT YA writer.

[Jacob Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was one of my favorite books it taught me to always have a good poker face

[Melvin Valle · Rating 3 out of 5]

about a guy saving money and is good at numbers until one of his friends introduced him into gambling.