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The Big Blind
Audrey Unger hasn't seen her father since she was a child. A professional poker player and compulsive gambler, he left home when she was eleven years old and disappeared from her life for good.Now in her early thirties and poised on the edge of her own mid-life crisis, she makes the decision to try and find him. To discover what it was that made him gamble. To discover what drove him to give her up. Big Louie is the key to her father's world. An agoraphobic, card playing, Hans Christian Anderson sized giant, who hasn't left his flat in over three years. Fighting a battle with his own phobias, he takes Audrey on a journey of self discovery. He guides her through the subtleties of professional poker; the thrill of high stakes gambling; and on towards a final hand of cards that will change both of their lives for good.
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First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Louise Wener
12 books43 followersLouise is an English writer, singer, songwriter and guitarist of the band Sleeper.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
July 30, 2013
So I bought this book because I thought it would be about poker. And it was, kind of, but mainly that cover and blurb is doing some serious bluffing because it's about much more.
Audrey Ungar should be satisfied with her life--she's in her early thirties, she's traveled the world, she's a math genius, and she has steady employment, loyal friends, and the perfect-for-her boyfriend. However, for Audrey, there will forever be one thing missing: her father. Suffering from a gambling addiction, her father abandoned the family when Audrey was eleven years old. Audrey does everything she can to bring her wayward father's attention back to the family: she becomes a math prodigy and, when her genius gets her everyone's admiration but his, she turns to shoplifting. Because of his abandonment, the adult Audrey feels the need to obsessively control everything in her life.
Audrey's world is shaken, however, when her step-father reveals that her father tried to keep in touch with her long ago, but her step-father discouraged him because he felt the impact on Audrey could only be a negative one. This admission causes Audrey to seek out her father through the only thing he loved: the game of poker. Doing so brings Audrey into contact with Big Louie, an agoraphobic, obese, former card hustler who promises to teach Audrey the game and use his tournament connections to help Audrey track down the man who gambled away her childhood happiness. Such help doesn't come freely and Audrey finds that she has an impossible debt to pay for Big Louie's help.
The Perfect Play has very little to do with the game of poker and is more about the chances, gambles, and fortunes that shape our own lives. In learning about poker, Audrey's really seeking to understand the man who left her behind. But the danger in doing so is that Audrey probably already understands her father better than she realizes: both are mathematical geniuses, both have obsessive personalities, and both have a laser-like focus that shuts everyone else out. As Audrey becomes better at the game, we begin to wonder if Audrey realizes how precariously close she's coming to living out the sins of her father and risking everything and everyone she should value.
Louise Wener also sets up some clever bluffs throughout the narrative. Some things that seem a little cliche or implausible are turned on their head by the novel's end and a few of the plot lines that I scoffed at as predictably heading toward a particular end cleverly dodge in a different direction. Her strongest suit is creating believably flawed, yet incredibly likable characters. I really, truly like Audrey--something I can rarely say of women in fiction. The dialogue is often witty and funny, in a day-to-day sort of way. These conversations sound like those real people with genuine senses of humor and close relationships would have.
If the novel has a flaw, it may be that the poker game we all knew the novel would eventually be heading towards happens at the very end and seems somewhat rushed, lacking any real sense of tension. But, really, in the end, the novel isn't about the game anyway. It's about the players.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
Audrey Ungar should be satisfied with her life--she's in her early thirties, she's traveled the world, she's a math genius, and she has steady employment, loyal friends, and the perfect-for-her boyfriend. However, for Audrey, there will forever be one thing missing: her father. Suffering from a gambling addiction, her father abandoned the family when Audrey was eleven years old. Audrey does everything she can to bring her wayward father's attention back to the family: she becomes a math prodigy and, when her genius gets her everyone's admiration but his, she turns to shoplifting. Because of his abandonment, the adult Audrey feels the need to obsessively control everything in her life.
Audrey's world is shaken, however, when her step-father reveals that her father tried to keep in touch with her long ago, but her step-father discouraged him because he felt the impact on Audrey could only be a negative one. This admission causes Audrey to seek out her father through the only thing he loved: the game of poker. Doing so brings Audrey into contact with Big Louie, an agoraphobic, obese, former card hustler who promises to teach Audrey the game and use his tournament connections to help Audrey track down the man who gambled away her childhood happiness. Such help doesn't come freely and Audrey finds that she has an impossible debt to pay for Big Louie's help.
The Perfect Play has very little to do with the game of poker and is more about the chances, gambles, and fortunes that shape our own lives. In learning about poker, Audrey's really seeking to understand the man who left her behind. But the danger in doing so is that Audrey probably already understands her father better than she realizes: both are mathematical geniuses, both have obsessive personalities, and both have a laser-like focus that shuts everyone else out. As Audrey becomes better at the game, we begin to wonder if Audrey realizes how precariously close she's coming to living out the sins of her father and risking everything and everyone she should value.
Louise Wener also sets up some clever bluffs throughout the narrative. Some things that seem a little cliche or implausible are turned on their head by the novel's end and a few of the plot lines that I scoffed at as predictably heading toward a particular end cleverly dodge in a different direction. Her strongest suit is creating believably flawed, yet incredibly likable characters. I really, truly like Audrey--something I can rarely say of women in fiction. The dialogue is often witty and funny, in a day-to-day sort of way. These conversations sound like those real people with genuine senses of humor and close relationships would have.
If the novel has a flaw, it may be that the poker game we all knew the novel would eventually be heading towards happens at the very end and seems somewhat rushed, lacking any real sense of tension. But, really, in the end, the novel isn't about the game anyway. It's about the players.
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
August 20, 2023
Got halfway through. I just didn't care enough to finish. The vibe was Bridget Jones meets Reality Bites. Way too much ennui and angst.
October 14, 2012
The author of this unusual novel, Louise Wener, emerged as a successful full time author after fame as a lead singer in the pop band Sleeper. Her focus in this story is the daughter of a household split apart by the financial and social consequences of addictive gambling.
However this is a scenario with a difference. The gamblers in this story are a breed apart from the norm. Both the daughter and her lost father are mathematical geniuses. This is a tale of perseverance and longing. It is about focus on goals which look unattainable.
I enjoyed this book and the sensitivity of the author’s exploration of the world of gambling, its effect on families and friends and most of all I loved the ending.
Carinya
However this is a scenario with a difference. The gamblers in this story are a breed apart from the norm. Both the daughter and her lost father are mathematical geniuses. This is a tale of perseverance and longing. It is about focus on goals which look unattainable.
I enjoyed this book and the sensitivity of the author’s exploration of the world of gambling, its effect on families and friends and most of all I loved the ending.
Carinya
November 24, 2018
Loved Wener's autobiography, but put that down to a likeable style alongside anecdotes of the 90s which gave a behind-the-scenes view of the music I listened to as a student, and didn't intend seeking out her fiction. But this (and another of hers) was insanely cheap in a charity shop, and I love a bargain! Oh, it was so lovely. It surprises me that a few reviewers remark on its predictability; I thought the opposite: that it was truly original and well-plotted, with genuinely brilliant characters. That said, it's not a keeper; I don't know that it would hold up to a re-reading. But I really enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
October 16, 2025
This novel is a testament to my own oddity. It was given to me in 2006, I have moved house with it six times. I never even started it because the cover image turned me off yet could not bring myself to give it away because of who had gifted it to me. The title did not ring any bells so I was surprised to learn the main topic is gambling when I finally dug in. It was a swift and simple read with a thickening plot and an outrageous protagonist. She has two pursuits she set her mind to and accomplishes both of them almost like an afterthought. So it‘s the bizarre journey the reader needs to approve of and I cannot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2018
I quite enjoyed Wener's first book, which prompted me to give this a go, although I have little interest in poker, and the blurb made it sound a bit average. What I definitely didn't expect was a comic romp, with bits that made me genuinely laugh out loud, that also had a lot to say about family and relationships, and that could be tender, and warm hearted, and moving. All with a high stakes, tense ending, and a genuine potential to surprise, I was gripped. And almost moved to tears at the end. A cracking read.
March 30, 2018
This has been sitting on my shelf for absolutely ages waiting to be read. Having finally gotten round to reading it, it should have just made it's way off my shelf still unread. Marketed as 'hilarious', the sprinkling of amusements throughout didn't really appeal to my sense of humour, and the characters were all just a little sad and desperate. It took 3/4 of the book to actually begin to develop the plot, and then it was fairly obvious where it was going to go from there on.
I guess it might appeal to some people, but the characters just didn't do it at all for me.
I guess it might appeal to some people, but the characters just didn't do it at all for me.
October 25, 2022
I've read other Louise Wener novels and enjoy her writing style, she has relatable characters and stories with a lightness of touch and great humour. This is the story of Audrey, a maths genius tormented by the disappearance of her father. She discovers that she shares her father’s talent for poker, leading to an adventure. As well as being a cracking page turner, this novel features some wonderful memorable characters, including card sharp Big Louie and Audrey's twin magician half brothers. A very enjoyable read
May 25, 2024
Audrey's father was a poker player who lost his family and home to the incurred debts. She hasn't seen him since he left home when she was ten. Now approaching her 33rd birthday, she meets Big Louie - another poker player - who just might be able to provide a route back to her father.
Well written - although the "laugh out-loud funny passages" quote on the cover is not realised - and good fun.
Well written - although the "laugh out-loud funny passages" quote on the cover is not realised - and good fun.
September 13, 2018
Audrey Unger's dad left home to play poker and she's been searching for him for more than half her life. Big Louie is an agoraphobic giant looking for the perfect protege to teach to be a card mechanic in order to take down his nemesis and takes Audrey under his enormous wing. It's an amusing story full of quirky characters and situations that I found remarkably entertaining.
March 8, 2019
Wener clearly has enough poker knowledge to write convincing passages on gameplay and the thought processes going on in the background, balanced with sufficient explanation for those who may not understand much about the game. Engaging, believable characters - even the one who is particularly "larger than life". Loved this.
April 25, 2022
I would not have normally read this book, but a friend passed it on to me. It does describe the gambling high, but since I am not a gambler, I am sure I missed the complete picture. Not all about gambling though. A story about loss and control. Very readable!
November 2, 2020
This book was just okay to me. It seemed to drag out. It wasn't a favorite of mine!
August 1, 2021
sorry for liking this book i guess
April 12, 2022
Fabulous!
November 12, 2022
One of my favourite books.
March 14, 2017
A good book, finished it vet quickly. Too many "and" in each sentence, it's good for those who live to play games and maybe gamble.
February 15, 2014
Louise Wener’s second novel is a real departure from her debut outing. In “The Big Blind” she creates a believable and realistic protagonist in Audrey Ungar, a thirty-something maths tutor with slight OCD tendencies, who discovers that she shares her absent father’s obsession with poker. With the help of an obese and reclusive card sharp called Big Louie she sets out on a quest to track down and confront her missing father.
Wener has a finely honed comedic eye (and ear) and her characters crackle with life. As a reader you feel a real sense of identification with the cast, and her characterisations are witty without descending into caricature. Big Louie is really well written, and Wener creates a fine balance between his manic compulsions and the sense of menace that starts to surround Audrey.
The plotting of this book is stronger than her debut novel, and she also managed to make me cry at the final denouement.
I have never been a card player, and therefore have never truly understood the fascination with poker. However Wener succeeds in making the game sound mesmeric, even to a complete novice like me. Now, I just need to go and practice my mechanic’s deal.
Wener has a finely honed comedic eye (and ear) and her characters crackle with life. As a reader you feel a real sense of identification with the cast, and her characterisations are witty without descending into caricature. Big Louie is really well written, and Wener creates a fine balance between his manic compulsions and the sense of menace that starts to surround Audrey.
The plotting of this book is stronger than her debut novel, and she also managed to make me cry at the final denouement.
I have never been a card player, and therefore have never truly understood the fascination with poker. However Wener succeeds in making the game sound mesmeric, even to a complete novice like me. Now, I just need to go and practice my mechanic’s deal.
August 5, 2014
A quick and easy and enjoyable read with some real emotional resonance amid the wisecracks. Our heroine, Audrey, hasn't seen her father since childhood and has always felt incomplete - well I could certainly identify with that having lost contact with my own dad aged 12. Audrey gets to have a happy ending, which I slightly resented not having had one of my own (he died in 2012, there was no happy - or otherwise - reconciliation) and this comes not long after considerable deus ex machina shenanigans, weak jokes, one dimensional characters and yet I couldn't find it in my heart to dislike this. I even dug out my copy of the first Sleeper album for the first listen in quite a few years. 3.5 rounded up because Louise Wener is still a babe.
April 2, 2012
Surprisingly good, seeing that some parts fell totally flat and made me want to just stop reading it for good. There's something that bothered me immensely but I can't quite put a finger on what it is. Maybe it was the dad's character. Maybe it was the overprotective boyfriend.
The plot is interesting enough though. The overall feel of this book is amusing as well. I for sure, haven't read a book with a heroine as hilarious as Audrey. All the poker talk at the end flew over my head though.
It was a fun, quick read but if you haven't read it, you're not really missing out on anything.
The plot is interesting enough though. The overall feel of this book is amusing as well. I for sure, haven't read a book with a heroine as hilarious as Audrey. All the poker talk at the end flew over my head though.
It was a fun, quick read but if you haven't read it, you're not really missing out on anything.
May 8, 2013
I enjoyed this novel about poker and gambling quite a bit. It had some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, great characters and truly terrific writing. The whole book had a very cinematic quality to it. It was a lot of fun to read and I am definitely looking forward to reading Wener’s other books! What a talent!
May 20, 2013
I plowed through this book just to be able to finish what I started, but it wasn't that great. Of course, the copy I have is the Advanced Reader's Edition, not the official publication sold in stores, so it's possible that the story was improved a bit before it was available to the public. I really hope so.
June 20, 2009
Written by the singer of Brit-pop band Sleeper, this is an enjoyable journey into the world of serious poker. I learned quite a lot about the game (all forgotten now) and Wener creates some interesting characters. A quick, light read.
February 23, 2011
The first third of this book genuinely amused me. I was captivated and I couldn't help but like the main character. I like the absurd and this author had a good handle on it.
Then the last two thirds of the book really bored me. Blah, poker, blah issues, blah, blah, blah.
Then the last two thirds of the book really bored me. Blah, poker, blah issues, blah, blah, blah.
September 1, 2007
my favourite part of this book is the trivial fact of how long is the time for a worm to cross the desert or something like that..
September 24, 2008
A quick read. There's certainly nothing deep here, but it's less fluffy than the cover led me to believe. A good vacation book, especially if you're going to Vegas!
July 23, 2012
For all those women who love poker, you'll enjoy this book. Who says a woman can't shuffle up and deal with the boys?
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews