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Douglas Stewart is an avid amateur poker player who plays in live tournaments whenever his schedule allows, but makes his living as a literary agent in New York City where he focuses on working with novelists as well as with a few select children’s book writers. We talk about poker, literature, poker in literature, and how a New York literary agent fits in (or doesn’t fit in) at an Atlantic City poker room.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello and welcome
7:43 – strat
41:17 – douglas
Links
Palmyra FAQ
Softcenter.band
The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
The Reason You’re Alive by Matthew Quick
Collusion by Luke Harding
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
The Noble Hustle by Colson Whitehead
Martin Harris on Episode 4
Martin Harris on Episode 154
Strategy
PokerStars, $186 + $14 – Hold’em No Limit – 12,500/25,000 (3,125 ante) – 2 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker – https://www.upswingpoker.com/replayer/223OgXLrc
SB (Hero): 1,293,672 (52 bb)
BB: 1,386,328 (55 bb)
Pre-Flop: (43,750) Hero is SB with Q♦ 2♣
Hero raises to 62,500, BB calls 37,500
Flop: (131,250) K♦ Q♠ 6♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 100,000, BB calls 100,000
Turn: (331,250) 7♣ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks
River: (331,250) K♠ (2 players)
BB bets 198,750, SB (Hero) folds
PokerStars, $186 + $14 – Hold’em No Limit – 12,500/25,000 (3,125 ante) – 2 players
Replay this hand on Upswing Poker – https://www.upswingpoker.com/replayer/223OgXLtN
SB: 1,333,203 (53 bb)
BB (Hero): 1,346,797 (54 bb)
Pre-Flop: (43,750) Hero is BB with 9♦ 7♣
SB raises to 56,250, Hero calls 31,250
Flop: (118,750) Q♠ 8♦ T♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets 50,000, Hero calls 50,000
Turn: (218,750) 4♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks
River: (218,750) 6♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, SB checks
There are a couple of candidates for poker books with some literary pretensions from the uk:
– Al alverez’s The Big Deal – he was a journalist of some serious repute and my memory of this is that it was great.
– Vicky Coren (who you still should def. have as a guest) I think wrote a poker memoir and she’s very good in general. I haven’t read it though.
But obviously the conclusion was that Andrew should be writing the book, right?
It’s a shame that Nate wasn’t in on this interview (obviously that’s always true, but especially so this time)
And just to follow up, I liked the discussion about the literary scene a lot. Although I like reading a lot, I have given up on the literary podcasts I have tried because they were mainly about the current next big thing, and I’ve found myself enjoying reading a lot more adopting a mix of ploughing my own furrows, and letting a few years pass to see if the hype on a given name is sustained or not.
David Mitchell is an interesting one – I’ve enjoyed several of his books, but I don’t get the fervour that he seems to generate with some. I think his core following does have a decent overlap with Infinite Jest fans, though, so in that sense he’s probably a good recommendation for Andrew.