With the glint of summer lurking just on the horizon, many poker fans might be looking for some literature that will entertain them while, at the same time, allow them to look inside the world of poker. For those that choose the fiction route, an effort from late last year might provide a reader with just what they are looking for.
“The Superuser,” written by Collin Moshman and Katie Dozier in 2011 and now available on Amazon.com to Kindle owners (for the ridiculously low price of $.99), is just the type of poker novel that aficionados of the game would enjoy (albeit the “poker novel” field isn’t a large one) and those not associated will still enjoy. Both Moshman and Dozier are well respected in the poker community, contributing several strategy guides on the game of poker. With “The Superuser,” Moshman and Dozier have stepped into the world of fiction and done so with a great deal of success.
The book is a murder mystery based ever so loosely on the “Superuser” scandal that has engulfed Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet over the past few years. As many well remember, that particular “Superuser” scandal erupted when it became known that a person inside AP and UB had a secret program that allowed them to see their opponents’ hole cards. With the book, however, Moshman and Dozier have taken a step beyond just a simple plot of a “superuser” on an online poker site and turned it into a full blown murder mystery.
The hero of the book is disgraced former cop/poker champion Grisham Stark, who has been effectively banned from the poker community after accepting tournament chips in an event he was playing. After a former associate, a mohawked pro known as “Predator” Jones (the reader will discover his backstory sounds too much like many in the poker world), believes that he was cheated in an online game, he hires Stark to find out if there actually anything nefarious going on. Stark is informed by Jones that there have been rumors of a “superuser” in the nosebleed stakes games and that there recently was a murder of the CEO of Jones’ sponsor site, Poker Ocean, which could be covering up the issue.
Through his investigation of the scandal, Stark uncovers several potential suspects for the murder and who could be the superuser. There’s the latest sponsored champion of the site, an attractive blonde who catches Stark’s eye, several of the businessmen associated with the company and potentially even the person (or persons) who hired him. Woven into Stark’s investigation of the murder of the Poker Ocean CEO is the convoluted machinations in the political spectrum of Las Vegas and Washington, DC, with a healthy dollop of the Las Vegas Police Department (whom Stark worked for and still has connections with) thrown in for good measure.
From the start of the book, “The Superuser” is a cracking read. By the time that a reader reaches the end of a particular chapter, there is suspense and drama provided that forces the reader to continue on with the book, something that is necessary for any good novel. The plotline that Moshman and Dozier have created provides plenty of entertaining twists, without revealing who the true “Superuser” is until the end, and their plotline is logical in how it works out (sometimes, especially with mysteries, there are situations that just don’t make sense). In addition to the excellent overarching plot that Moshman and Dozier have created, there are several additional subplots that add depth to the characters involved and present a reason to the reader for each character’s personality.
There are some downsides to the book, however. At over 120 chapters (some only a paragraph long), there seems to be no downtime for the reader to be able to grasp the information that is coming at them and allow the reader to potentially figure the case out (something that mystery readers like). With such short chapters, there sometimes isn’t the depth of writing that a reader would like in either fleshing out the characters or their particular situations. Finally, the characters occasionally seem to fall into those stereotypical roles (disgraced cop/poker player, beautiful female poker player, rigid businessmen, and crooked politicians) that can creep into a story, especially one about poker.
Even with some of the issues just stated, “The Superuser” is still well worth anyone in the poker community or otherwise to pick up for an enjoyable read during their summer downtime. For those that enjoy mystery novels, the story is well done and is an intriguing entry into the genre. For those that are a part of the poker world, the loose extrapolation of the AP/UB “Superuser” scandal – and the general look at the poker world – will be something that can be easily understood and, perhaps, live vicariously through a fictional event.
What will be interesting to see is if the characters from “The Superuser” (in particular Stark and his paramour) can continue to carry a potential mystery series. There have been some statements from Moshman and Dozier that this is just the first of a series of potential books, which should demonstrate whether there is an audience for the poker murder mystery format. For those that do purchase and read “The Superuser,” there will not be any disappointments this time around as it is an excellent novel.