Poker's Strangest Hands would make a great bathroom reader. Filled with anecdotes from the dawn of poker to the present day, with each chapter a page or two max, it's a diverting read.

The "but true" part of the subtitle is likely meant to be a selling point, but there's really no way to verify the accuracy of these tales.

Most stories like this are passed down by word of mouth and then published in books at a later date, usually by the same gamblers involved in the hands. How much can you trust the word of an old-time gambler? That said, the stories are very interesting and fun to read.

Sharpe presents the anecdotes in chronological order, beginning with the birth of poker and then tracing the long journey to its massive present-day status. He takes us from the riverboats of the Mississippi through the Civil War; from the crooked games of the Wild West to the smoky backrooms of Prohibition. In the process, he demonstrates how poker is intertwined with the very fabric of American society.

Though there is absolutely no strategy involved in this book, it's still highly recommended. If you pick it up not expecting anything beyond an interesting ramble from poker's early days to its present, you'll wholeheartedly enjoy it.