While there are many poker books out there that focus on the strategy of the game and self-improvement as a poker ambition, there are just as many that delve into the private lives of the professional poker players we love and hate.

Probably falling between those two stalls is Mike ‘the Mouth’ Matusow, who has become the typical poker player we love to hate over the past decade. It’s fitting, then, that it was 11 years ago that Matusow released his autobiography, which remains one of the most entertaining reads in the canon of poker literature.

It goes without saying that if you’re looking for a book that improves you as a player or even a person, this might not be the go-to manual to achieve such self-improvements. However, if you want the life-story of a character who might be as cautionary as he is caustic, then Matusow is your man.

In 2009’s Check-Raising the Devil, Matusow delves into his past and plucks out as many of his formative moments that he can remember. Thanks to a mixed upbringing, that’s a list of memories that can sometimes feel a little jumbled, but it does nothing to derail the flow of entertainment and if you enjoy a good story that will make you wince as equally as smile, this is a good book to get your poker teeth into.