From Sixpences to Dollars

Book excerpt: Jonny Texas came from an unconventional but close-knit Midlands family and developed a fascination with all forms of gambling from a young age. He grew up learning how to be a wheeler dealer and in his twenties, with a young family to support, the challenge of beating the odds to make large sums of money became even greater. As he grew older, his life was to become a rollercoaster of highs and lows as he moved from one wild money spinning venture to another, making huge amounts and then losing them, unable to resist any gambling opportunity. The two constants in his life have been his family and poker and, at times, they have made uneasy bedfellows. But somehow, Jonny has managed to pull off the unimaginable, repeatedly pulling himself back from the brink of disaster and turning himself into a winner, appearing on TV and in the public eye. From Sixpences to Dollars documents the extraordinary story of one man's obsession with gambling and how he has ultimately turned it to his advantage.