NOTE: No Limit was previously published under the title Stone Cold.

ABOUT THE BOOK

15-year-old Dennis Doyle is feeling lucky.

His landscaping business is thriving, his girlfriend loves him, he's got money in the bank, and the city bus that ran into him that morning left him alive and well. Soon he'll turn sixteen and buy himself a car. Everything is going his way.

So when Jason Hicks and his buddies ask him to play a little poker, Denn says yes. The cards are dealt, the money is bet...and the worst possible thing happens.

Denn wins. And he likes it.

So begins a journey from greed to obsession, from youth to adulthood, from penny-ante poker to no-limit games where tens of thousands of dollars can change hands in an instant.

As Denn is drawn deeper into the strange universe of high-stakes gambling, the cards become his life: more real than his family, more important than his friends. Life is nothing but a game of poker where loved ones are chips to be won or lost, and where the stakes keep climbing, and where any player might find himself at the final table playing the ultimate hand where losing is not an option, but where winning might turn out to be the ultimate disaster.

THEMES
·Obsession
·Addiction
·Family (single parent)
·Gambling
·Friendship

THEMATIC QUESTIONS for classroom discussion

Obsession
Many of us, at one time or another, become obsessed with a some activity--a hobby, a sport, a television show, a musician--the list is endless. Is obsession ever a good thing? What are some of the ways Denn's obsession with poker affects his life?

Addiction
What is addiction? Everyone agrees that drugs like heroin, cocaine, and alcohol can be addictive, but what about gambling? Do some people need to gamble the way heroin addicts need drugs?
How does obession differ from addiction? How are they the same?

Family (single parent)
Sally Doyle is divorced, but she receives a small amount of money (just enough to live on) every month from her ex-husband, Fred. Fred has left the marriage and moved to Los Angeles, but Sally still hopes that one day he will return. How does his parents' divorce affect the way Denn relates to each of his parents? How does it affect the way they treat Denn?

Gambling
Denn Doyle becomes an expert poker player. He knows that he will win the money in the end. But is he a gambler?
How is what Denn does different from buying a raffle ticket? How is it different from buying 100 shares of Microsoft stock? How is it different from a quarterback throwing a "Hail Mary" pass in the last seconds of a football game?
How does out society reward gamblers? How does it punish them?

Friendship
At the beginning of No Limit, Denn and Murky are best friends. By the end of the book their friendship is over. What happened? Was something wrong with their friendship to begin with? How was it affected by Denn immersing himself in the world of high-stakes poker?

CROSS-DISCIPLINARY CONNECTIONS

Language Arts: Realism and Metaphor
· No Limit is a "realistic" novel. All of the events in the book are things that could conceivable happen. But how realistic is it really? On a scale of 1 to 10, with Harry Potter being a 1, and real life being a 10, how realistic is No Limit?
· Some of the metphors used by the author include swans and playing cards. What do these objects represent? What other metaphors are used in the book?

Mathematics: Knowing the odds
· Denn uses his understanding of probabilities to win at cards. Is knowing the odds enough to make Denn a winner at poker, or does he need other skills as well?
· What is the difference between odds and probability?

Social Studies: Gambling
· Gambling is legal in some form in most states, whether it be slot machines, cards, pull tabs, or lotteries. What forms of gambling are legal in your state?
· In many parts of the country, lotteries are used to raise money for the state. How do states justify this government-sponsored form of gaming?

Health: Addiction
· Everyone agrees that alcohol, heroin, and tobacco are addictive, but what about gambling? How can a person get "hooked" on something that they don't eat, drink, or smoke? Is there a scientific explanation for it?
· Is there such thing as an "addictive personality type"? Are some people more prone than others to becoming addicted to gambling?

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Protagonist
Dennis (Denn) Doyle (aka Swanee)

Other central characters
Frederick (Fred) Doyle
Sally Doyle
Jason Hicks
Mr. Kingston (aka The King)
Father Seamus Murray O'Gara
Kelly Rollingate
Mark (Murky) Stein

Minor characters
Big Bear
Cookie Green
Doughboy
Sam Grant
Mr. Hicks
Tyler (Ty) Kitterage
Gibby Newhouse
Mrs. Rollingate
Mr. Sicard (Mr. Cigar)
Robert (Big Bob) Stockman