In order to meet Falafel, the highest ranked backgammon player in the world, I took a Greyhound bus to Atlantic City, and then hopped a jitney to the Borgata Hotel. Falafel’s real name is Matvey ...

A Russian-born émigré by way of Israel, he made a gambler’s living taking on challengers, and often hustling them, in becoming the world’s ranking player. By Sam Roberts Matvey Natanzon, who was known ...

IT WAS THE best of times; it was the worst of times. That was the beginning of a book he had heard about somewhere. He didn’t remember which one. Or perhaps it was “It was the worst of times, it was ...