Lee Davy puts The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho back on his bookshelf and starts scribbling down some notes of comparison between one of the most famous novels in the world and poker.

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is a novel originally written in Portuguese that now holds the world record for the book translated into the most languages (67). It’s an allegorical piece of literature focusing on the search for destiny and how the universe conspires to help you reach it.

The book is very short. I finished it in a few days. Numerous times when reading I thought about situations in poker, and what follows are those thoughts.

The Alchemist is simple. It’s as if the novel contains no more than 50-words. Every sentence is short, sweet, and salient.