Positively Fifth Street by James McManus
It's been a while since I've read a poker book and it may be a long time before I read another one. It'll be tough to find one that tops this one. This isn't so much a great poker book, but a great book notwithstanding poker. It's written by a guy very much worthy of being a Harper's Magazine contributor. For me, McManus' style is such that it makes me realize it's one thing to write, it's far different to write well. I have a long way to go before I measure up to the latter and it's possible I'll never hold court with one James McManus.
The premise is this: Just before poker somehow became a spectator sport, and long before Chris Moneymaker became a household name, Harper's Magazine editor Lewis Lapham fronted McManus four large to go to Vegas and cover the emergence of women in the World Series of Poker tournament. McManus, thinking he can kill two birds with one stone by simultaneously working on stories about the Ted Binion murder trial, winds up in the unlikely position of being the story himself. He does this by successfully playing his way to a seat at the final table of the granddaddy of all poker tournaments, the World Series Of Poker Main Event. McManus parlays his 4K advance money by winning the first satellite tournament he sits down to. All told, he walks away from the Main Event 250K+ richer. Even my wife would let me play poker for a living if I had those kind of results.
Have you played Texas Hold 'Em before? If so, you know what it's like to talk to your buddies about drawing 9-10 suited in late position with only one limper into the pot. Great stuff, especially if you're half drunk and talking bullshit. What, you say you'd be bored? McManus already thought of that. While the story sells itself just on the fact that a guy wins a 1/4 million dollars over the span of a couple of days, McManus is smart enough to realize that writing a summary of the hands would bore people to tears, even if you used a bunch of cool poker terminology. Heck, even ESPN knows that. That's why you only see the good hands being played out and never see the rest of the time where players stave off grueling monotony. That's not to say that there aren't discussions of particular hands that Jim played in the tournament. There are. But the discussion usually is wrapped around whatever particular essence of poker that Jim might be talking about in that particular chapter. Each chapter covers a different area and McManus tells stories about the early days of poker, the Binion family, superstitions, poker legends, poker science, and just general Vegas lore, and yet he still manages to weave all these topics into both his current situation in the tournament and in his life. It's part memoir, part murder mystery, part adrenaline rush, and above all else, 100% art of poker. Yes, I said art.
As the old saying goes, Texas Hold 'em takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. The greatest poker book in the world, Doyle Brunson's Super/System, can start you down the path towards that proverbial 'lifetime to master', but you'll definitely never reach the final table unless you've read and understood James McManus' Positively Fifth Street.
No feedback yet
Comment feed for this postLeave a comment
