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Summary: Not just poker..life, philosophy and more.
Review: An incredible journey of a writer who not only explores the ins and outs of the world series of poker but also goes into the history and legend of Binions, murder and the history of what high stakes no-limit poker is and what it takes to play the game.
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Summary: Temptation in Sin City
Review: If you ever wanted to know about the world of high stakes poker, this is the book. McManus is a legitimate writer and his style is excellent and unobtrusive. He weaves several diverse threads together into a wonderful story. Like all good books this is a book about a lot more than just its main subject.Mr. McManus puts you into the center of the action and deftly explains what is going so even the merest poker dunce will be enthralled as he tells his tale of gambling in poker paradise.
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Summary: Hard to Put Down
Review: The author is a well known writer who gets an assignment from Harper's Magazine to go to Las Vegas and cover both the Ted Binion Murder Trial and the 2000 World Series of Poker. This he does in a most spectacular fashion. McManus takes some of his $4,000 in expense money and buys his way into a one table satellite. He wins it but makes a saving deal at the end using up the rest of his bankroll. However, his Vegas odyssey has just begun. When it's over, we have read not only a fascinating description of the trial, but have looked over Jim's shoulder as he manages a fifth place finish in the $10,000 No-Limit Championship that includes a quarter of a million dollar win. We meet many of the important people associated with poker and Las Vegas, and feel the tension and pressure of high limit tournament play. This is the best book of it's type I have ever read, and once you start reading, it's hard to put down.
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Summary: Author's holdem knowledge in doubt
Review: The title is a blatant "tell"regarding the author's holdem acumen."Fifth Street" is a stud term,any holdem player worth his salt knows the last community card is called the river.
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Summary: The Best Poker Book I have EVER read!
Review: Positively Fifth Street is the best book about poker I've ever read, and I've read just about all of them. The history of card art, of poker, of Binion's World Series, of the science and technology of the game as it's being played now. And if you ever doubted that an average or above-average home player could "catch up" to the pros using primers and computer
programs, this book will definitely change your mind. The strip club and courtroom scenes are pretty good, too. READ THIS BOOK! The author is now such a strong player that he routinely dares to tempt fate and play the great no-limit maestro K-REX heads up.
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Summary: The ultimate insider's guide
Review: Fifth Street replaces "The Biggest Game in Town," as the ultimate insider's guide to the World Series of Poker. There is no better chronicle of the multi-million dollar event in or out of print today. McManus has accomplished something that no other poker player/writer could - he went to Vegas to write about the biggest poker game in the world - and he almost won it. For that reason alone, his book has to be considered the most authentic volume on the subject. It's also a pretty captivating piece of journalism. Andy Bellin
Author of Poker Nation
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Summary: royal flush nonfiction
Review: Harper's magazine hired novelist James McManus to write an article on the World Series of Poker. The magazine is interested in the relatively new phenomena especially the impacts of female players, information technology on the game, the murder of Ted Binion of the host family, and the subsequent arrest and trial of a stripper and her boyfriend. Once McManus arrives at Las Vegas' Horseshoe Casino he rationalizes that to truly write this article, he must participate. Being an apartment house player, McManus risks his advance to join at the table. POSITIVELY FIFTH STREET: MURDERERS, CHEETAHS, AND BINION'S WORLD SERIES OF POKER provides great depth into the mindset of the cast (not just the card players, but also the groupies) than the original article that Harper's magazine published. Mr. McManus is at his best when he reports his guilt over the hedonistic pleasure of the game and side benefits while leaving at home his wife and daughters. The rest of the story, mostly fulfilling what his editors want as described in the paragraph above, is well written and engages the audience through the use of poker vernacular and metaphors. Still the first-hand account at the table draws the final card in a royal flush nonfiction that casual card players will enjoy. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: The Good Jim and the Bad Jim
Review: I'd just finished watching The World Series of Poker on ESPN when one of my book club's featured POSITIVELY FIFTH STREET, so I couldn't resist.
Harper's Magazine hires McManus to cover the Ted Binion murder trial. For the uninformed, Benny Binion, Ted's father, originated the World Series of Poker; Ted Binion, his son, was murdered by his paramour, Sandy Murphy, and her lover Rick Tabish for the millions in silver he kept buried in the desert. McManus decides to use his advance to enter a satellite tournament, and when he wins he enters the WSP.
In No Limit Texas Hold'em, the main event at the WSP worth over a million dollars to the winner, each player is dealt two cards face down; the players then bet, quite often trying to drive the other players out by going "all in" or betting all of their chips. If someone calls, the players are dealt three common cards (called the flop); betting ensues and if players remain, they get another common card called the "turn" or fourth street; they bet again and if two players are still in the pot, another card the "river" or fifth street (hence the title) is dealt. They bet again and best hand wins.
McManus will remind you a lot of one of his heroes, Hunter Thompson, gonzo journalist who wrote FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. McManus has the same rambling style and also takes a lot of drugs, although most of his are prescription. Other than poker and the murder trial, McManus alludes to his wife and two little girls, two older children from a previous marriage, his morning swims, his purchase of an expensive diamond ring for his wife (she never got one when they got married) as well as literary allusions by the ton (He's also a writing teacher at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago). He loves Dante so much he named one of his daughters Beatrice. McManus also has an annoying habit of whining about just about everything. Fifth place isn't good enough for him; he's got second place prize money, over $800,000, spent before he's eliminated. Apparently, during one of the rewrites, McManus realized he was complaining too much because he starts making fun of himself.
McManus refers to himself as "Good Jim", the Jim who keeps pictures of his family at the poker table for good luck and "Bad Jim", the Jim who buys lap dances with his winnings, then agonizes over telling his wife about it. Eventually we realize that McManus includes all of this personal information because he's comparing his own situation with that of Murphy, Tabish, and the Binions and what a fine line there is between them.
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Summary: Enjoyed it, but too much discussion of his family...
Review: I enjoyed reading Positively Fifth Street. I began playing Texas Hold 'Em two years ago and consider myself addicted. The majority of the book covers his tournanment experience and the Ted Binion murder trial; both areas were intersting. However, his editor should have deleted the sections on his family history and relationship; they really dragged down the story when it was getting interesting. Did he think he was still writing for Harper's? I got the impression he was writing a book and "thought it would be cool" to write about his family history and his relationship with his wife (whom he also included a photo of for some reason).
I will recommend it to my Poker buddies, but I will tell them to skip the family history chapter.
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Summary: Bad Deal
Review: To quote Kenny Rogers: "You've got to know when to hold, know when to fold." Sent by "Harpers" to cover both the World Series of Poker and the trial for Ted Binion's accused murderers, McManus had unexpected success as an actual player while failing in his book-length effort to capture the combined essence of the two events. Despite beginning with a lurid, fictionalized account of Bionion's actual demise, he quickly makes it clear that his interest lies in the game and he embarks on a rambling, self-indulgent description of his long-time fascination with poker, combined with a detailed report of his progress to the final table for the Series. There are desultory attempts to provide further details on Binion, his accused and the demimonde they inhabit but the author's intent seems to be to convey the thrill of high-stakes gambling. Whether the recapitulation of poker hands makes for an engrossing read perhaps depends upon the individual reader's own interests. It struck me as tedious and lacking in the tension which presumably attended the actual event.
Dealt a challenging double assignment, McManus sought to parlay the experience into a winning book. His professional work as a writing instructor did not serve him well in this attempt. Deficiencies in structure and foccus detract from the finished product. Better he should have folded.
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