In 2003 Chris Moneymaker and ESPN made poker a country wide
obsession and a viable television sport when Moneymaker went from online poker
amateur to World Series of Poker champion on national TV. But before there was Chris Moneymaker there
was James McManus, a Chicago
journalist who was sent to Las Vegas
in 2000 by Harper’s Magazine to cover the rise of women in poker and the Ted
Binion murder trial and ended up at the last table of the WSOP. Positively Fifth
Street is the chronicle of this journey. It starts with the murder of Ted Binion and
ends with the conviction of his murders, but in between we get all the ups and
downs of trying to win over a million dollars in the biggest poker tournament
in the world.
For those
who love good poker, McManus’ trails and tribulations at the table is edge of
your seat reading. The thought of an
amateur making his way through the world’s greatest players, names anyone who
has spent anytime watching poker would be very familiar with, is a wondrous
tale, the perfect underdog story.
Getting into McManus’ head as he makes the tough calls and even tougher
folds, being taken step by step through the thought process that led to big
pots and huge losses is endlessly interesting.
Along the way we also get fantastic profiles of the players McManus
comes up against, profiles that would not have been obtained by any
journalist. Because of his journey,
McManus transcends his occupation and becomes one of the old boys; he is no
longer a journalist looking to write about the world of poker, he’s one of the
players who happens to have an assignment he needs to hand in. This seems to open up a side of the other
players most never get to see and McManus does a wonderful job taking us with
him.
As great as
the poker sections of the novel may be, the trial sections left me
wanting. As odd and sensational as the
Ted Binion murder may have been, the pages McManus spent telling the tale felt
flat and uninteresting compared to the rush of the high stakes poker hands. Whether this is due to a lack in McManus’
abilities to write compelling trial prose or his wonderful ability to paint the
highs and lows of sitting at the table is unclear, either way, anytime not
spent with the WSOP just doesn’t work with this tale. It may fill out the story, setting up why
McManus was in Las Vegas in the
first place, but really does nothing for the book as a whole. McManus’ profile of the women players also
takes a back seat to the more exciting trip he ended up on. I’m sure his point was how far they have come
in the poker world, but the significance seemed to get lost when McManus ended
up further in the tournament then any of them.
Positively Fifth Street
tries to be many things, a true crime novel, a commentary on the changing world
of poker, an announcement of the rise of women in the game, but it really only
succeeds on one level. The book is only
at its best when it is at the table with its author taking us through the crazy
journey of poker amateur from qualifying to the last table of the world’s
biggest poker event. The excitement of
each hand as a relative nobody heads into territory he doesn’t belong makes
everything else pale in comparison. If
you’re a fan of poker this is a must read.
If you’re interested in the science of the game this is a nice study on
how old theories can be put into practice.
If you want to read about the Binion murder trial and the rise of women
in poker, it would probably be best to leave this one behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment