Static Zombie

Positively Fifth Street

The World Poker Tour series on the Travel Channel has kindled my interest in tournament poker. I do well in my regular Thursday night nickel-dime-quarter game, but have never played for higher stakes. The skill and fortitude of professional poker players fascinate me. So when I read the premise of Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker, I had to pick it up.

In 1998, Ted Binion-- of Binion's Horseshoe, the casino that created and hosts the annual $1,000,000+ World Series of Poker-- was murdered. In 2000, James McManus went to Las Vegas on behalf of Harper's magazine to cover the verdict in the trial of Binion's accused murderers, and to write about the progress of female players in the tournament. A poker player himself, McManus decided to cover the event from the inside and try to win a seat. Not only did he win one in his first satellite game, he went on to make it to the final table of the Big One.

The sections of the book that focus on poker-- his personal experiences in Vegas, the personalities of the big players, the history and strategy of the game-- make for some great reading. We see the kind of cameraderie that exists at the tables among players who see each other again and again and again as they compete in major events around the world. Particularly compelling are the glimpses into the author's mind as he squares off against such poker greats as T.J. Cloutier and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson-- the awareness of the stakes, the eagerness to get playable hands, the reluctance to fold marginal ones, and the uncertainty of whether to call or raise.

McManus' "coverage" of the murder trial is far less successful, drawing as it does most of its content from second- or third-hand sources. The author's attempts to recast the murderers' actions in poker terms is strained at best, and sections about Sylvia Plath and his own geneology are self-important indulgences. The book comes alive in the first person and turns into a Ben Steinian filmstrip whenever McManus strays from that format.

If you're not already a fan of poker, Positively Fifth Street is probably not in your cards. Its reliance on poker lingo, explorations of strategy, and history of the game and the Binions are only likely to appeal to readers who already have an interest in the subject. For such readers there's some great stuff here-- a fascinating glimpse at a high stakes world most of us will only experience second hand.

Posted by Peter at June 8, 2003 07:39 PM