And the radio man says...

Copyright Ian Shane

01 July 2010

Positively Fifth Street by James McManus

It’s the time of year when we think of the opportunities we have. Those who have come before us have made it possible to accomplish what we want.

I’m talking about the Main Event at the World Series of Poker. What did you think I was talking about?

Next week thousands of professional poker players, amateurs and Matt Damon will convene in Las Vegas for the shot to win millions of dollars and a gold and diamond bracelet. No other sport has more people compete for the chance to win one championship. Thousands of bar poker leagues send representatives for the chance to make the Main Event. It’s not unheard of for an unknown amateur to make a Cinderella run. Last year, Darvin Moon almost became the WSOP champion, finishing second only to a bulletproof Joe Cada.

However, Moon wasn’t the first Cinderella at the final table.

Ten years ago, journalist Jim McManus was sent to Las Vegas for two reasons; to cover the Ted Binion murder trial and to chronicle the rise of women players at the WSOP. While he does his task, he takes his advance and enters a satellite tournament. The winner gets a seat at the Main Event. He outmaneuvers poker pro Hasan Habib and plays his way into the WSOP Main Event.

This is the incredible true story in Positively Fifth Street, penned by the man who made an incredible run to a fifth place finish. His book plays out a lot like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, where the writer becomes part of the story, mixed with a cast of characters who you think are too unbelievable to be true.

We spend some time with Ted Binion’s murder and the accused killers; his cheating girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, and her boy-toy Rick Tabish. The trial has many twists and turns that would have made the writers for “Law & Order” have a plot orgasm.

The tournament coincides with the WSOP Main Event, which is being played for the last time at its ancestral home, Binion’s Horseshoe Casino (yes…the same Binion). McManus, a lifelong poker player, pores through poker books the same way a college student crams for a final. He practices poker hands on a computer while reading David Sklansky, T.J. Cloutier and Doyle Brunson (Side Note: You can’t get two styles of play that are more different than Brunson and Cloutier). In the Main Event, McManus plays face to face with poker psychic (which if you’ve ever seen him correctly guess what other players have; you’d use the same word. It’s downright scary) Daniel Negreanu, has a return go around with Habib, plays his “mentor” Cloutier and eventual champion Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

It’s so well written with a judicious sprinkling of classic literary references.

Even if you’re not a poker fan, read it. If you become a fan after that, watch the highlights on ESPN.

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