Positively Fifth Street

Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker

By: James McManus

Narrated by: James McManus

In the spring of 2000, Harper's magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker.

But when McManus sets foot in town, the lure of the tables is too strong: he proceeds to risk his entire Harper's advance in a long-shot attempt to play in the tournament himself. Only with actual table experience (he tells his skeptical wife) can he capture the hair-raising subtleties of poker that determines the world champion. The heart of the book is his deliciously suspenseful account of the tournament itself - the players, the hand-to-hand, and his own unlikely progress in it.

©2003 James McManus (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"A delicious inside look." (Booklist )
"...like all true Beat writing, Positively Fifth Street is a joy to read." (The Los Angeles Times)
"The drama of high-stakes poker is inherently compelling - here is a rare opportunity to read an account by someone who can really write."(Publishers Weekly)
"Exhilarating chronicle....[as] tension-packed as any thriller." (The New York Times Book Review)

Great book for the poker enthusiast

The book starts with nothing to do with poker and everything to do with greed, sex, and murder. McManus dances between the Vegas murder mystery of Ted Binion and his own trials at the 2000 World Series of Poker. Great book. Time melts away with books like this.

Positively a good read.

McManus interweaves his personal experience with some history of the World Series of Poker and the Binion family who created it. A great read for poker fans.

Don't fold on this one!

The opening minutes took my breath away. Expecting to hear about the ins and outs of poker I was "treated" to a moment by moment retelling of a grizzly murder. I was repulsed but intrigued. Did I have the right book? By the time he revealed what was going on, McManus had me hooked. He was "playing" me, just like a poker player, luring me in for bigger and bigger stakes. "Positively Fifth Street" is about poker, but poker as a morality play. "Good Jim" and "Bad Jim" don't so much wrestle for control of the author's "soul" as they tease, entice, and pursuade with the book's opening horro set against the lure of that ultimate stack of cash - and a bracelet.

McManus' prose is superb and listening to the book provided a distinct pleasure that reading wouldn't have afforded. McManus draws the listener to the table with his voice, sometimes reading in a tone that sounds like a stone-cold gaze, sometimes softening, letting you feel the anguish and ecstacy of his experience. I was sitting right at the table with him and there were times when I found myself holding my breath, waiting for next card to fall.

I had no idea what to expect when I started "Positively Fifth Street," in fact, I just sat down to listen for a few minutes but in the end I had to play the whole game out. 3 1/2 hours after it started the story ended, and I could breathe again.

Positively engaging

I thoroughly enjoyed this look at the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and the author. Risk and its consequences is played out on the green felt of Binion's Casino and the author's psyche, family and business. A quite intriguing, humorous and educational journey past the flop, to the turn, and ultimately Fifth St. Recommend the listen.

I thought there were slander laws

This is really 2 books. One about the author's participation in the poker tournament. The other is basically an all-out personal attack, backed by circumstantial evidence, against the folks suspected of murdering Ted Binion. I enjoyed the former, not so much with the latter.

What fabulous insight!

WOW! :O That's the best way to describe this book! Mr. McManus' prose and delivery style is the best I've ever heard from any audio book. The story does start out very grizzly, so be prepared for that if you're sensitive to descriptive violence. Also, be sure that you've taken your blood pressure medicine during the author's recounting of his experience during the WSoP tournament. The way Mr. McManus describes the developement of the hands had me feeling nearly as anxious as if the hands were mine! This is a great book for anyone interested in well written, well delivered dramas, and its a MUST HAVE for anyone with even a passing interest in the game of poker.

Great listen!

Thoroughly enjoyed the story and the reading. Looking forward to finding more work of James McManus.

Great Book!

I was pleasantly surprised on how good this book was. I wish there was an unabridged edition available because I blew through this one in just over 2 days on my commute. Being into Hold'Em I was able to appreciate the first hand account of the action at the table.

The explanation of Binion's death was pretty much just like the special on Discovery channel but it was still interesting. It is unfortunate that it was based on a true story.

The reviewer "mtaddei1" pretty much hit the book dead on in my opinion.

Hypertechnical

If you are obsessed with poker and know all the lingo, this might be interesting. It's not enough to know what a full house is versus a flush. This book talks in a vocabulary where most card combos have their own name and the author does not explain.

This is not the full book.

Great read. Some sections are a little slow if you are familiar with the game. The narration is a little robotic. But the writing is great. Unfortunately, it was not clear that it was the abridged version and I had to go back and read some of the missing sections that added interesting details.