Positively Fifth Street by James McManus

  Ask me, who is the luckiest one among modern writers, and Ill immediately tell you: James McManus. I dont mean that he is a genius and his every book is a kind of revelation for both contemporaries and descendants. Its not so, of course, but it has nothing to do with luck. This is the question of pencraft. By luck I mean the phenomenon, highly estimated by gamblers. The phenomenon, which can bring you a miracle river card and crown an outsider in one second.   In 2000, Harpers Magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to make a report about the World Series of Poker. Interview famous players, review interesting hands all that stuff. But he decided to participate in the WSOP Championship event and was lucky enough to finish on the fifth position. He made it to the final table and played against such legends as Chris Ferguson and TJ Cloutier.   But that was not enough. Ted Binion died exactly that year. So, James McManus witnessed the beginning of Ted Binion's mysterious death case. And that was big luck for him as a journalist. Thus Positively Fifth Street appeared. He just wrote down what he saw that year in the city of sins.   McManus does not have to imagine anything. He just writes about everything he sees around him. But that is the most intriguing fact about the book He shows us that legendary Vegas in which nobody believes. Vegas, where an amateur wins $247,000 at a poker table and a showgirl kills her millionaire boyfriend.   There are several plots in this books, but the author copes with his difficult task and treats the subjects very well. Even if you are not familiar with Texas Holdem rules, the book will be exciting for you. It is written in a manner that will not leave you emotionless.   But remember that it can make a poker lover of you. If you dont want to risk beware of this book.