Recreational Poker Book

[VoraciousReader]

So...I open my email today and there's a little present in my inbox--25% off coupon good for any item at Borders.

I've already got 3 new "strategy" books on order, so I'm looking for something more for entertainment value. I'm leaning toward Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. I've read good things about it, both here and elsewhere. Anything else I should consider getting instead?

[OrianasDaad]

I checked out Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets by Mike Caro from the library awhile back, and thought it was a good read.

Positively Fifth Street is also a good read.

[avatar77]

I liked Positively Fifth Street but have recently read Matros book and really enjoyed it.

I also purchased Aces and Kings and am finding it quite good too.

[PuckNPoker]

Moneymakers book is better than Mcmanus book for fun WSOP poker content, Positively Fifth Street has far too much non-poker content (the whole binions trial stuff) for my taste. When he is just concentrating on the WSOP stuff, the book is good, the rest isnt.(imho)

The Professor, Banker, and Suicide King was a good read too.

Aces and Kings is "ok", bunch of profiles of poker players and how they got started. Nothing earth shattering or tons of fun, mildly entertaining is how i'd rate it.

[bobbyi]

I really enjoyed Amarillo Slim's memoirs "In a World Full of Fat People". It focuses more on his proposition gambling than poker, but I think that it is very entertaining.

[gila]

The Biggest Game in Town and Shut Up and Deal are both very good, as is Big Deal.

[bolgenmod]

It depends what you want to read. I've read everything suggested except Aces and Kings (no interest) and the Professor (which I hear is excellent, but I'm trying to go a month without buying a new poker book). So quick and dirty:

Biggest Game in Town and Big Deal: Biggest Game is a classic, but outclassed, I think, by Big Deal. Alvarez and Holden are well-educated brits, authors of "serious" books, play in the same home game. Holden is younger than Alvarez (Holden was a student at Oxbridge -- can't remember which -- when Alvarez was a prof). Alvarez observes the game; Holden tries a year as a pro. (Alvarez was clearly jealous of Holden's wanderjahr, but supportive.) Holden seems to suck at tournaments but rule at ring games, which he never seems to realize. Both condescend a little to the vulgar Vegas gambler type (like Ungar), but they're both pretty good. I'd read Holden over Alvarez.

5th Street: yeah, who cares about the Binion trial. Or "Bad Jim" as McManus likes to think of his poker playing self. But McManus can write. And it's a good read most of the time. Definitely worth picking up sometime.

Moneymaker: much more interesting than you would think. I snapped through this in record time. But still, you know the ending. Wait for the paperback.

Mattros: a pretty good book. Easy to read, but frankly not as well-written as the brits for all their pretention. Has some interesting stories, but also lots of beginner strategy. I'd rather read Phil Gordon's book for a similar mix of gossip and strategy. (And Gordon does have a priceless you-are-playing-the-WSOP scenario that includes all the usual suspects, including Phil H, that is alone worth the price!)

Shut up and deal: a decent novel, but in the end not so satisfying. OK.

Not mentioned by other posters:

Double Down by the Bartheleme brothers: they are profs who were seemingly wrongfully accused of colluding at blackjack. (Seems to me they wuz totally innocent and charges were dropped in the end.) VERY good book, but not about poker but gambling and its allure. I don't really care for blackjack or any other kind of gambling besides poker, but I LOVED this book. Read it straight through and then reread it.

(Speaking of blackjack, Bringing Down the House is moderately interesting.)

Poker Faces by Katy Lederer. A memoir by the sister of Howard and Annie Duke. A really good book on its own, not to mention the obvious interest to poker players. The Lederer home life was very unusual.

Poker Nation by Andy Bellin. Very light but I found it amusing. Some interesting stuff -- some people think it's crap, but I enjoyed it. A quick read.

I think that's it. A lot of these books repeat the same old stories (poque, the riverboats, Harry Truman), but whatever.

If I had to rank them, I'd put Big Deal, Double Down, and Poker Faces (alphabetically) at the top over 5th Street, but it's close. And if you're really a voracious reader, read them all and let us know what you think!

[Jordan Olsommer]

When people say that "Positively Fifth Street" sucked because "there wasn't enough poker stuff", they are missing the point. McManus was able to weave all these stories together (the trial, the WSOP, the internal Binion family disputes, his role as observer-come-protagonist) seamlessly, which is why Positively Fifth Street is such a great work of non-fiction.

True, if you're just looking for WSOP- and poker-related stuff, you'd be better off reading Matros, Holden, Moneymaker, or Alvarez's books. But as far as the craft of writing a piece of non-technical non-fiction goes, any monkey with a typewriter can write a school-report style nonfiction book on one subject, never deviating from it - the truly great works show the connections among various subjects and disciplines, while providing an underlying continuous story thread. The degree to which a work does this is the difference between a "The Championship Table" and a "Poker Nation" - or, between a "Poker Nation" and a "Positively Fifth Street".

So while as a matter of taste you're of course entitled to read whatever turns you on and nothing less - I'm just saying that if we want to have a serious discussion about the merits of works of art, saying McManus's book doesn't qualify because it doesn't have enough poker content is sort of like saying that "Casablanca" sucked because it doesn't have any boobs.

[TransientR]

[ QUOTE ]
When people say that "Positively Fifth Street" sucked because "there wasn't enough poker stuff", they are missing the point. McManus was able to weave all these stories together (the trial, the WSOP, the internal Binion family disputes, his role as observer-come-protagonist) seamlessly, which is why Positively Fifth Street is such a great work of non-fiction.

True, if you're just looking for WSOP- and poker-related stuff, you'd be better off reading Matros, Holden, Moneymaker, or Alvarez's books. But as far as the craft of writing a piece of non-technical non-fiction goes, any monkey with a typewriter can write a school-report style nonfiction book on one subject, never deviating from it - the truly great works show the connections among various subjects and disciplines, while providing an underlying continuous story thread. The degree to which a work does this is the difference between a "The Championship Table" and a "Poker Nation" - or, between a "Poker Nation" and a "Positively Fifth Street".

So while as a matter of taste you're of course entitled to read whatever turns you on and nothing less - I'm just saying that if we want to have a serious discussion about the merits of works of art, saying McManus's book doesn't qualify because it doesn't have enough poker content is sort of like saying that "Casablanca" sucked because it doesn't have any boobs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually some of the mainstream reviewers felt the book had too much poker stuff, and McManus dropped the murder/trial for pages-and-pages.

But I think McManus is a very good writer, quite well-read, and his passion for poker shines through.

Frank

[nate1729]

~Positively Fifth Street~ is a very enjoyable read. The gold standard for non-strategy poker books is ~The Biggest Game In Town.~ I recommend both without reservation, and prefer the latter.

--Nate