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 enlarge | Author: James Mcmanus
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $14.99 (100%)
New (40) Used (110) Collectible (2) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  125 reviews
Sales Rank: 153739
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0312422520
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.412
EAN: 9780312422523
ASIN: 0312422520
Publication Date: March 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Good, but about 100 pages too long July 27, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very unique book that tells many stories in one - the murder trial of accused killers of Ted Binion, Jim's own sensational poker run, and mixed in is lots of tidbits of poker history and player profiles. Overall, it is pretty good, but could have been better were it not for too many tedious pages of personal history, minutia of the tournament, and philosophical digressions that had me yawning. A good quarter of this 400 page book just wasn't all that interesting to me. On the other hand, in reading other sections, I found that I couldn't put it down.
Overall, getting through the tedious sections was made worthwhile by not only his great tournament story, but a real education on the history of the game, and where it is at present. BUT, if you bore easily, this may not be the book for you.
 2 Words .....Bor - Ring July 18, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is so boring in the beginning that I haven't even been able to finish it to get to parts that other reviewers say are exciting. I thought it was about the World Series of Poker and the murder trial. Instead I have to read about McManus' childhood. Of course I've seen him on poker shows and he seems pretty boring in real life too.
If you're looking for a poker book, pass on this one.
Horrible June 4, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Don't waste your money. If you feel you have to have this book buy it 2nd or even 5th hand. It is boring and not well written. I find myself simply skimming through many pages that get completely off the topic. If I could return any of the books I have purchased from amazon or anyplace else, this would be the one.
 Well written trip through the 2000 WSOP and the Vegas trial of the century May 23, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
James McManus (fiction author, sports journalist and sometime poker player) went to Vegas to cover the trial of the murder of Ted Binion (whose father started the World Series of Poker (WSOP)) and to cover the rise of women at the WSOP. He ends up taking part of the advance money, winning a play-in satellite tourney, and getting a seat at the 2000 WSOP.
He made it to the final table and fifth place.
He intertwines his own story (an amatuer amongst some of pokers greatest names) with stories of the trial (where Ted's girlfriend and best friend are accused of murdering him), Jim's own personal history, the history of poker and the WSOP and the parallels he sees between them all.
The insights into the game, the hands, the mannerisms, and particularly what Jim is thinking at the time (fold? call? raise? who's that beautiful dealer named Red?) dividing the voices in his head (see? not just me!) into Good Jim and Bad Jim, make the writing of the actual WSOP satellite and tournament the best part of the book. But the other stories are woven in intricately and smoothly (with only a few abstract jumps), mixing in Dante and Dostoyevsky to prove his point.
Since the book has been written, the number of players entered into the big Texas Hold-em WSOP tourney has climbed in from the $1.5 million Chris "Jesus" Ferguson won (and 512 entrants) in 2000 to 2006's $12million Jamie Gold won amongst the 8,773 entrants (and around 12,000 are expected this year).
Read it before the big one this July 6, and it will help you imagine the action.
One of the worst written poker books May 13, 2007
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
The writer may know how to write a story. but he strays away from poker so often u forget you are supposed to be reading a poker book about the WSOP
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