Party Poker Blog

Poker Blogs - Positively 5th Street

BlogDaddy at work was checking out an ad we did for a client in the latest Forbes FYI magazine and lo' and behold, there's a feature article about Jim McManus, the author of the best selling book, Positively 5th Street, ("It's selling like frozen margaritas in Hell," said Jim in the article) titled The Gamblers Edge.

I wanted to see if it was online and got this message:

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The Gambler's Edge
Sorry, this story is not available online. In the case of a few authors, Forbes does not own the electronic rights. You will have to read this story in the print edition of the magazine. We apologize for the inconvenience.
The Editors
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Booooo! Anyway, it's an interesting read. This guy basically follows McManus around to both the poker room and the horse track.

Random snippets from the article:

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Jim McManus is playing pot-limit Omaha at Harrah's East Chicago, on a docked riverboat on Lake Michigan. Understand: This is not gambling, at least the way McManus sees it. W.C. Fields had his own take. In My Little Chickadee, Mae West asks if poker is a game of chance, and Fields replies, "Not the way I play it."

To a real player, gambling is only a certain part of what happens at casinos or at the track. Gamblers are people who either don't know what they're doing, or like to bet against the odds. Good poker players, like good horse players, search for value. They leverage advantage. They look for small truths they hope other people don't notice. They manage risks, and expect rewards for playing well. They like the sport. They like knowing. Call these people sportsmen, cardplayers, horse-players. Don't call them pure gamblers.

"Casino's don't make any money on poker," McManus explains, "These games out here are played against the house. They treat poker players like shit."

Jim played maybe five full hands over the course of the five hours we were there. Probably fewer.
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It's too long to write out but there's a fun last hand where Jim ends up going all-in ($7 grand) on the flop with a set of kings against a young Asian gambler who calls with a flush draw. The flush makes it on the river and Jim is irked.

K, that's enough on that.

Segue: Why is a flat tax (15%!) good enough for Iraq, but not the USA?

+$76 in about two hours last nite. 2.4. Top pairs stood up, that's all.

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