Positively Fifth Street

James McManus was sent to Las Vegas by Harper’s Magazine in the spring of 2000 to cover the World Series of Poker, focusing on two main stories: the progress of women in the $23 million event and the murder of the tournament’s prodigal host, Ted Binion, allegedly committed by a stripper and her boyfriend. Upon arriving, McManus finds himself drawn to the tables, compelled to risk his entire Harper’s advance in a long-shot attempt to participate in the tournament himself. In Positively Fifth Street, he provides a deliciously suspenseful account of the tournament, detailing the players, the intense hand-to-hand combat, and his own unlikely progress. McManus also captures the delightfully seedy carnival atmosphere that surrounds the event.