Poker Interviews

Interview with Jim McManus (5th Place in WSOP 2000)
By Poker Pages

PokerPages is delighted to announce that world-renowned journalist Jim McManus will be a regular contributor to PokerPages.com. Jim's personal experience in the WSOP 2000, finishing 5th, was a featured article in Harpers Magazine. His article "Fortune's Smile" will appear in The Best American Sports Writing 2001 anthology. Jim also won the 2001 Peter Lisagor Award for Sports Journalism.

Where and when were you born?

In the Bronx in 1951

What is your occupation?

I'm a novelist and poet; I also teach in the graduate writing program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; also write for Harper's and the New York Times; working on "Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs and the 2000 World Series of Poker," to appear in late 2002 or early 2003 from Farrar, Straus and Giroux; also teach a course called The Literature and Science of Poker

Where do you live now :

I live in Kenilworth IL, three towns north of Chicago; married to Jennifer Arra since 1992; four children

What attracted you to playing Poker?

My grandfather, Tom Madden, taught me when I was nine. We played 5 card stud and draw. I've played regularly since then, though never in a tournament until the 2000 WSOP, which I was covering for Harper's Magazine. I was also inspired by A. Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town, Anthony Holden's Big Deal, T.J. Cloutier's Championship No-Limit and Pol-Limit Hold'em, and Larry Phillips Zen and the Art of Poker

What advice do you have for somebody starting to play?

Read T.J., McEvoy, Sklansky, Poker Magazines, and practice on Poker Pages if you live in a bad poker town like Chicago.

Your thoughts on other Poker Players?

I really respect T.J. after watching him play from close up last May. Chris played terrific throughout the tournament, making four final tables, and he caught a lot of hands Wednesday night; he's just a sweet, brilliant guy all around. Other players whose toughness and smarts I've been personally subjected to include Hasan Habib, Tom Jacobs, Larry Beilfuss, Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert, Lenny Martin, Dave Ulliott, Simon Trumper, Jeff Shulman, Dewey Weum, Slim Preston, Mickey Appleman, and Tony Ma. I've also learned a lot from Mansour Matloubi, Andy Glazer, Harry Thomas, Linda Johnson, Mike Sexton, Melissa Hayden, J.J. "I'm All In" Bortner, Rabbi Steve Kaufman, as well as a guy from my home game in Chicago: Kenilworth Ken Wolf.

Funniest poker star?

Daniel Neagreanu, hands down. Grouchiest? John Bonetti.

Foxiest bracelet owners?

Linda Johnson, Jenn Harmon, Jerri Thomas.

Best columnists?

Andy Glazer and Nolan Dalla.

Tallest brat genius? Phil Hellmuth.

Most macho?

Tie: Chan, Duke, Cloutier, Ulliott, Slim, Ungar (R.I.P.), Sexton, Harmon, Lederer, Nguyen.

Most humane?

Linda Johnson, Jesus, Hasan, Super Mario, Umberto Brenes, Mansour, Harry Thomas, Jack Fox, Dewey Weum, Harmon, Ma, Lenny Martin.

Brainiest?

Ferguson, Sklansky, Lederer.

Artsiest?

Hayden. Second: moi.

Scariest table?

White-chip action at Bellagio.

Best Dealer?

Tie: John Gerhart and Red (don't know her last name).

Worst?

Guy who turned Hasan's four of clubs to beat my suited A-Q.

Best novel?

Shut Up and Deal.

Scariest player?

John Duthie.

Best Freeroll?

World Series Warmup at PokerPages.com

To improve the Poker Industry?

More clean food at the tournaments. Flatten payouts. Don't report winnings to IRS. No smoking at the tables.

If you could implement one new rule for Poker - what would it be?

When two or more hands tie at showdown, pot goes to first Irish writer to the left of the button.

Do you travel overseas to take part in Tournaments?

Isle of Man, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin,anywhere in Italy; on a cruise to Alaska, Eastern Mediteranean or Caribbean; Lake Michigan, Chicago River . . .

Ambition?

WSOP bracelet. ANY bracelet, for that matter. Win money at big table at Bellagio. Spank J. Lo.

Favorite Poker Game:

No-limit hold'em.

Hobbies: none.

All time Favorite Movies:

Mean Streets, Heat (except for the last 14 minutes--De Niro should have gone STRAIGHT to the airport with Amy Brenneman), Local Hero, Rosemary's Baby, Godfather I and II, Deconstructing Harry, Thelma and Louise, Atlantic City, Wonder Boys, Diva, The Long Good Friday, The Hustler, Richard Pryor Live (in red silk shirt), Bullitt, Goodfellas, Psycho, The Piano, The Plumber (Peter Weir), Being There, American Beauty, Home for the Holidays, The English Patient, The Deerhunter, Braveheart, American Buffalo . . .

All-time worst?

Tie: Casino, Ulysses, anything by Oliver Stone or starring Kevin Costner.

All-time best book?

Tie: Divine Comedy, Love in the Time of Cholera, Ulysses, Super/System, The Iliad, Where I'm Calling From, The Love of a Good Woman, Molloy, Gravity's Rainbow, Birds of America, North, Jesus' Son, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, Open Secrets, Two Lives (by William Trevor), Hay, Notes From Underground, As I Lay Dying, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, and Guns, Germs, and Steel.

What Music do you like to listen to:

Bach cello suites, Chopin Etudes and Nocturnes, STicky Fingers,, modal Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Hendrix, the Pogues before they kicked out Shane MacGowan, Elvis C., Dylan (very early and very late), Neil Young, the Del Fuegos, Liz Phair, Cassandra Wilson, In Utero, Lee Morgan, Louis Armstrong, CHronos Quartet, Pumpkins, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Lucinda Williams (electric, please), Willie Nelson, Beethoven chamber music, Glenn Gould playing Bach, Van Morrison, Let It Bleed, a few of the "John" Beatles songs, soundtrack to Dead Man Walking, Maria Callas, Astor Piazzola, Kevin Vollens, Bill Frisell . . .

Best Restaurants?

Charlie Trotter's, Picasso, Corte Sconta, Binion's downstairs cafe, Aqua, Frontera Grill . . .

Do you play Poker on the Internet?

Every day during WSWarmup.

Do you think that Poker on the internet will take over from the Old fashioned Card Rooms?

"Take over" is too strong a term. For people who don't live near casinos (like me), the internet has been a genuine boon. I still much prefer a live tournament.

What are you doing to prepare for this next major event?

World Series Warmup every day, rereading T.J. and Sklansky, playing on Wilson software, soliciting favors from the Almighty Hibernian Poker gods . . .

Would you like to relay to us you all time favorite poker experience?

Not a close call: fifth at Big One in 2000.