Book Review: Cowboys Full by James McManus

When I first heard that James McManus was working on a book about the history of poker, I was surprised that such a book had not yet been written and glad that McManus was the one writing it. His first poker book, Positively Fifth Street, is a personal favorite of mine, in no small part because he so compellingly presents the culture and lore of the World Series of Poker alongside the excitement of actually playing in the event. I expected that he would bring the game’s history to life in the same way while making insightful observations about its continued influence on American culture and politics.

While the grist for Cowboys Full is plenty interesting and contains more than a few entertaining stories. McManus’ specific treatment thereof is hit-or-miss. The historical chapters are mostly well-researched and -written, but the more contemporary ones feel rushed (on the author’s part) and laborious (for the reader). The former sections I enjoyed as a sort of anthology of obscure poker lore, particularly those focusing on the presidents and military leaders who loved the game. I found McManus’ treatment of present-day subjects such as the UIGEA, the WSOP, and the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal, however, to be long on trivialities and short on research and nuance.

Overall, Cowboys Full will be an entertaining and informative read for anyone, professional or amateur, interested in poker. Needless to say, the game has a rich history, and McManus ably expounds upon the ways in which it intertwines with the history of the United States. The knowledgeable insider, however, will be disappointed by the author’s perfunctory treatment of contemporary controversies. Worse, those who haven’t closely followed such issues themselves may even be misled.

Early chapters survey the origins of gambling, playing cards, and the games that preceded poker. Documentation from this era is scant, but McManus seems to have done his homework. Quoting records as diverse as ancient religious texts and the diaries of Civil War soldiers, he traces the emergence of the game we have come to know as poker.

By the outbreak of the Civil War, poker was a widespread pasttime, and Cowboys Full offers more than a few examples of ways in which it influenced the thinking and tactics of generals on both sides. Of course, misrepresentation and bluffing played a role in military strategy for millenia prior to the development of poker. What is significant, and what McManus highlights well, is the extent to which military leaders from the Civil War on articulated their thinking using the language of poker. He makes a compelling case that the game actually helped these men (and, in at least one instance, women) learn and refine such tactics.

For example, during World War II, America attempted to deceive the Axis about its plans by dropping dummy paratroopers on several potential invasion points prior to D-Day. What’s really cool is that they also dropped these dummies at Normandy, hoping to convince their enemies that this was yet another bluff. When their troops later stormed the beaches, they benefited from what poker players would call a “reverse tell”- relying on past bluffs to convince your opponent he has caught you in yet another, when you in fact possess considerable strength.

With the advent of the Cold War, poker logic extended increasingly into American diplomacy and politics as well (though McManus also includes far earlier examples of this as well, including one bluff which convinced France to sell off the Lousiana Territory at fire sale prices). Though most US presidents played poker, Eisenhower and Nixon were particularly avid players, and McManus argues that this influenced their handling of the Soviet Union. Then again, it was Kennedy calling Khrushchev’s bluff during the Cuban Missile Crisis that provides the single best illustration of Cold War diplomacy as poker played for the highest possible stakes.

Cowboys Full takes a turn for the worse when McManus turns his attention back to the game itself. His treatment of the “first World Series of Poker” intriguingly suggests that the famous days-long match between Johnny Moss and Nick “the Greek” Dandalos may never have occurred, at least not in remotely so dramatic a fashion as legend suggests. From there, however, he quickly becomes bogged down in a long and tedious recitation of past WSOP winners, including in some cases the winners of side events, along with largely uninteresting personal details about them.

This brings him to online poker, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the cheating scandals at Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, and some predictions about the future of poker. Here, McManus slips from journalist and academic to cheerleader and propagandist. Whereas past chapters seemed thoroughly researched and often challenged received wisdom, these last nakedly present the author’s own opinions (including, quite irrelevantly, on the failures of George W. Bush’s presidency), quote directly from interested industry sources without any attempt to provide alternate viewpoints or balanced evidence, and in some cases just plain get the facts wrong.

To be clear, it’s not that I disagree with the author’s positions, on either poker legislation or our former president. It just doesn’t strike me as good journalism or good advocacy not to at least give the other side its due. McManus makes quite clear, for instance, that he believes the UIGEA to be an irresponsible, ill-advised piece of legislation. Yet he makes no attempt to explain the concerns of its proponents or why anyone supports it. Whether those arguments hold water is for the audience to decide, but they deserve a fair portrayal.

The bottom line is that if you’re interested in poker, you’ll like Cowboys Full. There are plenty of humorous anecdotes and great stories that even your non-poker friends will get a kick out of. It was only frustrating for me because I felt the topic had so much potential, especially in the hands of a writer of McManus’ caliber. Just take the last few chapters with a grain of salt, and you’ll be very happy with this book.