Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker

By James McManus

Cowboys Full traces the story of poker from its roots in China, until Americans took what was a French parlour game and turned it into a national craze by the time of the American Civil War. Poker has been inextricably linked with American history ever since. It has been played by numerous presidents (Richard Nixon financed his first campaign office through his poker winnings) and has been used as a political tool to explain policy, for networking and to negotiate treaties.

Poker echoes how we conduct wars and do business: cheating and bluffing, leveraging uncertainty, managing risk and reward. In the past poker was thought to be a cheater's game but it has since become a mostly honest contest of cunning, mathematics and luck. It is the world's, and cyberspace's, most popular card game and has had an immense impact on popular culture - McManus explores its portrayal in novels, movies and plays.

Combining colourful history with the author's own personal experience of the professional tour Cowboys Full introduces the reader to all the major forms of poker, the game's most notorious players and demonstrates how poker has informed military, diplomatic and business life for centuries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Souvenir Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780285639621

James McManus

James McManus is best known as a poker writer and player. He finished fifth in the 2000 World Series of Poker (winning almost $250,000) and used the experiences for his bestselling memoir Positively Fifth Street. He has also published novels, poetry and has been the poker columnist for the New York Times.

Reviews for Cowboys Full

[kcshankd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Royal Flush.

[ehines_20 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As other reviewers did, I found the introductory chapters to be rather patience trying. The evolutionary psychology (we are hard wired to gamble! Proof? And even that granted, so what? There are so very many books where genetics and EP get used as distracting explanatory crutches!) he uses is both weak and fails to fully address the really interesting evolutionary issues (bluff as an evolutionary strategy for instance). He attempts to get at this through his treatment of Presidential poker playing--competition is less fighting than elaborate signaling and strategic stakes raising/folding--but doesn't quite do the job of focussing our attention properly, which is what the introductory chapters are supposedly here for.But once we arrive at real poker in antebellum America, we arrive at the books virtues--it is very well-researched and McManus knows how to tell a story. Even if he isn't so adept at distilling its significance for us, the story is more than worthwhile in and of itself.

[doondeck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good survey of one of my former favorite pastimes. A bit too much detail in the middle of the book with endless descriptions of Texas Hold 'em tournaments.

[jonathangorman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For some reason I had a really negative reaction to the first 30 or so pages of the book. Random flipping of the rest of the book convinced me to read on though. The issues with the beginning is that it goes a little too long into comparing Presidents Obama & Bush and how Obama is a poker player whereas Bush is not and how it might have affected their policies. Couple that with a weak (although occasionally humorous) section on "pre-history" of games and gambling and it quickly becomes the worse part of the book by far.However, once the author actually starts getting into the history of poker the book gets far more interesting. The descriptions of card sharks, gamblers and the Mississippi especially comes off well. The book has a lot of research behind it and covers a lot of ground.The style and topics are a bit diverse and loosely structured This doesn't bother me, but it might bother others. The book probably could have used a bit heavier of a hand of an editor, particularly the first section. So if you like games, poker, or American history I'd recommend the book. Just be warned, you might find yourself skimming ahead during certain parts of the book

[hammer56-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I recommend this book to my poker buddies, I inevitably give them a warning regarding "having to endure the first couple of chapters". But once McManus gets rolling, it is a very good read. You can't really compare it to his "Positively Fifth Street" because they're two different styles, with this one leaning much more toward factual data support rather than simple story-telling. Nonetheless, a fun and interesting read.If you're a poker buff and enjoy the fascination and growth of the game over the past decade, you'll find this worth your while.