Sometimes the words wound. Or, at least, patently annoy. Such is the case of NY Times poker columnist James McManus who took some time out from his busy schedule to inform us that our posts about his poker column were not very…mmm, what’s that word…NICE. Well, Mr. McManus agreed to send along the message to the thatch of poker bloggers that strung him up for a whoopin’:

If there’s gonna be a meaningful exchange of ideas about poker (or anything), don’t we have to avoid wild overstatements and personal attacks? Jim McManus

Wild overstatements? Personal attacks? That’s crazy talk. Eloquent crazy talk, no less, but crazy. Previously: Positively Crap Street: Fat, Drunk and Irish is No Way to Go Through Life, Jim [Oddjack]; James McMysoginist vs. Al Can’t Hang [Oddjack]; Positively Crap Street: Bloggers Sound Off on Latest McManus Column [Oddjack]

Read More » Positively Crap Street: McManus Speaks

Okay, so maybe James "McMisogynist" McManus wasn’t drunk when he hammered out his latest piece for The New York Times, but he may as well have been. He deigns to give eminent scientist Charles Darwin a nickname like "Galapagos Chaz" in his opener (we’d have went with something hipper, like "The Origin" or "The Missing Link," or maybe swerved towards the esoteric and just dubbed him, "The Cambrian Explosion"), and channels ancient Incan warriors in the very next paragraph. We’ll ease up on Jimmy Mac just a bit - after the jump… LOOKS LIKE WE GOT OURSELVES A READER Thankfully, McManus doesn’t stray long before landing squarely on target - reviewing Harrington on Hold ‘Em

Writing in the tradition of Mr. Sklansky’s definitive "Theory of Poker," Mr. Harrington deftly unpacks the math and logic of no-limit tournament strategy. It helps that Bill Robertie, a chess and backgammon expert who wrote the book with Mr. Harrington, has also written several first-rate gaming primers.

Read More » Positively Crap Street: Fat, Drunk And Irish Is No Way To Go Through Life, Jim

James McManus is back in the New York Times with another divisive look at the game of poker. This time, he takes the ladies for a long walk on the beach, clubs them over the head with some driftwood (sorry, Marcus Allen) and throws them to the rabid walruses (walrus? walruseses?) for good measure. James McManus loves the ladies. After the jump, we’ll let one of our poker blogging friends take him out behind the woodshed. LADIES LOVE COOL JAMES McManus’ article articulates one solid point - that men are more competitive than women, because that’s how we spread our seed.

Read More » Positively Crap Street: James McMisogynist vs. Al Can’t Hang

New York Times poker columnist and overall lucky sumbitch, James McManus, is not making too many fans in the pokerati sect when it comes to his self-aggrandizing poker columns. Yes, everybody who loves the sport enjoys the fact that poker’s popularity is hovering somewhere high above the stratosphere. However, some feel McManus’ column may be the ultimate price of poker’s fame. Mo’ money, mo’ problems, indeed. This treads right on the turf of poker bloggers everywhere. This week’s offending column proves that hand histories don’t give him street cred. McManus may have the paid gig, but most bloggers have been perfecting the art of writing hand histories for a couple years on an everyday basis. After the jump, a couple of poker bloggers roll up their sleeves, clench their fists and give McManus a well-executed verbal black eye exclusively for Oddjack. We’re not sure how McManus manages to parlay one half-assed book and a lucky final table appearance into gigs like this, but it’s astonishing how bad his stuff has been since they put him on the story.

Read More » Positively Crap Street: Bloggers Sound Off On Latest McManus Column

Iggy, poker blogger extraordinaire at Guinness and Poker found a friend in the PR Biz who was willing to take a look at poker’s shelf-life in the mainstream consciousness.
And don’t you dare say “Jump The Shark,” poker is way cooler than Fonzie.
We know you only read blogs for the articles, but it bears […]

Read More » Has Poker Hit Its Peak?

The monster is out of its cage. Responding to last weekend’s introductory New York Times >”poker” column by Positively Fifth Street author James McManus, blogger and poker writer Mean Gene Bromberg gave a tepid review of the column on his blog, even though the title of his post suggests more scrutiny:”Why My Poker […]

Read More » Positively Crap Street Part 2: Blogger Flames McManus