Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker is a memoir by Chicago area author James McManus

James McManus

James "Jim" McManus is an American poker player, teacher and writer living in Kenilworth, Illinois.-Poker and Positively Fifth Street:...

 set during the 2000 World Series of Poker

2000 World Series of Poker

-Preliminary events:-Main Event:There were 512 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.Ferguson had a 10 to 1 chip lead when starting his heads-up vs Cloutier. After a see-saw battle, Ferguson decided to call Cloutier's AQ all-in with his own A9...

.

On assignment from Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...

, McManus was sent to Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 to cover the trial of Rick Tabish and Sandy Murphy, who were accused of murdering Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe, also known as the Horseshoe Casino or simply The Horseshoe, was a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on what is now the Fremont Street Experience. The casino was named for its founder, Benny Binion and had 366 rooms, three restaurants and a rooftop pool.The...

 casino executive Ted Binion

Ted Binion

Lonnie Theodore "Ted" Binion was a wealthy U.S. gambling executive and one of the sons of famed Las Vegas casino magnate Lester Ben "Benny" Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe...

. The trial coincided with the 2000 WSOP, which McManus entered. He won a satellite tournament

Satellite tournament

A satellite tournament is either a minor tournament or event on a competitive sporting tour or one of a group of such tournaments that form a series played in the same country or region.-Poker:...

 into the Main Event, the annual $10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em tourney, and reached the final table, placing fifth. The book is a two-track memoir of his coverage of the trial interspersed with and finally subsumed by the poker tournament.

The book's title was inspired by Bob Dylan's

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 1965 single "Positively 4th Street

Positively 4th Street

"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Dylan in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching #1 on Canada's RPM chart, #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and #8 on the UK Singles Chart...

".

Positively Fifth Street is being made into a movie by Christine Vachon

Christine Vachon

Christine Vachon is an American film producer active in the American independent film sector and daughter of noted photographer John Vachon....

's Killer Films with Greene Street Productions. John Ridley

John Ridley

John Ridley is an American film director, actor, and writer.Ridley got his start as a stand-up comedian. He eventually was hired as a writer for sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin...

wrote the screenplay and is expected to direct the film.