The 2003 Poker Boom explained: Positively Fifth Street

In this series I’m going to try to outline the major forces that came together to produce the 2003 “Poker Boom” and why these forces will likely never be repeated again. In my opinion there were actually five factors that had a hand in creating the Poker Boom:

• Chris Moneymaker
• Positively Fifth Street
• Rounders (poker is a skill game)
• Online Poker
• The Hole Card Camera

It’s really hard to factor the importance of each in the grand scheme of things, since they all essentially played off of one another. So in this series I’ll take a look at each factor individually and explain its role in the 2003 Poker Boom and how it meshed with the other aspects of the Poker Boom.

Positively Fifth Street

Perhaps the most overlooked component of the poker boom was the role that Positively Fifth Street played. Positively Fifth Street is the first person account of author James McManus run in the 2000 WSOP Main Event, and perhaps one of the best poker books ever penned.

McManus introduced high-stakes poker to the general public by combining poker with a riveting story about a famous murder in Las Vegas. The book was first published in 2003, coinciding directly with the poker boom. Positively Fifth Street removed the veil that covered the poker world at the time, where the professionals were seen as some sort of mythical figures able to read souls, and for the rest of us the game was simply determined by the luck of the draw.

Positively Fifth Street and Chris Moneymaker

There isn’t much of a direct correlation between Positively Fifth Street and Chris Moneymaker other than both having the same underdog story. If anything Positively Fifth Street corroborated the feeling that an amateur could play with the professionals.

Positively Fifth Street and online poker

It’s hard to say how much Positively Fifth Street impacted online poker, but it’s safe to say that the older players who took up the game were likely brought in by Positively Fifth Street’s and not Rounders.

Positively Fifth Street and Rounders

Positively Fifth Street and Rounders covered all of the media possibilities at the same time for poker. While Rounders became a cult hit on DVD, the WSOP took over television coverage, and Positively Fifth Street covered the print media.

Positively Fifth Street and the hole-card camera

It’s a pretty safe bet that had the hole-card camera been in place during McManus’ run in the 2000 WSOP it’s quite likely that he, and not Chris Moneymaker, would be the face of the poker boom.