James McManus, Columnist

Agony and Ecstasy of Poker's Amateurs

For all its complexities, high-stakes poker is still a game where amateurs can thrive.

July 15, 2014 at 5:55 PM UTC

James McManus is the author of "Positively Fifth Street" and "Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker." He has written about the game for the New York Times, Harper's, the New Yorker, Foreign Policy, Esquire and Grantland. He teaches writing and literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Howard Diamond, fueling the dream with Starbucks.

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People enter the World Series of Poker for hundreds of reasons and raise the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event in at least as many ways. The players who get the most media attention are naturally the pros -- and the occasional amateur -- hugging an eight-figure bundle of cash on ESPN.

Yet the majority of entrants are inspired amateurs living out the dream of competing for their favorite game's championship. Unless they're Paul Pierce or some other world-class athlete, they'll never have the chance to do that in a physical sport, but they can on the Rio casino's green baize.