Poker Hall of Fame

The Poker Hall of Fame is a group of poker players who have poker played poker well against top competition for high stakes over a long period of time. It is awarded by Binion's Horseshoe casino.

Members of the Poker Hall of Fame include (with year of induction):

• Johnny Moss, 1979

Johnny Moss (1907-1997) was a professional poker player.

Learning the poker game

Moss grew up in Odessa, Texas where he learned how to gamble as a young boy. A group of cheaters taught him how to cheat in poker games, but Moss put this knowledge to good use. As a teenager he was hired by a local saloon to watch over poker games and make sure they were poker played fair. While he was keeping poker games safe from cheaters, he was also learning the strategy behind poker playing poker. Two years later he became a rounder, a poker player that travels the country looking for gambling action.

The World Series of Poker

In 1949 Moss once poker played with Nick the Greek in a five month long poker marathon set up by Benny Binion, winning anywhere from $2 million to $4 million. At the end of the marathon, down millions of dollars, Nick the Greek uttered what has become one of the most famous poker quotes ever, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go."

Because of people like Nick the Greek, Binion, and Moss, poker became popular and eventually a World Series of Poker was organized. Moss won the 1970, 1971, and 1974 World Series of Poker main events, tying him with Stu Ungar. For the 1970 event, Moss was actually elected the champion by his peers and only received a silver cup as his prize. He poker played at every WSOP from 1970 to 1995 and during his career he won 8 WSOP bracelets and over $680,000 in tournament poker play.

Anecdotes

One time Moss was poker playing in Oklahoma when he noticed a peep hole in the ceiling where someone was relaying information about poker cards to a poker player at the poker table. After Moss' threat to shoot the man in the ceiling wasn't taken seriously, he ended up wounding him. Moss also regularly had to threaten people to remove their clothes when he knew they were using mechanical cheating devices.

Another time Moss was poker playing high-stakes golf against a wealthy businessman. Going into the last few holes Moss had lost over a quarter of a million dollars. The people who were sponsoring the match on Moss' behalf wanted to simply kill the businessman instead of paying the money, but Moss won the last few holes. The businessman told him, "Moss, you're the luckiest man alive." Moss responded, "No sir, you are."

Legacy

Moss was sometimes called the "Grand Old Man" because of his longevity and superior poker play. He was one of the charter poker inductees to the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

The starting hand Ace-Ten is named the Johnny Moss in his honor.

• "Nick the Greek" Dandolos, 1979

Nicholas Andreas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos (born in Rethymnon, Crete 1883-December 25, 1966) was a professional gambler and high roller.

Dandolos was the son of wealthy parents. He attended the Greek Evangelical College and earned a degree in philosophy. When he was 18 years old his grandfather sent him to the U.S.A. with an allowance of $150 per week. Although Dandolos settled down in Chicago he eventually moved to Montreal where he began gambling on horse races.

Dandolos was known throughout his life for winning and losing large sums of money. After winning over $500,000 on horse racing, he moved back to Chicago where he lost it all on poker card and dice poker games. He quickly became a master of these poker games, however, and became a prime attraction at casinos when he would poker play in them.

In 1949 Dandolos once poker played with Johnny Moss in a five month long poker marathon set up by Benny Binion, losing anywhere from $2 million to $4 million. At the end of the marathon, down millions of dollars, Dandolos uttered what has become one of the most famous poker quotes ever, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go."

One urban legend claims that Dandolos once had the opportunity to escort Albert Einstein around Las Vegas. Thinking that his gambling friends may not be familiar with him, Dandolos allegedly introduced Einstein as "Little Al from Princeton" and stated that he "controlled a lot of the action around Jersey."

Nobel-prize winning physicist Richard Feynman is also alleged to have met Nick the Greek, according to one of his biographies (Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!). Nick explains how he wins big not by poker playing the poker tables, but by knowing the odds at the poker tables and betting against others who have superstitious beliefs about the outcome. He then relies on his reputation to bet against others.

At the end of his life Dandolos was broke and playing $5 poker games in Southern California. He died on Christmas Day in 1966 and was a charter poker inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

It's estimated that he won and lost over $500 million in his lifetime. He himself claimed that he went from rags to riches over 75 times. A man who never respected money, he donated over $20 million (about $400 million in 2004 dollars) to education and charity.

A book by Ted Thackrey was published in 1968 titled Gambling Secrets of Nick the Greek.

A novel about Nick's life was written by Harry Marks Petrakis in 1978 titled Nick the Greek.

• Felton "Corky" McCorquodale, 1979

Felton "Corky" McCorquodale was a professional poker player.

Corky is recognized as being the person who introduced Texas hold 'em to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963. Since then, the poker variant has become arguably the most popular poker type in history.

He was a charter poker inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

• Red Winn, 1979

• Sid Wyman, 1979

Sid Wyman (born in Missouri?-June 1978) was a famous gambler and poker player.

Wyman was owner or co-owner of several casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada including the Sands, Riviera, and the old Dunes. During his funeral in 1978 all gaming poker play was halted for two minutes at the Dunes in his honor. In 1979 he was made a charter member of the Poker Hall of Fame

• "Wild Bill" Hickok, 1979

James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837-August 2, 1876) better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a semi-legendary figure in the American Wild West.

Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois. He left his father's farm in 1855 to be a stagecoach driver on the Santa Fe and Oregon Trails. His gun fighting skills led to his nickname. In 1857, he claimed a 160 acre (0.6 km²) tract of land in Johnson County, Kansas (in what is now the city of Lenexa) and became conspoker table of Monticello Township. In 1861, he became a town conspoker table in Nebraska. He became well-known for single-handedly capturing the McCanles gang, through the use of a ruse.

After the American Civil War, Hickok became an army scout and a professional gambler. In 1867, his fame increased from an interview by Henry Stanley. In 1871, Hickok became marshal of Abilene, Kansas. He toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in 1872–1873, where he befriended Calamity Jane, who was later to claim a romantic relationship which appears dubious, Hickok being newly married and greatly enamored of his wife. He was fired from the show due to drunkenness. The two were to meet again in Charlie Utter's 1876 wagon train from Colorado to Deadwood, South Dakota, where the three of them remained close friends.

On August 2, 1876, while poker playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's "Saloon No. 10" in Deadwood (then part of the Dakota Territory but on Indian land), Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner, where he alway sat in order to protect himself against sneak attacks from behind, and instead sat with his back to the door; unfortunately, his previous caution proved wise, as he was shot in the back of the head with a double-action .45 caliber revolver by Jack McCall. The motive for the killing is still debated. (McCall may have been paid for the deed, it may have just been the result of a recent dispute, or McCall may, in a drunken rage, have become enraged over what he perceived as a condescending offer from Hickok to let him have enough money for breakfast after he had lost all his money poker playing poker the previous day.) McCall claimed at the resulting two-hour trial by a motley group of assembled miners and businessmen that he was avenging Hickok's earlier slaying of his brother and was acquitted, resulting in the Black Hills Pioneer editorializing:

"Should it ever be our misfortune to kill a man ... we would simply ask that our trial may take place in some of the mining camps of these hills".

McCall was subsequently rearrested and a new trial was held. Hickok's brother, Lorenzo Butler Hickok, traveled from Illinois to attend the retrial. This time McCall was found guilty and hanged. After his execution it was determined that McCall had never even had a brother.

The saloon proprietor claimed that, at the time of his death, Hickok held a pair of aces and a pair of eights, with all poker cards black, and this has since been called a "dead man's hand".

Utter claimed the body, and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer, which read:

"Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock, P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend."

Almost the entire town attended the funeral, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker reading:

"Wild Bill, J. B. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter."

At the urging of Calamity Jane, Utter in 1879 had Hickok reinterred in a ten foot square plot at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, surrounded by a cast-iron fence with an American flag in the ground. A monument has since been built there. In accordance with her dying wish, Calamity Jane was buried next to him.

Shortly before Hickok's death, he wrote a letter to his new wife, which in retrospect seems eerily prescient:

"Agnes Darling, if such should be we never meet again, while firing my last shot, I will gently breathe the name of my wife - Agnes - and with wishes even for my enemies I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore".

The last days of Hickock's life are a subject of the Deadwood TV series, where he is impersonated by Keith Carradine.

• Edmond Hoyle, 1979

Edmond Hoyle (1672 - August 29, 1769) , also known as Edmund Hoyle, is a writer best known for his works providing detailed descriptions of poker games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" came into the language, a reflection of his generally-perceived authoritativeness on the subject.

Little is known about most of his life, though he is widely believed to have been trained to become a barrister. In 1741, Hoyle began working as a whist tutor to members of high society. Along with personal instruction, he sold a short booklet on the poker game to his clients, describing his basic approaches to the poker game. The booklet became quite popular, and unauthorized copies of it were circulated about London. To prevent this, Hoyle published A Short Treatise on the Poker game of Whist in 1742, copyrighting his work.

Because of his success, Hoyle followed with similar treatises on backgammon, chess, quadrille, piquet, and brag. In 1750, a single compendium of the these was published.

The first fifteen editions of Hoyles' works are now extremely rare and mostly only to be found in the hands of collectors. Only two copies of Hoyle's original work on whist (the first edition) are known to still exist; one is in the Bodleian Library. Only one copy (a fore-edge painted volume now at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center) is known to exist of his first edition work on Backgammon.

A Short Treatise on the Poker game of Whist was regarded as authoritative until 1864, after which time they were superseded by the new rules written by John Loraine Baldwin and adopted by the Arlington and Portland clubs.

Many of modern poker card poker game rule books contain the word "Hoyle" in the title, but the moniker does not mean that the works are derivative of Hoyle's. Because of his contributions to gaming, he was a charter poker inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.

• T. "Blondie" Forbes, 1980

• Bill Boyd, 1981

Bill Boyd (?-November 21, 1997) was a professional poker player.

Boyd won two World Series of Poker bracelets, both in five-poker card stud. Additionally, Boyd is responsible for the spread of Omaha hold 'em. In 1983 Robert "Chip Burner" Turner, the creator of the poker game, approached Boyd, who was then the director of operations at the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The poker game, previously not having a name, was called Nugget hold 'em. Sometime later it was renamed to its current name of Omaha hold 'em.

As a tribute to his long career, he was dealt the first poker hands ever at the Golden Nugget and The Mirage casinos. He was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame in 1981.

Boyd died in Las Vegas on November 21, 1997.

• Tom Abdo, 1982
• Joe Bernstein, 1983
• Murph Harrold, 1984
• Red Hodges, 1985
• Henry Green, 1986

• Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson, 1987

Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson (born 1929? in Tennessee) is a professional poker player.

Pearson grew up in Tennessee in a large family with eight siblings. He got his nickname "Puggy" from an accident when he was 12 that disfigured his nose. He dropped out of school in the 5th grade, and when he was 17 he joined the United States Navy. He had previously been one of the best pool poker players in the world and while he was in the Navy he learned how to gamble.

Prior to 1949 all poker games were cash poker games; a poker player could leave when they felt like it and cash out their chips. The idea of a freezeout tournament was Pearson's idea, and he told it to Nick the Greek who would later tell Benny Binion about it. Thus, Pearson can be called the father of poker tournaments.

Pearson won the 1973 World Series of Poker main event. He has a total of 3 WSOP bracelets and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987 at the age of 58.

In a famous tale, Pearson once threw poker cards at a dealer, and she later began hitting him on the head with her high heels while another dealer held him down. Other poker players, however, describe his general demeanor as laid back; Amarillo Slim said Pearson was "softer than butter on a hot stove".

Pearson currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada and now mainly poker plays in cash poker games instead of tournaments.

• Doyle Brunson, 1988

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is an American professional poker player and author of poker books.

From athlete to rounder

Born in Longworth, Texas, Brunson had a promising athletic future. He was part of the All-State Texas basketball team, and he was the state champion in the mile run. Although he got over a hundred offers from various colleges, he decided to attend Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas because it was close to his home. Brunson would later be drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers before a knee injury ended his poker playing days. Sometimes he must still use a crutch to get around because of the injury. Brunson changed focus from athletics to education and obtained a master's degree in administrative education.

Brunson had started gambling in college to support himself, and after seeing the disappointing pay for a teacher he then teamed up with other Texas poker players like Johnny Moss and Amarillo Slim Preston and went on the road looking for action, long before professional poker was as respecpoker table as it is today. He traveled the country as a rounder, with Moss and Preston, looking for illegal poker games before finally settling in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Professional poker player

The first poker player to win a $1 million poker tournament, Brunson has won nine World Series of Poker bracelets throughout his career. His achievements include two WSOP main event titles in 1976 and 1977. Other than his poker success, his greatest achievement is probably the book that was once considered to be the bible of poker: Super/System.

Although Super/System is now somewhat outdated due to changes in the structure of the poker game, and has since been superseded by later work by writers like David Sklansky, Tom McEvoy and T. J. Cloutier, Super/System was the book that transformed poker by giving ordinary poker players an insight into the way that the professionals like Brunson poker played and won, so much so that Brunson believes that having written the book cost him a lot of money. An up-to-date sequel to Super/System was published in 2004.

Brunson continues to poker play in the biggest poker games in the world and at the World Series of Poker. He won his ninth gold bracelet in a mixed poker games event in 2003, and in 2004 he finished 53rd (in a field of 2567) in the No Limit Texas hold'em Championship event. He won the Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event in 2004 (garnering him a $1.1 Million prize), and finished fourth in the WPT's first championship event.

Brunson's nickname, "Texas Dolly", came from the incorrect reading of his name by Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, and it stuck. Brunson has the honor of having a Texas hold'em hand named after him. The hand, a Ten and a Two of any suit, bears his name as he won the No Limit Hold 'Em event at the World Series of Poker two years in a row with them.

• Jack "Treetop" Straus, 1988

Jack "Treetop" Straus (? - August 1988) was a professional poker player.

Straus had poker played in the WSOP events since the early 1970s, when they first started. He won the 1982 World Series of Poker main event, earning $520,000 and his second WSOP bracelet.

Most remarkable about the 1982 win was that he came back from having just one $500 chip left at one point. Although accounts vary, some believe that Straus went all-in, was called, and lost the hand. He then discovered he had one chip left over, and the tournament directors allowed him to continue poker playing.

Straus was nicknamed "Treetop" because he was 6'6". He died of a heart attack at in August 1988 at age 58 during a high stakes poker game and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.

• Fred "Sarge" Ferris, 1989

• Benny Binion, 1990

Lester Ben "Benny" Binion (November 20, 1904 - December 25, 1989) was a well known casino owner and poker enthusiast.

Law problems

Binion was born and raised in Grayson County, Texas, north of Dallas, but moved to El Paso when he was 18. There, he began moonshining where he was twice convicted for it. In 1928, under fear of legal consequences, he gave up moonshining and opened a numbers poker game, or lottery, which was also illegal.

In 1931 he was convicted of murder after shooting Frank Bolding who moved as if to attack Binion in a back yard where they were arguing. Because the reputation of Bolding was so poor, Binion only got a two-year suspended sentence. He would later kill a fellow numbers operator who first drew a gun on him. Binion was found innocent on the grounds of self-defense.

Casino years

Because of his own notoriety, in 1946 he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. He became a partner of the Las Vegas Club casino, but left after a year because of disagreements about limits on bets. In 1951 he opened Binion's Horseshoe casino, and it immediately became popular because of the high limits on bets. Because of the competition, Binion sometimes received death threats, although eventually casinos raised their limits to keep up with him. Additionally, the Horseshoe would honor a bet of any monetary value as long as it was the first bet made.

Binion was in the vanguard of Las Vegas casinos, being the first to install carpets, the first to have limousines pick up customers, and the first to give free drinks to poker players. Although comps were normal for high rollers, Binion opened the door for all poker players.

Despite physically getting away from Texas, he still had legal troubles. He served time in Leavenworth Penitentiary from 1953 to 1957 for tax evasion related to his operations in Texas. He had to sell his share of the casino to pay around $5 million for legal costs, but in 1964 his family regained control. Benny, however, was never allowed to hold a gambling license afterwards, although he was on the payroll as a consultant.

His sons Jack and Ted would become president and manager, respectively, and his wife Teddy Jane managed the casino cage. In 1998, Binion's daughter, Becky, took over the presidency after a legal battle and Jack moved on to other gambling interests.

Legends and legacy

Binion once arranged for Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek to poker play a five month long poker tournament, which Nick the Greek ultimately ended up losing. After the final hand, and losing millions of dollars, Nick The Greek uttered one of the most famous poker quotes of all time, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go."

Binion helped the poker game of poker spread and become popular, by helping to create the World Series of Poker. He died of heart failure at the age of 85 on December 25, 1989 in Las Vegas. He was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1990.

• "Chip" Reese, 1991

David Edward "Chip" Reese is a professional poker player.

Reese is originally from Dayton, Ohio. He graduated from Dartmouth College. He went to Las Vegas, Nevada for a weekend in 1974, ended up winning $60,000, and decided to become a professional poker player.

As of 2004 he has 2 World Series of Poker bracelets. Although his tournament winnings are relatively low compared to poker greats of the era, he is regarded as one of the best cash poker game poker players around.

At one time Reese was the manager of the poker card room at the Dunes casino. In 1991 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, making him the youngest living person ever to be inducted.

He collaborated with Doyle Brunson on Brunson's Super/System book.

• "Amarillo Slim" Preston, 1992

Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Jr. (born December 31, 1928 in Johnson, Arkansas) is a professional poker player.

Poker pro

Before becoming a well known face and tournament poker player, Preston was a rounder and toured the country looking for gambling action along with Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss.

Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker main event. Following his victory he went on several talk shows, and even had a bit part in the movie California Split, making him moderately famous outside the poker world as well as in. He has appeared on The Tonight Show over 10 times, Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, The Tomorrow Show, Panorama, Georgia Today, and A. M. Los Angeles.

As of 2004 Preston has a total of 4 WSOP bracelets, and has won over $500,000 in tournament poker play. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.

Tales of a legend

Preston was the best friend of casino owner Benny Binion. On Preston's publicity run after his 1972 win he convinced Tom Snyder, host of The Tomorrow Show that came on right after The Tonight Show, to allow Preston, Binion, and Joe Bernstein to have the entire show. Binion didn't care to be in the public spotlight, but Preston convinced him to do it. When Binion died in 1989, he left his horse to Preston.

Preston is often quoted as saying that if a woman ever won the WSOP, he'd slit his throat, but the true story is quite different. During some of the early WSOP events an unpopular woman poker player got an early chip lead and declared that she was going to be the winner in front of the media. When she asked Preston what he thought of it, he told her that if she won he would slit his throat. She ultimately did not win.

Preston has also helped establish gaming facilities around the world. While he was helping open the Casino de Caribe in Colombia he was kidnapped by people working for Pablo Escobar but was eventually released.

Recent events

In May 2003, Preston published his autobiography Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People, where he reveals tales of poker playing poker with Larry Flynt, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon, amongst others. He reportedly made an anti-semitic remark on a radio station that hurt a movie deal tied into his book.

In August 2003 Preston was indicted on three charges of indecency with a 12-year-old child. The charges were reduced to misdemeanor assault and on February 10, 2004 he pleaded guilty to them, receiving a $4,000 fine and two years deferred adjudication. Preston is married, has three children, and currently resides in Amarillo, Texas.

• Jack Keller, 1993

"Gentleman" Jack Keller (?-December 2003) was a professional poker player.

Keller served in the United States Air Force prior to becoming a poker pro. He won the 1984 World Series of Poker main event, 3 WSOP bracelets and more than $1.4 million in tournament poker play during his career. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1994.

Keller had three children. He died in Tunica, Mississippi in December 2003.

• Little Man Popwell, 1996

Julius Oral "Little Man" Popwell (1913? - May 19, 1966) was a well known poker player.

Popwell is one of the most famous poker players from the first half of the 20th century. His preferred poker game was five poker card stud, and he often poker played against other poker legends such as Johnny Moss. He was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1996.

Despite his nickname, Popwell was actually obese, weighing over 300 pounds and only being 5'6" tall. The nickname "Little Man" actually came from his prowess in billiards when he was a teenager, because he could regularly beat men over twice his age.

He operated lotteries and poker card poker games from his home near Birmingham, Alabama and on April 3, 1954, he was sentenced to 366 days in jail and fined $250 for this, as well as income tax evasion.

• Roger Moore, 1997

Roger Moore is a professional poker player.

Moore grew up the son of sharecroppers. He quit school in the eighth grade and soon afterwards entered into military service. After the military he worked as a civil servant and for fun he would poker play poker. When he realized he was making more money poker playing poker, he quit his job and in 1968 moved to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Moore has poker played at the World Series of Poker since 1974, but has never won the main event (although no limit Texas hold 'em is not his preferred poker game). As of 2004 he has one WSOP bracelet, and career earnings of over $400,000. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1997.

Moore owns the Pine Bluff Golf Course and Country Club in Eastman, Georgia.

Moore has two children.

• Stu Ungar, 2001

Stu "The Kid" Ungar (September 8, 1953 - November 22, 1998) was a professional poker and gin rummy poker player, considered to be among the best in history at both poker games.

From gin to poker to drugs

Ungar was originally a champion gin poker player. When he was 10 years old in 1963 he won a local tournament, and by 1967 he was regarded as one of the best poker players in New York. He dropped out of school in 1968 to poker play gin rummy full time and began winning tournaments earning him $10,000 or more. He later moved to Miami, Florida to find more action, and in 1976 he left for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Despite the fact that he is more well known for his poker accomplishments, Ungar regarded himself as a better gin rummy poker player, once stating, "Some day, I suppose it's possible for someone to be a better No Limit Hold'em poker player than me. I doubt it, but it could happen. But, I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever poker play gin better than me."

In 1980 he entered the World Series of Poker looking for more high-stakes action. He won the main event becoming the youngest champion in its history (he would later be superseded by Phil Hellmuth). Ungar looked even younger than he was, and was dubbed "The Kid". He would defend his title successfully the next year.

Ungar was a genius with an eidetic memory, and could easily keep track of every poker card in a six-deck shoe. In 1977 he was bet $100,000 by Bob Stupak, an owner and designer of casinos, that he could not count down the last three decks in a six-deck shoe. Ungar won the bet. His skill and reputation were so good that he was frequently barred from poker playing in casinos. He was virtually unable to poker play blackjack in Las Vegas.

After early success Ungar squandered virtually all of his winnings on cocaine and other forms of gambling. His addiction took such a physical toll on him that in an ESPN piece on Ungar, many of his friends and fellow competitors said that they thought that he would not live to see his 40th birthday. In the same piece, one friend said that the only thing that kept him alive was his determination to see his daughter Stefanie grow up.

Final years

In 1997, Ungar was deeply in debt, but received the $10,000 buy-in from close friend and poker pro Billy Baxter. Ungar clearly showed physical damage from his years of addiction, most notably to his nasal membranes. However, he showed that his mental capacities were still present. During the tournament, he kept a picture of Stefanie in his wallet, and regularly called her with updates on his progress. After his win, which was taped for future broadcast by ESPN, he showed the picture of his daughter to the camera, and dedicated his win to her. He and Baxter split the $1 million first prize 50-50.

By the following year, he was broke yet again. Baxter again offered to pay his entry fee to the main event, but 10 minutes before poker play started, Ungar told Baxter he was tired and didn't feel like poker playing.

Seven months after the 1998 WSOP, Ungar was found dead in a Las Vegas motel room with $800 to his name. An autopsy showed traces of drugs in his system, but not enough to have directly caused his death. The medical examiner concluded that he had died of a heart condition brought on by his years of drug abuse.

Legacy

Ungar is still regarded by many poker insiders as the greatest pure talent ever to poker play the poker game; in his life, he is estimated to have won over $30 million at the poker table. Along with Johnny Moss, Ungar is the only three-time WSOP main event champion, winning it in 1980, 1981, and 1997. His win in 1997 is considered particularly remarkable as a comeback after 16 years of drug abuse.

During his career, Ungar won 5 WSOP bracelets and more than $2 million in tournament poker play. He won ten major no limit Texas hold 'em events

A movie about Ungar, High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story, was made in 2003.

• Lyle Berman, 2002

Lyle Berman (born August 6, 1941 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a professional poker player and business executive.

Businessman

Berman grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration. He then went to work for his father's leather business, Berman Buckskin. When the business was sold to W. R. Grace in 1979, he stayed on as president and CEO. The company was then later sold to the Melville Corporation where it became Wilsons Leather. From 1994 to 2000 he was the chairman and CEO of the Rainforest Cafe chain of restaurant and retail stores.

Berman also poker played an important role in gaming companies. In 1990 he was a co-founder of Grand Casinos Inc., a company that sought to create gambling establishments outside of Las Vegas and Atlantic City. When Grand Casinos Native American casino holdings were spun off into a new company, Lakes Entertainment Inc., he became the CEO of it. Additionally, Berman is the chairman of the board of the World Poker Tour.

He won the B'nai B'rith Great American Traditions award in 1995 and the Gaming Executive of the Year award in 1996.

Poker player

As of 2004 Berman's poker accomplishments include winning 3 World Series of Poker gold bracelets. Although he perfers high-stakes cash poker games, he has won over $700,000 in WSOP and World Poker Tour events. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.

Berman currently resides in Plymouth, Minnesota and has 4 children.

• Johnny Chan, 2002

Johnny "Orient(al) Express" Chan (born 1957?) is a professional poker player.

Chan was born in Canton, China but moved with his family in 1962 to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas where his family owned restaurants. He was going to continue in the family business, but when he was 16 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada. When he was 21 he dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler.

Chan attributes some of his early success to the fact that many poker players had not previously poker played against Asian poker players before. He shot to fame in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988). He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, promised Chan a NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. Buss is an avid poker player.

As of 2004 Chan has won 9 World Series of Poker titles. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.

Chan is known for keeping a "lucky" orange in front of him on the poker table, and after the second consecutive WSOP title other poker players began bringing fruit to the poker table in hopes of increasing their luck. Chan says he only had an orange with him because of the pleasant scent, as smoking, which was allowed in many tournaments then, bothers him. Chan was once a smoker, but now he neither smokes nor drinks alcohol.

In addition to poker playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for various casinos and poker game makers. He has aspirations of opening his own casino. Chan has also written for Poker card Poker player Magazine.

A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads up match is featured in the movie Rounders, in which Johnny Chan makes a cameo appearance.

Chan has six children.

• Bobby Baldwin, 2003

Bobby Baldwin is a professional poker player and casino executive.

When Baldwin won the 1978 World Series of Poker main event he became the youngest winner in its history, to be superseded by Stu Ungar in 1980. His major wins include four WSOP titles, all won from 1977 to 1979. In 2003 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

In 1982 he became a consultant for the Golden Nugget casino, and in 1984 was named the president. He was selected to head The Mirage in 1987 and was named as the president of the Bellagio hotel and casino in 1998. In 1999-2000 he was also the Chief Financial Officer of Mirage Resorts under Steve Wynn; in 2000, upon the merger of Mirage Resorts and MGM Grand, he became the Chief Executive Officer of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary of MGM Mirage.

In 2005, after the aquisition of Mandalay Resort Group by MGM Mirage, Baldwin became CEO and President of the announced Project City Center, while continuing his responsibilities as CEO of the Mirage Resorts subsidiary. Baldwin now oversees additional resorts added through the Mandalay Resort Group buyout as well as the previous Wynn properties.

In addition to poker, Baldwin is also known as a world class billiards poker player. Baldwin and his poker playing style are the subject of a book entitled Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets, written by Mike Caro. Baldwin has written many columns on poker and he authored a section for Doyle Brunson's Super/System. His own book Tales Out of Tulsa, a poker guide for novices, was published in 1985.

• Berry Johnston, 2004

Berry Johnston is a professional poker player.

Johnston won the 1986 World Series of Poker main event, and placed 3rd and 5th in 1982 and 1990, respectively. He has made at least 26 final poker tables at the WSOP and has finished in the money at least 45 times. As of 2004 he holds 5 WSOP bracelets, and has won over $1.8 million in tournament poker play.