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Poker Hall of Fame

By launchpoker, Dec 9, 2004
Poker Hall of Fame

  Its like Star Boulevard for Hollywood big-timers Only the best poker players of all times are added to Binions Hall of Fame. It was introduced by Binions Horseshoe casino in 1979 and 22 players have been added to the list of poker legends. This is a great honor for a poker player to have his name in it.


  The Criteria for the Hall of Fame are very strict. A player qualifies for the Hall of Fame only in case he:


- has played poker against acknowledged top competition


- succeeded in high stakes games


- has been playing consistently well and gained the respect of the authoritative poker players
- stood the test of time


  So here are 22 poker gods:


1979
Johnny Moss was a brilliant player who never played dishonestly. He is the first WSOP winner and the one of the only two players (together with Stu Ungar) in the history of poker who has won the main WSOP event thrise (in 1970, 1971 and 1974).
Red Winn was a player, who could win at any kind of poker in any part ot the world. Deceased.
Nick the Greek Dandalos was Johnny Moss' opponent in the final event at the first WSOP in 1970. He finished second that time and never had a chance to become the WSOP winner. However, he used to make BIG money playing poker in Las Vegas. In his lifetime he won and lost at least fifty million dollars. At the end of his career he almost went broke but continued playing for $5 dollars chips. Deceased.
Felton Corky McCorquodale was the exact person who introduced Texas Hold 'em to Las Vegas in 1963. But he is also famous for being very skillfull professional gambler. Deceased.
Sid Wyman knew how to earn and how to waste money. He was both great gambler and great dealer. From the early 1950's to the late 1970s, Sid was co-owner of several gaming properties, including the Sands, Riviera, and the old Dunes. He didn't like to count his money. Those who worked in the Dunes restaurant at that time still remember him as the bet tipper. Deceased.
James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok is certainly the most legendary figure of the Wild West. His amazing shooting skills are the subject of many songs, books and folk tales. They say he once killed a bear in hand-to-hand combat armed with only a bowie knife. During the Civil War, he was a Union spy in Missouri. After the war, he served as marshall in several rough frontier towns, and as a cavalryman in the "Indian Wars." However, he was not only a great fighter but also a great gambler. On August 2, 1876 he was shot down at the poker table in a saloon having to pairs aces and eights. Since that time this hand is called Dead Mans Hand.
Edmond Hoyle was an authority on card games. He lived in the eighteenth century in London and earned at least a half of his income by giving lessons to card players. To make the process of teaching convenient he wrote his famous book A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist. The book settled differences between the games played by London society. Hoyle died August 30, 1769, at age ninety-seven. Now when we want to describe a fair play we say that it is played according to Hoyle.




1980







T. Blondie Forbes was a real master road gambler. Deceased.




1981







Bill Boyd was a highly respected five-card stud poker player and a Las Vegas card room manager. He managed the card room at the Golden Nugget from the day it opened in 1946 to its closing in 1982. Boyd was a five-time world champion stud player (1970-74). Bobby Baldwin described him as a perfect gentleman. "He was not short on courage. He wasn't afraid to put in his money whether he had a bad hand or a good hand. He was hard to figure out," said Baldwin. William Walter Boyd lived in Las Vegas and died at the age 91.




1982






Tom Abdo dedicated his entire life to poker and suffered a heart attack at the poker table. His last will was to count his chips and save the seat for him. But he died later that night and never was able to return to the game.




1983






Joe Bernstein was a great road gambler of 20s 30s. He was a gambler all his life, never done nothin' else, as Benny Binion described him. He was a dressy kind of ol' guy. Binion said. Once the owner of the Horseshoe complimented Bernstein on his coat: I says, "It looks very nice on you." He says, "That's the first time I've wore any." I said, "My God, you don't wear them twice, do you?" And he got a big kick out of that.




1984






Murph Harrold is considered to be one of the best deuce-to-seven draw (Kansas City lowball) players of all time. Deceased.




1985






Red Hodges is considered one of the best seven-card stud players of all time. Deceased.




1986






Henry Green was a road gambler from Alabama, who was skilled at all forms of poker. Deceased.




1987






Puggy Pearson is the father of poker tournament as it was he who once introduced the idea of holding them. He grew up in a very poor family and has never had a chance to get an educations. However, the life taught him to play poker for living and now he is one of the best players alive. "I'll play any man from any land, any game that he can name, for any amount that I can count," boasts Puggy. He lives in Las Vegas and plays poker professionally. His solid play style can drive you crazy: He bets only when he's got a great hand. Otherwise, he sits tight -- and drives you nuts.




1988






There was a picture in some article about World Poker Tour: Doyle Brunson is watching the game with satisfaction and the cut line under it saying: the granddaddy of it all. If you ask what Brunson have made to poker the only appropriate answer will be everything. He became the WSOP winner two times (1976, 77) with the same hand: T2. This hand is called a Doyle Brunson now. Doyle (or Texas Dolly) has written the book Super System: How I Made Over 1,000,000 Playing Poker which is considered the poker Bible. He lives in Las Vegas and plays poker professionally.




1989






Jack Straus was famous for his creative playing style. He could risk everything he had and was a very aggressive player. The way I feel about those little pieces of green paper is, you can't take them with you and they may not have much value in five years time, but right now I can trade them in for pleasure, or to bring pleasure to other people, he once said. Straus became the WSOP winner in 1982. He died 1988 at age 58 after suffering a heart attack during a high-stakes poker game.




1990






Fred Sarge Ferris was a son of Lebanese immigrants and became a professional gambler to escape the poverty of his youth. Ferris won the 1980 deuce-to-seven draw world title. He gained notoriety when, on April 22, 1983, the Internal Revenue Service seized $46,000 worth of chips from him during a high-stakes game at the Horseshoe. He died of a heart attack the year he was enshrined.




1990






Benny Binion is the founder of legendary Binions Horseshoe Casino where all WSOP evens are held. He didnt have chance to go to school at his childhood as he was ill very often. However he managed to learn to play poker, watching horse traders playing. He became a great gambler himself. I never did learn how to do any of these tricks like cheat people, which I'm kind of proud of now. In 1951 he founded the Horseshoe. He died in 1989.




1991






David Chip Reese began playing poker for baseball cards at age six. In 1974 he came to Las Vegas planning to stay the weekend. He had $400 with him. But he played in a poker tournament and won $60,000. He never left since then. Reese was one of the collaborators on Doyle Brunsons "Super System" book. He was enshrined at the age of 40 and is the youngest Hall-of-Famer. He still lives in Vegas now and plays poker professionally.




1992






Thomas Austin "Amarillo Slim" Preston is one of the most famous poker celebrities. He is the symbol of poker, like the Statue of Liberty is the symbol of America. He won the WSOP in 1972.
Amarillo Slim has played poker with presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and drug lords Pablo Escobar and Jimmy Chagra. He is also known for the unique Texan style of narration, which makes his speech and his books so enjoyable. Preston has not competed in major Las Vegas tournaments in recent years and resides in Texas now.




1993






Jack Keller aka Gentleman Jack served in the United States Air Force prior to becoming a poker pro. He arrived in Las Vegas from Philadelphia in the early 1980s and became the WSOP 1984 winner. He was enshrined at age 51. He resided in Mississippi and was one of the most consistent players. Deceased.




1996






Julius Oral "Little Man" Popwell was one of the most famous poker players from the first half of the 20th century. His preferred game was five card stud. His enormous love of poker caused him to travel across the country to play in various games, said Horseshoe Tournament Director Jim Albrecht. Popwell operated lotteries and card games from his home and in 1954 was sentenced to 366 days in jail and fined $250 for this, as well as income tax evasion. Little Man was actually 5'6" tall and weghted over 300 pounds. The nickname came from his prowess in billiards when he was a teenager, because he could regularly beat men over twice his age. Deceased.




1997






Roger Moore 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 play poker. When he realized he was making more money playing poker, he quit his job and in 1968 moved to Las Vegas. In 1974 Moore entered his first World Series of Poker and hasn't missed one since. Though he has never won the main WSOP event Moore is the 1994 World Series of Poker $5000 Seven Card Stud World Champion and has placed in the money 15 times.




2001






Stu Ungar began playing poker at age 10. At 25 he was a two-time World Champion. His only interest in life was gambling. Ungar had genius IQ and a photographic memory. Many regard Stu Ungar to be the greatest player to have ever played the game. In 1997 he became the WSOP champion for the third time and died in 1998 because of drug abuse.




2002






Lyle Berman is a 1964 graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Business Administration. He is a successful buisnessman and very skillful gambler. He is a three-time WSOP champion. He has won first prizes playing Limit Omaha in 1989, No-Limit Holdem in 1992, and Deuce-To-Seven draw in 1994. He has won over $700,000 in WSOP and World Poker Tour events. Now he resides in Plymouth, Minnesota.




2002






Johnny Chan moved to USA at age 9. He didnt know a single word in English at that time. After graduating from the University of Huston he went to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. However, he lost a lot of money throughout the first year as he didnt know when to stop. Now he does and thats why he is one of the best poker player alive. The rest of us are fading out, and he's just coming in," said Doyle Brunson about Chan. Johnny is a two-times WSOP champion. He has won the main event in 1987 and 1988.




2003






Bobby Baldwin has a great experience in gambling and running casinos. In 1977 he won the Seven-Card Stud Championship and Deuce-to-Seven Lowball. And that same year Bobby played to the last table in NL Holdem. The next year he once again sat at the final table to take the title of the World Champion. He became the youngest winner in the WSOP history. Two years later Stu Ungar took both of these titles. In addition to poker, Baldwin is also known as a world class billiards player. He also worked as a manager of such famous casinos as Bellagio and Mirage.




2004






Berry Johnston has always had three dreams: 1) to play poker well enough to make a living at it, 2) to become a World Champion and 3) to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. All three have come true. 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 tables at the WSOP and has finished in the money at least 45 times. He is also one of the most respected players. Hes respected for how he conducts himself at and away from the table.




2005







Jack Binion's contribution to American gambling business cant be overestimated. Benny Binions son, he has been hosting the World Series of Poker for the last 25 years. Together with his father Jack Binion has popularized tournament poker and made a spectacular event of a cheating game. Jack personally knows every American big-time gambler. He has thousands of stories about poker players to tell. Jack Binion is also the founder of Jack Binion Poker Open, the most popular poker tournament of the South.










Crandall Addington was a respected gambler of the old school. Why was? Because he gave up gambling 20 years ago and became a businessman. He does pretty well on this field. Addington is the CEO of Phoenix Biotechnology, a company that is working on a medicine that will help treat and control cancer.
But back in 1970s he was among those, who invented the idea of the World Series of Poker. He has never managed to win it, but he was one of the founders.





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