In the decades-long history of the World Series of Poker, only a few have been able to take down the most desired prize in both live and online poker: the $10,000 Main Event title and bracelet. The stories of these players after they won the championship are almost as interesting as to how they won the event in the first place.
Some may have unfortunately left us, and others continue to leave their mark in the poker industry and community. Who soared to legendary status over the years? Who faded after wearing the crown? Either may inspire you as you continue to play poker today.
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Damian Salas (2020)
Damian Salas will always be a part of poker history, even if it's because his name is the answer to a trivia question. Salas won the WSOP Main Event during the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, his route to victory was far from normal.
Salas played and won the international leg of the 2020 WSOP Main Event on GGPoker. That earned him a spot in the live heads-up final against the winner of the American leg, Joseph Herbert. Salas eventually got the win to become the overall champion and take home another $1 million on top of the $1.5 million he won online.
Salas is a lawyer by trade, so he isn’t as much of a regular on the circuit as other previous winners. However, with deep runs in the Main Event and other majors to his name, you can expect him to be taking down criminals and poker tournaments for many years to come.
Hossein Ensan (2019)
Hossein Ensan was virtually unknown in North America when he won the WSOP Main Event. However, he did win a WSOP International Circuit event in 2017. He also had an EPT Prague title, so he was far from a novice when he won the Big Dance for $10 million. The German continues to make deep runs in European events and occasionally pops up on the North American circuit. Therefore, if you ever find yourself in an EPT or partypoker Live event, watch out for Ensan.
John Cynn (2018)
Cynn worked his way up the poker ladder prior to finishing 11th in the 2016 Main Event. That run gave him a $650,000 bankroll boost. By 2018, he’d turned that into his first WSOP bracelet and $8.8 million. He continues to grind his way around the biggest tournaments on the circuit, flitting from hotel room to hotel room. Cynn might not be one of poker’s biggest personalities but, with more than $10 million in earnings and a knack for teaching others how to play, he’s far from a spent force.
Scott Blumstein (2017)
Blumstein sort of became the new Chris Moneymaker when he won the 2017 Main Event. Although he didn’t qualify via an online satellite, he was an accountant like Moneymaker. And, like the 2003 champion, Blumstein never returned to a life of spreadsheets and tax returns after banking $8.1 million. It’s fair to say he’s never reproduced the form that saw him win his one and only WSOP bracelet. However, Blumstein remains an active player on the circuit.
Qui Nguyen (2016)
Qui Nguyen’s first entry on the Hendon Mob’s live tournament database came way back in 2003. Known as a circuit grinder for much of his career, the Vietnamese-American eventually struck gold in 2016. His winning run not only earned him a payday worth $8 million but a book deal with D&B Publishing.
Along with co-author Steve Blay, Nguyen recapped 170 key hands from his Main Event run in the book From Vietnam to Vegas! How I Won the World Series of Poker Main Event. Today, he lives in Las Vegas and continues to play on the live circuit.
Joe McKeehen (2015)
McKeehan’s knack for winning tournaments started in 2012. Just three years later he won the biggest prize in poker and $7.6 million. As of August 2021, McKeehan had cashed 43 times at the WSOP and picked up three bracelets, including an online title.
However, it’s not just the WSOP where this American pro shines. In 2021 alone, he won the Wynn Spring Classic, a US Poker Open title and the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open High Roller for $550,990. Thanks to those victories and more, McKeehan now has more than $18.2 million in live earnings.
Martin Jacobson (2014)
Sweden is known for churning out top-class poker players and Martin Jacobson is no exception. The 2014 WSOP Main Event champion has won more than $17 million and his list of accolades includes WPT and EPT titles.
You can still see Jacobson in the biggest live and online tournaments. If you don’t see him at the table, he might catch him floating in a pool of salty water. During a 2019 interview, Jacobson credited his relaxed demeanour to floatation tanks. So, if you want to be like Jacobson and sting like a bee, you need to float like a butterfly before you play.
Ryan Riess (2013)
There’s no doubt Ryan Riess has skills. As well as winning the 2013 WSOP Main Event, he won a WPT title in 2017. Add to this career earnings of more than $15 million and he’s got a résumé that few players can match. Indeed, that’s why Riess is still active in tournaments and cash games today.
However, much of his recent efforts have been focused on repairing his reputation. Riess’s antics immediately after winning the Main Event didn’t sit well with some pros. Riess has since made amends for describing himself as the best thing in poker, but some still see him as one of the game’s bad boys.
Greg Merson (2012)
New Jersey’s Greg Merson enjoyed his best year in poker when he won the 2012 Main Event. As well as winning the big one for $8.5 million, he won another $1.1 million and a second bracelet at the same series. That made him 2012’s Player of the Year and a star for many years to come. Merson continues to make deep runs at the WSOP and other major events. His live earnings have now surpassed $11.4 million and he continues to play short-handed cash games online.
Pius Heinz (2011)
Pius Heinz shot to fame in 2011 but, like Peter Eastgate, he never relished the life of a pro. During an interview in 2014, he said he was playing full-time before his 2011 WSOP Main Event win. And then for a year after that.
However, when his relationship with PokerStars ended, Heinz stepped back from the limelight. He admitted that traveling on the poker circuit wasn’t his thing and he now plays recreationally. Basically, he used his $8.7 million win to do what many of us would love to do and retire early.
Jonathan Duhamel (2010)
Duhamel, like Cada, was an online sensation that managed to make it big on the live circuit. His pedigree means he’s stood the test of time since winning the 2010 WSOP Main Event. As well as two additional WSOP bracelets, the Canadian pro has won EPT and WPT events. In fact, he also picked up a WSOPE bracelet in 2015.
Today, he’s won over $18 million and continues to compete at the highest level. Perhaps his toughest battle in recent years has been against the Canadian tax authority. The $1.8 million lawsuit was the subject of much debate in 2020 but Duhamel continues to claim he didn’t underpay tax.
Joe Cada (2009)
Cada is considered one of the first internet stars to cross the divide and prove his skills on the biggest stage in poker. That’s important because it means he wasn’t a flash in the pan.
His $8.5 million WSOP Main Event win remains the biggest of his career but he’s produced some impressive performances since then. Cada’s list of accolades now includes four WSOP bracelets, a PCA title and final table finishes in many more majors. Cada is still active on the tournament circuit and continues to prove his 2009 win wasn’t a fluke.
Peter Eastgate (2008)
Peter Eastgate is known as the accidental ambassador of poker. His 2008 WSOP Main Event win opened the door to a sponsorship deal with PokerStars and a host of roles he never really coveted. This reluctance to embrace the spotlight saw Eastgate move further and further into the background in the years after his win.
He didn’t manage to finish second at EPT London 2009 and take his career earnings to $11.1 million. However, he hasn’t cashed in a live event since 2013 and doesn’t even try to play live events. In fact, he auctioned off his Main Event bracelet in 2010 and raised $147,500 for charity.
Jerry Yang (2007)
Of all the recent WSOP Main Event champions, Jerry Yang can certainly lay claim to being the biggest one-hit-wonder. That’s not a slight on his 2007 winning run or his skills as a poker player.
As well as a healthy dose of luck in the Main Event, Yang used his stack to play an aggressive style of poker that his opponents couldn’t handle. However, after winning $8.25 million, he’s barely been seen again. He sometimes appears in major events. But, compared to other previous winners, he’s a mere blip on the tournament radar.
Jamie Gold (2006)
Jamie Gold’s 2006 win was entertaining to say the least. His speech play confused players to the point he was able to win with a dominant performance. However, things have gone downhill in recent years.
Gold was embroiled in a lawsuit with TV producer Bruce Crispin Leyser. The two allegedly had a deal in which Gold agreed to give Leyser a cut of anything he won in the 2006 Main Event. Things got heated after Gold tried to keep 100% of his $12 million payday. The two eventually settled their differences, but Gold went on to lose stacks of cash playing live games against poker’s elite. He’s still involved in the game but now spends more time endorsing products than winning tournaments.
Joe Hachem (2005)
Joe Hachem was the first Australian to win the WSOP Main Event and, even though his time in the spotlight has faded, he remains a consistent winner. He was part of Team PokerStars for many years after his Main Event victory but left the company in 2011.
Despite parting ways with a major sponsor, Hachem has invested his $7.5 million WSOP prize money wisely. A plethora of deep runs and outright wins in WPT, EPT and Aussie Millions events have helped bank more than $12.7 million in live tournament earnings.
Greg Raymer (2004)
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer has been a true ambassador for the game since adding his name to the list of WSOP champions in 2004. He has cashed 48 times in WSOPs since his bracelet win - and has consistently cashed in other tournaments all the way until 2021. He currently has over $8 million in live earnings.
Away from the table, Raymer's name has come up in the news several times. In 2005, he made headlines when he was attacked by - and successfully fought off - two armed men outside his room at Bellagio during the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. In less life-threatening circumstances, the champ testified before Congress against the UIGEA before it was signed into law in 2006.
Chris Moneymaker (2003)
Chris Moneymaker's triumph over not only Sam Farha but also by far the largest field in WSOP history at that point was the spark that ignited the poker boom. Partly because he'd won his way in through a satellite and partly because he was an average Joe.
After his win, the former accountant from Tennessee saw his face on ESPN more than SportsCenter, thanks to the cable network airing WSOP re-runs in heavy rotation.
He also appeared in numerous commercials for PokerStars, who made him the centerpiece of their marketing campaign over the next year. And who continued to sponsor him until December 2020 - a testament to his appeal to a wide swath of poker fans.
In 2005, he published a book called Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series Of Poker. The book, which chronicled the champion's life before and run to the WSOP crown, won plaudits from poker fans and critics alike. He later admitted to paying a higher buy-in for the satellite. And to his real name not being Moneymaker - surprise!
The 2003 champ has cashed six times at WSOP in the intervening years, including narrowly missing a $5,000 PLO final table in 2004. Currently he’s a sponsored pro for Americas cardroom and has $3.9 million in live tournament earnings.
Robert Varkonyi (2002)
Robert Varkonyi was a complete unknown in the poker world with no cash record when he won the 2002 WSOP Main Event against the heavily favored Julian Gardner. He has since then cashes a few times per year since then, both in WSOP and otherwise, and made a few deep runs. The last were a few low buy-in events in Vegas. In total he’s banked almost $2.4 million in tournament earnings.
Away from the poker tables, Varkonyi has kept himself busy since 2002. He appeared in an instructional video called "Wise Guys on Texas Hold'em" with some cast members from HBO's The Sopranos. He has also worked as a consultant to an online gaming software company and developed and marketed his own casino game.
Carlos Mortensen (2001)
El Matador made a name for himself by being the first South American player to win the WSOP Main Event. His aggressive style helped him win two WSOP bracelets and made him a regular on shows such as Poker After Dark.
Mortensen had more than $12 million in lifetime earnings at the time of writing. Along with WSOP victories, he’s won Aussie Millions, WPT and Poker Superstars titles. His most recent cash as of 2024 was back in 2017 at Deepstack Extravaganza III. There were rumors he busted his bankroll, but we can’t confirm that. What we do know is that he’s rarely on the main tournament circuit anymore.
Chris Ferguson (2000)
To say Chris Ferguson has experienced the highs and lows of poker would be an understatement. He initially used his knowledge of mathematics and computers to hone his skills on the very first online poker sites.
He eventually parlayed those early lessons into the Main Event win and, in turn, a career that would reshape the industry as a whole. After winning the Main Event, Ferguson became a founding member of Full Tilt. That made him more money than the $9.5 million he’s won in tournaments. However, it also earned him plenty of enemies after Full Tilt went bust. After a long hiatus, he surfaces every once in a while at major events such as the WSOP.
Noel Furlong (1999)
Noel Furlong passed away in 2021, but not before leaving his mark on the game. Indeed, Furlong was the ultimate gambler. He wasn’t even planning to play the 1999 WSOP Main Event. However, he stopped in Las Vegas on his way home from a business event.
That proved to be a wise decision as he defeated a room full of talent, including 1996 winner Huck Seed. Various appearances at the WSOP and the Irish Open followed. However, after winning the big one, Furlong spent most of his time running a successful carpeting business and training champion racehorses.
Scotty Nguyen (1998)
Scotty Nguyen closed out his 1998 WSOP Main Event win with one of the most memorable lines in poker history, telling his heads-up opponent Kevin McBride, "If you call now, it's all over baby." Although Nguyen hasn’t quite matched his 1998 WSOP Main Event win, he’s never far from victory in major events.
He has 59 WSOP cashes in all - and counting. Many of those were final tables
Scotty has also won two WSOP bracelets in Omaha, claimed the 2000 Legends of Poker title, and gone deep in WPT and Aussie Millions events. For those efforts and more, Nguyen has banked over $12 million (and probably more that is not made public).
Huck Seed (1996)
Huck Seed was a young hotshot when he won the WSOP Main Event in 1996. Having been a standout athlete in college, Seed clearly had a competitive streak and that showed when he dominated the 1996 field. After winning the Main Event, the man from Santa Clara went on to win two more bracelets in Razz (2000) and another in 2003.
Seed had already bagged a bracelet in 1994, which means, at the time of writing, he has four WSOP titles to his name. More recently, he’s won over $7 million in tournaments and taken down events such as Poker After Dark, the Canadian Poker Open, and NBC Heads-Up Championship. If that’s not enough, Seed was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2020.
Dan Harrington (1995)
Ironically nicknamed Action Dan, Mr. Harrington is a conservative player who taught the internet generation to play tournaments. He won the big one in the summer of 1995 and managed to win a second bracelet the same year. Along with other tournament cashes, he racked up $1.3 million in winnings - which meant a lot more 20 years ago than it does now.
Another eight years would pass before Harrington again made waves in a major tournament, and again it was the most prestigious tournament in the world that saw him turn in a highly professional performance. With a field of 839 entries in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, he finished in third place behind Chris Moneymaker and Sammy Farha, earning $650,000.
Even more impressive, though, was Harrington's feat in 2004. With the Main Event drawing an incredible 2,576 entries, Harrington once again made the final table - this time coming in fourth place for $1,500,000.
Harrington has more than $6.6 million in career earnings but his biggest contributions to poker are his books. Otherwise known as the Harrington on Hold’em series (volume 1-3). These books made advanced tournament strategies accessible to the average player in an accessible way. Harrington on Cash Games series was also subsequently released.
Russ Hamilton (1994)
Russ Hamilton shot to fame in 1994 when he won the WSOP Main Event. As well as banking $1 million, he won the unique prize of his weight in silver. That win was Hamilton’s breakout moment and he went on to have deep runs in a string of events between 1994 and 2006. However, he could never recapture his former glory and his career earnings outside of the WSOP Main Event win were just $526,243.
His biggest accomplishment has been in another card game altogether. Before turning to poker, Hamilton had been a pro blackjack player, and he chose to return to those roots in 2005 by founding The Ultimate Blackjack Tour.
Unfortunately, Hamilton fell from grace when he was implicated in the Ultimate Bet superuser scandal that saw players cheated out of more than $22 million.
Jim Bechtel (1993)
Bechtel has been just as quiet in the poker tournament world as Dastmalchi has been since winning the championship title in 1993. As poker has become more popular and made others famous, Bechtel has continued his pursuit of poker wins in the shadows.
Known as a quiet man, he chooses to attend only some of the biggest events on the circuit, including the World Series and World Poker Tour events, and has amassed more than $2.8 million in cashes. His most recent success was winning the no-limit 2-7 lowball draw championship in 2019.
Hamid Dastmalchi (1992)
Dastmalchi is most known for his 1992 WSOP Main Event win. It was his largest tournament win and his second WSOP bracelet win. But it wasn't his only success in the poker world during the '90s. He added another WSOP bracelet the following year when he won the $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event. He also went on to make the final table of the Main Event again in 1995, going out in fourth place.
In 1999, he had a cash in the Carnivale of Poker II in Las Vegas, and in 2002 he came in 14th in the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic. But for the most part, Dastmalchi seems to have dropped out of the tournament circuit. Instead, Dastmalchi has returned to mainly cash-game play.
In that realm, he was thrust into the public eye in 1999 after getting into a lawsuit with Binion's Horseshoe over whether he could cash over $800,000 in chips. In the end, the gaming commission ruled that the casino had to cash the chips.
Brad Daugherty (1991)
The WSOP Main Event first broke the million-dollar mark for a first-place prize in 1991, and Daugherty was there to scoop it up and take it home. Daugherty continues to play on the tournament circuit. He's built his tournament winnings to more than $1.8 million now and has cashed in many prominent events over the years, including the 2007 WSOP Seniors Championship.
Daugherty also teamed up with Tom McEvoy to write No-Limit Texas Hold'em: The New Players Guide to Winning Poker's Biggest Game and Championship Hold'em Satellite Strategy.
Mansour Matloubi (1990)
Matloubi might be what some would call a "forgotten" World Champion. He won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1990, making him the first non-American player to do so. It was a sign of things to come: more and more players have made their way to Las Vegas from far-flung locales as the game has grown in popularity.
The championship win was just the beginning of a decade of great tournament play for Matloubi. He made the money in several tournaments each year, most notably racking up 15 WSOP cashes including his win in 1990. However, his last WSOP cash came in 2001, just a couple years before the poker boom kicked off in full force with Chris Moneymaker's Main Event win.
The Iranian-Welshman has only noted three tournament cashes since 2001 - from APT, APPT, and ACOP. Bringing his tournament winnings up to $2 million.
Phil Hellmuth (1989)
Since winning the World Championship in 1989, Hellmuth has been a dominant force in the poker world. Not only does he continue to reign as one of the best No-Limit Hold'em tournament players, but he’s also used his popularity to enter into all sorts of business ventures as well.
Recently he maintained a streak of wins in televised heads-up matches against Antonio Esfandiari, and Daniel Negreanu, with Tom Dawn coming next. He also went viral with a controversial hand against Doug Polk in 2021 on High Stakes Poker. Clearly, the guy is still relevant and continues to make money.
Looking just at his poker career over the years, the Poker Brat has gained a reputation for his table antics, but he also has a record-setting 15 WSOP bracelets to back up his attitude at the table. Adding to that are his 15 World Poker Tour cashes, and almost $25 million he's picked up through tournament play. He’s currently top 20 on the all-time money list.
His success at the poker table has led to him author and coauthor several poker books and to create his own poker tutoring video series and a poker camp. He currently sponsors BreinFuel among other ventures.
In 2007, Hellmuth was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame, but he has many years of playing ahead of him. Poker fans can be sure they'll be seeing him at televised events for years to come.
Johnny Chan (1987, 1988)
Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan is one of the most recognizable players in the poker industry. And if his astounding accomplishments in the poker world weren't enough, he also had a cameo in the poker flick Rounders.
When it comes to bracelets, there are three players who rise above the rest - Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Johnny Chan. Although Chan had been making money in the poker world for years, it was the 1987, 1988, and 1989 WSOP Main Events that turned The Orient Express into a household name. He won the first two and lost heads up to Hellmuth in ‘89. The fields are so large in the modern Main Event it's unlikely that anyone will ever win consecutive titles again.
Chan continued to meet with success at the World Championship and returned to the final table in the 1992 Main Event in which he finished seventh. After 1988 Chan would go on to win seven more bracelets.
He played on poker TV shows like High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and the NBC National Heads-up Poker Challenge on a regular basis. Chan has the unique distinction of having the most victories at Poker After Dark.
Chan was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002 and in 2007 he launched his own poker room - Chanpoker.com - which no longer exists. Today, Chan is still active on the poker circuit, with $8.7 million in live winnings to date, but keeps out of the public eye. Rumors are he doesn’t play in the US anymore, bar an appearance on the latest Poker After Dark.
Berry Johnston (1986)
Berry Johnston won his first WSOP bracelet in 1983 (the same year McEvoy won the Main Event). And he added a bracelet of the Main Event variety in 1986. He won his third WSOP bracelet in 1990 in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em, his fourth in the 1995 $1,500 Limit Omaha event, and his fifth in the 2001 $1,500 Razz event.
Johnston accumulated a total of over 26 final tables in the WSOP and 52 money finishes. A record he’s more famous for is cashing in the Main Event a total of 10 times. In 2004 Johnston was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Away from the tables, Johnston is known as a devoted family man and a gentleman at all times. Even in his 80s, he’s still a regular on the poker tour.
Bill Smith (1985)
Bill Smith's mark on the poker world was mainly made in cash games. Born in Texas, his poker history reads similarly to those of many legends of the game, as he traveled the underground cash-game circuit in Texas and Oklahoma to earn his cash. Some reports say Smith holds the record for most illegal poker game arrests in one day.
The story goes that he was playing in a game that was busted. The players were released from jail that afternoon and he went straight back to the game. The game was promptly busted again and Smith landed right back in jail. When he was released he headed for another poker game and was busted for a third time that day.
In the '80s, however, he proved to be a hard player to bust. He made three final tables of the World Series of Poker Main Event during that decade and won the event in 1985. He also had three other wins plus three other final-table finishes in smaller-buy-in tournaments during the '80s.
Between his first cash in 1981 and his final one in 1984, Smith had accumulated more than $1 million in tournament winnings. He died in 1997.
Jack Keller (1984)
Jack Keller's impact on the tournament world pretty much began at the very start of his career. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Keller turned to professional poker playing. He recorded his first tournament wins in 1984, both of them at the World Series of Poker, with his Main Event win constituting the second.
After those victories, he racked up cashes and wins all over the tournament circuit, including at Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker and the Malta European Championship of Poker. Those wins, as well as ones at various WSOP events through the years, resulted in total tournament winnings of more than $3.6 million.
In 1993 he added another WSOP bracelet to his collection, taking down the $1,500 Limit Omaha event. His final cash in a WSOP event came in 2001. Kellar died in December 2003. Also part of the poker legacy he leaves behind is his daughter, Kathy Keller Kohlberg, who is a professional poker player in her own right.
Tom McEvoy (1983)
Tom McEvoy has been one of the most stable, solid players on the tournament circuit since he took up poker full time in 1978. McEvoy worked as an accountant before he got into poker so he obviously never had trouble with poker math. McEvoy burst onto the poker scene in 1982 by winning the $1,000 Hold'em event of Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker. He took down $57,600 for his efforts, but the best was yet to come.
In 1983 McEvoy won the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event of the WSOP and grabbed his first bracelet. With momentum on his side, McEvoy registered for the Main Event and went on to outlast 107 opponents and win the biggest game in town. He added two more WSOP bracelets to his resume ($1,000 Razz in 1986 and $1,500 Limit Omaha in 1992) in addition to cashing in numerous WSOP events.
Tom was always anti-smoking and helped push for non-smoking rooms at the WSOP. McEvoy also authored or co-authored over a dozen books on poker and remains a pillar of knowledge on the game. These days McEvoy lives in Las Vegas and is still active on the circuit.
Jack Straus (1982)
When Jack Straus won the 1982 Main Event, he not only strapped on the champion title for the following year. But he may have also been the source of one of poker's most well-known adages - all you need to win is a chip and a chair. There are many explanations as to how that saying originated, but they all center around the same basic story:
At one point during the 1982 WSOP Main Event, Straus had pushed all-in and lost the hand. As he got up to leave the table, he discovered he actually had one chip left under a napkin. With that one $500 chip he worked his way back up and into the winner's seat.
By the time he'd won the Main Event, Straus already had one previous WSOP bracelet win to his name and three other final-table finishes, including fifth in the 1972 Main Event. His Main Event win, however, capped off his WSOP legacy. He had several other cashes after his win, but none in the WSOP again before his death in August 1988.
Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, 1997)
Known as "The Kid," Stu Ungar made his way to Las Vegas in 1978 to play high-stakes gin rummy. He would play anyone for any stakes, and his skill in the game was unmatched. In 1980, he turned that skill toward poker and met with just as much success in that realm. That year he won the WSOP Main Event for the first time.
He matched that feat again the following year to become the second person to win the championship back to back, the first being Doyle Brunson. What set him apart from the rest of the legendary No-Limit Hold'em players, however, was his third Main Event win in 1997. Along with that he has two other bracelet wins, and looking at his tournament resume, it appears that when he cashed in a tournament it was rare for him to cash outside of the final table.
These days it's commonplace for the great players of the game to have $1 million or more in tournament winnings, because of the explosion in poker's popularity and the increased opportunities to win big money. Stu Ungar managed to rack up nearly $3.5 million during his tournament career, all before the poker boom and the creation of the World Poker Tour.
He was one of the best No-Limit Texas Hold'em players of his time, and probably the best gin player, but he couldn't conquer his drug addiction, which was ultimately the cause of his death on Nov. 22, 1998.
Hal Fowler (1979)
One of the most mysterious men to have won the WSOP Championship Event. Considered the first "amateur" to win the Main Event, Fowler was nearly down to the felt during the 1979 tournament.
In what many consider the greatest upset in World Series history, he was able to fight back admirably and defeat a final table that also consisted of Chip Reese, Johnny Moss and runner-up finisher Bobby Hoff. (Admittedly, Fowler committed an amateur mistake by chasing a gut-shot straight draw heads-up that came home against Hoff's pocket aces.)
After that victory, Fowler wouldn't make another World Series final table. Although he wouldn't cash in another WSOP event, he did make three final tables in tournaments during the 1980s: once at Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker and twice, including a win, at the 1984 Grand Prix of Poker at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.
Afflicted with diabetes that damaged his eyesight and legs, he eventually took his life.
Bobby Baldwin (1978)
A shrewd poker player, Bobby Baldwin knew how to play his cards right both at and away from the poker table. In the late 1970s, he took the tournament poker world by storm. Brunson once joked that he couldn't wait to get Baldwin across the table from him, but after their first meeting, he was stuck $40,000.
His appreciation for the young player grew, and Brunson asked Baldwin to write the Limit Hold'em section of Super/System. By the time the book came out in 1979, Baldwin had picked up two WSOP bracelets in 1977 and won the 1978 Main Event. Winning three events in two years and authoring a section of a poker legend's book is quite an accomplishment for a 26-year-old. And Baldwin didn't stop there.
In 1979 he picked up his fourth bracelet at the World Series of Poker and cashed in six more WSOP events by the end of the 1982 series. This before surprising his poker peers by taking a job with Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget. There he influenced the world of poker from a different angle with the shaping of casinos and US card rooms.
In 1984 he was promoted to president and CEO of the Golden Nugget. In 1989 he was given even more responsibility with the development and operation of three major properties on the Las Vegas Strip: The Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio. He held that position until May 2005. Baldwin was also appointed to the MGM Mirage board of directors in 2000 until 2018.
You would think all his work would have left him with little time for poker. However, he did continue his tournament play for several years and met with a fair amount of success. Between 1986 and 1995 he had six more cashes at the World Series of Poker. He was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame in 2003 and continued to play in Bobby's Room.
Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977)
If you polled the poker players of the world, there's probably not much doubt whom they'd list as the top living legend of the game. Doyle Brunson has lived and breathed poker for pretty much his entire adult life, and winning back-to-back WSOP championships in 1976 and 1977 was just the start of an amazing tournament career for him. Only two other players have been able to duplicate his back-to-back wins - Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan.
Doyle is also a 10-bracelet winner, a record he shares with Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey, which is only surpassed by Phil Hellmuth (15 bracelets). What's really impressive is that he's won bracelets both before and after the poker boom. His first six bracelets were all picked up within four years. The two years he won the championship, he also won another event each year, giving him four, and he followed that up in 1978 and 1979 with a win each year.
He won two more bracelets in the 1990s, and then the poker boom hit with Chris Moneymaker winning the WSOP Main Event in 2003. That same year, Brunson picked up his ninth bracelet and could very easily have retired from tournament play a legend at that point, thereby avoiding the increased pressure of larger player fields and younger players. In 2005, he proved that his game could evolve and compete among the growing playing fields by winning his 10th WSOP bracelet.
The Texas Dolly has also penned a few poker books over the years. The first, Super/System, published in 1979, is considered a must-have for any serious poker player. Since then he's published Super/System 2 as well as a book of memoirs and a book about the greatest hands he's ever seen. He also owned an online gaming site, DoylesRoom.com, which has since closed down.
Doyle once told PokerListings.com in an interview, "I don't consider myself to be anything besides a poker player. I'm just fortunate that I've been able to survive all this time and seen it all evolve to this point, and I just feel very grateful."
Doyle Brunson, now 87 years old, has retired from tournament poker after the $10,000 no-limit 2-7 single draw championship at the 2018 WSOP. His final run took him to 6th place with a $43,963 prize. As he left the table, the whole room burst in spontaneous applause in appreciation and respect. You will still see him say his piece on poker or otherwise on Twitter almost daily.
Brian "Sailor" Roberts (1975)
Brian "Sailor" Roberts is a sometimes-overlooked legend of the game. "Sailor" (because of a stint in the Navy during the Korean War) surprisingly had limited success at the tournament poker tables. Obviously, Roberts' cash game skills were what kept him in poker.
He was the third component of the Amarillo Slim/Doyle Brunson triumvirate that toured the Southeastern United States pursuing the game for a living. After the threesome disbanded in the '60s, Roberts actually served time in prison for wire fraud. When he was released from jail, he headed for Las Vegas to legally pursue his vocation.
Although he took down two bracelets (including his 1975 world championship victory), he was only able to cash one more time after that in a World Series event, when he reached the final table of the Main Event in 1982 and finished eighth.
Roberts was also one of the friendliest players in the game of poker. It wasn't uncommon for Roberts, after hearing fellow poker players lament their bad beats, to infuse their bankrolls with a healthy dose of cash.
When he passed away from sclerosis caused by hepatitis in the '80s, poker lost one of the pioneers of the game, proof that the adage "nice guys finish last" doesn't always apply.
Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson (1973)
Born in the mountains of Tennessee, Puggy Pearson concentrated more on gambling than schooling. He dropped out of school after fifth grade, but more than made up for his lack of book learning with an education in the school of hard knocks. At 17, he entered the U.S. Navy and earned more money gambling than through service, setting him up for a lifetime of exploits both on and off the poker tables.
It is popularly believed that Pearson was the inspiration behind tournament poker and the World Series. Puggy suggested to Benny Binion, the originator of the World Series of Poker, that there should be a high-buy-in, No-Limit Texas Hold'em freezeout event to determine who would be the World Champion and that it should come at the end of a schedule of events consisting of assorted poker variants.
It was, therefore, partly through Puggy's efforts that the WSOP Championship Event became what it is today. Pearson kept Johnny Moss from winning another Main Event title in 1973 (Puggy's third WSOP bracelet that year). However, that proved to be the last of the four WSOP bracelets he would win. Undaunted, he continued to play at the World Series of Poker until 2005, racking up three more final tables and five cashes along the way.
He passed away shortly before the start of the 2006 World Series but will always be remembered as one of the forefathers of the game of poker.
Amarillo Slim Preston (1972)
There have been many champions over the years and many "characters" in the game of poker, but Amarillo Slim was one of the first to get noticed by the mainstream public. The self-proclaimed best gambler who ever lived won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1972, taking out Puggy Pearson in heads-up play. The top prize was a now-paltry $80,000, but Slim managed to parlay his win into fame and popularity.
He turned his reputation as a golden-tongued gambler into lucrative sponsorship deals following his win. He also made appearances on national television shows such as 60 Minutes and Good Morning America. It was rare in those days for someone involved in such a shady occupation as playing poker to be welcomed by the mainstream media as Preston was. In that way, he played a big part in bringing the early years of the WSOP to the attention of the average public.
Some of the results of his fame included the introduction of his own "Super Bowl of Poker" tournament that ran for years at a few locations in Nevada, plus the release of his book Play Poker to Win in 1973. He also made a cameo appearance in Robert Altman's film California Split.
In 1992 he was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame, but he continued to cash in WSOP events and other tournaments around the world. In 2002 he nearly made the final table of two different Omaha events, hitting the rail in 16th and 17th place. It wasn't until 2007 that he made his mark at the WSOP once again with a cash in the Seniors event.
According to an interview at the 2007 WSOP, Preston has played in nearly all the championship events of the WSOP since it began. After years of being a prominent figure in the game of poker, which includes winning four WSOP bracelets, Preston died in April, 2012.
Johnny Moss (1970-71, 1974)
Johnny Moss was already a legendary player before he was elected the first champion at the World Series of Poker in 1970. Yes, they used to elect them back then. Moss came back the next year and won it outright on the felt. He was at the final table the next two years but didn't win. In 1974, though, he made it back to the final table once again and took his third title, becoming the first man to win three Main Events at the World Series.
With his background and education in the gambling world of Texas, Moss was better known for his Draw game skills.
Of his nine World Series bracelets, six of them were in draw games such as Lowball and Seven-Card Stud. The nine bracelets he earned place him fourth on the all-time list behind contemporary players Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan and one of Moss' contemporaries, Doyle Brunson.
Moss played at the World Series from its inception in 1970 to 1995, becoming the oldest bracelet winner when he won his final bracelet in 1988 at 80 (a feat that was topped by Paul McKinney at 81 in 2005). In total, Moss cashed in 23 World Series events and was one of the inaugural inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame when it started in 1979.
When he passed away on December 16, 1997, poker lost its "Grand Old Man," one of the true legends of the early years of the World Series and of the game in general.
