Poker Winner Blog

Benny Binion

One of Las Vegas’s last true patriarchs, Benny Binion started out by running illegal bootlegging and gambling rackets in Dallas during the 1930s. Binion arrived in Las Vegas in 1946 (some insist to evade murder charges back in Texas) and bought the dilapidated Eldorado Casino. He renamed it Binion’s Horseshoe, and it soon became the epicenter of gambling activity. The Horseshoe wasn’t really built for common tourists; it was a place for real gamblers.

For more than four decades, Binion had a standing public offer: He would accept a wager of any size, from anyone who walked into his casino. More than a few eccentrics were entranced by Binion’s willingness to take the ultimate gamble, and there are many stories in Binion’s folklore (all true) of high- rollers with suitcases full of money riding on a single roll at the craps table. But Binion’s first love was poker.

In 1970, Binion decided to try and duplicate the success of the Johnny Moss- Nick Dandalos match some 20 years earlier. He invited all of the top poker players to the Horseshoe for what he deemed would be the world championship. The World Series of Poker was born. Now, over 30 years later, the annual event at Binion’s Horseshoe remains the preeminent poker event in the world and every serious poker player’s dream. Binion died in 1989. The Binion family continues to operate the casino.

Most memorable quote: “Treat people right, and the rest will take care of itself.

“Amarillo Slim” Preston

Probably the best-known poker player in the world, Amarillo Slim’s down-home style and natural charm have made him a household name. Thomas Austin Preston was, in fact, born in Arkansas and took his memorable appellation many years later when he bought a ranch in West Texas with his gambling winnings. In his younger days, Slim made most of his money not at the poker table, but as a pool hustler. During a stint in the navy, Slim won over $100,000 in cash (and five cars, according to one story) while traveling up and down the West Coast.

Slim’s exposure to gambling introduced him to other legendary players of his day, including Doyle Brunson, Brian “Sailor” Roberts, and Johnny Moss. Slim won the World Series of Poker in 1972 and continued to be a dominant force in the poker world for a long time. Aside from his poker prowess, perhaps Slim’s true genius has been marketing himself with colorful yarns and homespun quips that have entertained millions of viewers and turned new generations on to the excitement of poker.

Slim has appeared on The Tonight Show over a dozen times in addition to his numerous other television and radio appearances. Slim also organized what was for many years poker’s second-largest tournament, the Super Bowl of Poker. Today, Slim lives in his namesake Amarillo and can be found at many of poker’s biggest tournaments.

Doyle Brunson

“Texas Dolly” was born in the dusty West Texas town of Longworth in 1933. He earned a full basketball scholarship to Hardin-Simmons University and was scouted by the (former) Minneapolis Lakers. Just before the NBA draft, Brunson shattered his knee and the history of poker (and perhaps basketball, too) changed forever. Brunson, who went on and earned a degree in education, toured gambling’s underground circuit in the South like many of his poker contemporaries — winning hundreds of thousands of dollars while dodging the law and getting robbed at least a dozen times.

Brunson won back-to-back world poker championships in 1976 and 1977. He also finished second in 1980. Brunson has won a total of six World Series of Poker events, including his most recent victory in 1998 in the Seven-Card Stud Razz event. (Razz is a version of Seven-Card Stud in which the lowest- ranked hand wins.)

In 1999, Brunson defied the odds again by making the final table at the inaugural Tournament of Champions, besting nearly 500 other poker players. Brunson is equally respected for his many contributions to poker’s development. He wrote the book acclaimed by many as the “bible” of poker: How I Won A Million Dollars Playing Poker, (also known as Super/System: A Course in Power Poker) first published in 1978. He also wrote a popular column, According to Doyle, which ran in Gambling Times magazine for more than a decade. Today, Brunson lives in Las Vegas and still plays almost every day in the biggest games at the Bellagio.

Johnny Chan

Known as “the Oriental Express,” Chan arrived in the United States from China when he was 9 years old. His parents, fleeing the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, set up a restaurant in Houston. At 21, Chan came to Las Vegas where he worked as a Glitter Gulch fry cook on Fremont Street. He frequently played poker after his shift was over, sometimes still wearing his white apron while sitting at the table. Chan eventually made enough money to quit his minimum wage job and became a full-time poker player.

He rotated between the biggest games in Las Vegas and Houston for a decade before winning his first world championship in 1987. The following year, Chan won the title again. In 1989, Chan was shooting for his third consecutive world championship, which would have been an unprecedented feat. However, he finished second to a young first-timer named Phil Hellmuth, Jr. Since then, Chan primarily plays only in the biggest games, although he made an appearance in the 1998 poker movie, Rounders, starring actor Matt Damon.

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