The card game, Poker, which involves betting, has become very popular with the onset of the twentieth century. It was once a game of leisure time activity, where small groups played. But today, it is a great game of Poker Players with spectator activity and has international audiences and tournament prizes, which run into millions.
When the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held in 1970, the game gained popularity with tournaments being played in casinos. Some of the great Poker Players who were champions in the WSOP tournaments are Amarillo Slim, Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Bobby Baldwin and Puggy Pearson.
The Poker Player, who is most interesting and world famous, is Thomas Austin Preston Jr, popularly known as Amarillo Slim. He was born in December 1928 and started playing poker when he was 25 years old and has been playing the game for 50 years since. He is responsible for the change in the public’s outlook about Poker Players being cheaters and gamblers and liars. He brought respectability to the game of poker as being a game of skill. This persistent gambler is a good judge of character and has become a celebrity with his ability to tell amusing and interesting stories. He has made appearances on TV shows, such as ‘Good Morning America’, ’60 Minutes’, ‘The tonight Show’ and other game shows, and he like to play texas holdem, whenever he has a chance!
Johnny Moss (1907-1997), one of the greatest Poker Players is regarded as “the best Poker Player of all time”. Growing up in Dallas, Texas, he learned to gamble when he was very young. He originally was a road gambler travelling to towns and cities in Texas and the South West to shake off the police and mobsters and Texas Rangers, since gambling was illegal in the USA at that time. He played all the WSOP tournaments from 1970 to the 1995 World Series and won 8 bracelets from WSOP. He won over $ 680,000 in tournament prize money.