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Famous Poker Players
New Poker champions are turning up all the time, with many tournament winners making their way from the online Poker rooms to the major events. Recent World Series of Poker (WSOP) winners Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) arrived at the WSOP from online satellite events as total unknowns, and went home with huge cash prizes.
Over the years, several Poker players have become legends in the game:
Doyle Brunson
Doyle Brunson was WSOP champion in 1976 and 1977, winning the two events with the exact same poker hand - a full house (tens and deuces). Doyle is widely regarded by many as the best Poker player of all time. He ties the all-time WSOP bracelet list along with Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan with 9 bracelets each. Doyle won the 2004 Legends of Poker World Poker Tour (WPT) at the age of 71, collecting $1,198,290 in what was the biggest ever WPT field at the time. In 2004 he was one of the first three inductees into the Poker Walk of Fame
Johnny Chan
Johnny Chan won the WSOP two years in row - in 1987 and 1988. Chan returned to the WSOP to try to win an unprecedented three titles in a row, but ended up second to Phil Hellmuth (listed below). "Not only did Johnny win it twice and come in second, he won two other tournaments in between. He won four big tournaments in a row and came in second in the next one. It was very extraordinary," said fellow Poker legend Doyle Brunson. An interesting article about Johnny Chan's extraordinary Poker career can be found here: http://goldsea.com/Personalities2/Chanjohnny/chanjohnny.html
Phil Hellmuth
In 1989, Phil Hellmuth became the youngest person ever to win the WSOP at age 24. Since then he has won eight more World Championship titles and has been named by his peers, "The best Poker tournament player in the world." In 2003, Phil tied Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan as the leading WSOP bracelet winner and ranked 3rd overall in Top Money Winners among men with over $2.8 million won in 34 finishes. In all, Phil has won over 50 Poker tournaments since his career began in 1988, including becoming the first American to win the European Poker Championship in October, 2000. More information about Phil can be found on his website at: http://www.philhellmuth.com/
Johnny Moss
Considered as the Grand Old Man of Poker, Johnny Moss won the first WSOP ever, in 1970, although there were only six players invited to participate in the tournament. Johnny defended his title the following year, and won again in 1974. He was one of the charter inductees to the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979. The starting hand Ace-Ten is named the Johnny Moss in his honor. Johnny died in 1997.
Stu Ungar
Stu Ungar won the WSOP in 1980 and 1981, becoming the youngest Poker champ at the time. He came back in 1997 to defeat more than 300 competitors to take home a $1.1 million pot for his third WSOP championship. According to some, Stu's accomplishments in Poker are second to none and he is considered by many to be the greatest No Limit Hold'em player of all time. Stu was also an expert gin rummy player, had a genius IQ and a photographic memory, leading to his being banned from Blackjack tables everywhere. After years of drug abuse, Stu died in 1998 at the age of 42.
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