Professional Poker
Prior to 1949, all poker games were cash games; a player could cash out his chips and leave at any time. Pearson originated the idea of a freezeout tournament and shared his idea with fellow gambler "Nick the Greek" Dandolos in the early 1950s. Dandalos later brought the idea to legendary casino owner Benny Binion. After further urging by Pearson, Amarillo Slim, and Doyle Brunson, all of whom felt that such a tournament would create great side (cash) game action, Binion founded the World Series of Poker in 1970.
Pearson won the 1973 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event when his A♠ 7♠ defeated Johnny Moss's K♥ J♠. He won four bracelets, two of which were in seven-card stud.
Pearson was known as a man who would always seek out the biggest game in town, whether it was in the poker room or on the golf links. He even owned a RV he called the Roving Gambler, with this painted on the side: "I'll play any man from any land any game he can name for any amount I can count, provided I like it."
Pearson was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987.
Read more about this topic: Puggy Pearson
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or poker:
“In European thought in general, as contrasted with American, vigor, life and originality have a kind of easy, professional utterance. American—on the other hand, is expressed in an eager amateurish way. A European gives a sense of scope, of survey, of consideration. An American is strained, sensational. One is artistic gold; the other is bullion.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)