1.
2009 World Series of Poker
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The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker. It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, there were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Holdem Main Event. The November Nine concept returned for the year, with the finalists of the Main Event returning to finish the tournament on November 7. The $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas Hold em Main Event began on July 3 with the first of four starting days, after reaching the final table of nine players on July 15, the final table was once again delayed until November 7. According to news reports, as many as 500 players, including Patrik Antonius, T. J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, players started with 30,000 chips, up from 20,000 in previous Main Events. NB, This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry, as in 2008, the final nine players returned on November 7 to complete the event. These players were as follows, *Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2009 Main Event, harrahs deposited the remaining prizepool of $15,847,250 into a risk-free interest-bearing account back on July 16,2009 up until November 2,2009. This was the money left over in the prize pool after each member of the November Nine was paid out ninth-place money. The remaining money accrued $1,321 in interest and was distributed throughout the payouts, the 2009 final table lasted for 364 hands, including 88 hands of heads up play. Jeff Lisandro became the first player to win a bracelet in each of the Stud disciplines in the same World Series, in doing so, Lisandro was the first player to win three WSOP bracelets in the same year since Phil Ivey achieved this feat in 2002. In addition to Lisandro, Ivey, Brock Parker and Greg Mueller won multiple bracelets during the series, ville Wahlbeck, who won Event 12, became the first Finnish player to win a bracelet. Peter Traply, who won Event 41, became the first Hungarian player to win a bracelet
2.
Tiger Woods
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Eldrick Tont Tiger Woods is an American professional golfer who is among the most successful golfers of all time. He has been one of the athletes in the world for several years. Following an outstanding amateur and two-year college golf career, Woods turned professional at age 20 in late summer 1996. By April 1997 he had won his first major, the 1997 Masters, in a record-breaking performance, winning the tournament by 12 strokes. He first reached the one position in the world rankings in June 1997. Through the 2000s, Woods was the dominant force in golf, from December 2009 to early April 2010, Woods took leave from professional golf to focus on his marriage after he admitted infidelity, but he and his wife Elin Nordegren eventually divorced. His many alleged extramarital indiscretions were revealed by several different women and this was followed by a loss of golf form, and his ranking gradually fell to a low of No.58 in November 2011. He ended a winless streak of 107 weeks when he triumphed in the Chevron World Challenge in December 2011. After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 25,2013, he ascended to the No.1 ranking once again, Woods had back surgery in April 2014 and September 2015 and has struggled since to regain his dominant form. By March 29,2015, Woods had fallen to #104, in May 2016, Woods dropped out of the world top 500 for the first time in his professional career. Woods has broken numerous golf records and he has been World Number One for the most consecutive weeks and for the greatest total number of weeks of any golfer. He has won 14 professional major golf championships, the second-highest of any player, and 79 PGA Tour events, second all time behind Sam Snead and he has more career major wins and career PGA Tour wins than any other active golfer. He is the youngest player to achieve the career Grand Slam, additionally, Woods is only the second golfer to have achieved a career Grand Slam three times. Woods has won 18 World Golf Championships, and won at least one of those events in each of the first 11 years after they began in 1999, Woods and Rory McIlroy are the only golfers to win both The Silver Medal and The Gold Medal at The Open Championship. Woods was born in Cypress, California, to Earl and Kultida Woods, Kultida, originally from Thailand, is of mixed Thai, Chinese, and Dutch ancestry. Earl, a lieutenant colonel and Vietnam War veteran, was of mostly African American. Earls mother Maude Carter was of light skin, some suggest possible Native American and Chinese ancestry. Tiger refers to his ethnic make-up as Cablinasian, Woods first name, Eldrick, was coined by his mother because it began with E and ended with K
3.
World Series of Poker
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The World Series of Poker is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The winner of each event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet, over the years, the tournament has grown in both the number of events and in the number of participants. Each year, the WSOP culminates with the $10,000 no-limit holdem Main Event, the victor receives a multi-million dollar cash prize and a bracelet, which has become the most coveted award a poker player can win. The winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker, as of 2014, the WSOP consists of 65 events, with most major poker variants featured. However, in recent years, over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold em, Events traditionally take place during one day or over several consecutive days during the series in June and July. However, starting in 2008, the Main Event final table was delayed until November, the 2012 Main Event final table commenced in October because of the United States presidential election. Since 1971, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes, in 1973, a five-card stud event was added. Since then, new events have added and removed. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP, later on, the tournament grew slowly for over a decade, reaching 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s, satellite tournaments were introduced, allowing people to win their way into the various events, by 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants in the entire series. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, there were 45 events, participation in the Main Event peaked that year, with 8,773 players. Currently, Texas hold em, Omaha hold em and Seven-card stud, H. O. R. S. E. has been played in the past and returned in 2006. Also, S. H. O. E. has been played in the past, other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes a fee and distributes the rest. In the 2005 Main Event, US$52,818,610 in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with US$7.5 million as the first prize. The 2006 Main Event, won by Jamie Gold, is the largest single poker tournament by prize pool or by entrant numbers in history, in July 2010, it was announced that the winner of the 2010 Main Event would receive just under US$9 million. 11% of the went to Lalibertés charity, the One Drop Foundation. At the time of the announcement,15 of the maximum 48 seats had been taken
4.
World Series of Poker bracelet
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The World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP, even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as bracelets. During the first years of the WSOP only a handful of bracelets were awarded each year, in 1990, there were only 14 bracelet events. By 2000, that increased to 24. As the popularity of poker has increased during the 2000s, the number of events has likewise increased, in 2011,58 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP, seven at the World Series of Poker Europe, and one to the WSOP National Circuit Champion. This brought the number of bracelets awarded up to 959. Five additional bracelets were awarded for the first time in April 2013 at the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, Australia. Since Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event, only two players have won and followed it up with a win in another event, Jonathan Duhamel. The 1976 bracelet looked like gold nuggets kind of hammered flat, the bracelet in 1976 cost approximately $500. In the 1980s, Las Vegas jeweler Mordechai Yerushalmi became the manufacturer of WSOP bracelets until Harrahs Entertainment bought the rights to the WSOP in 2004. According to 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker, the design of the bracelet remained relatively unchanged under Yerushalmi, in 2005, Gold and Diamond International based in Memphis, TN won the bid from Harrahs Entertainment to manufacture the 2005 World Series of Poker bracelets. The company also manufactures the WSOP circuit rings, in 2006, Frederick Goldman, Inc. made the WSOP bracelets while luxury watch maker Corum introduced some commemorative watches as part of the prize package. In 2006, the Champions bracelet had 259 stones including 7.2 carats of diamonds,120 grams of white and it also used rubies to represent the heart and diamond suits, a sapphire to represent the spade and three black diamonds to represent the clubs. In 2007, Corum became the official bracelet manufacturer for the WSOP, some of the 2007 World Series of Poker champions received both a watch and a bracelet from Corum. Corum designed four variations for the 2007 World Series of Poker Bracelets, the standard version that is presented to 53 winners features 53 diamonds. The Ladies World Champion receives a bracelet that is adorned with four black diamonds, the $50,000 HORSE Champion Bracelet has 91 black diamonds and two rubies. The World Series of Poker Main Event Bracelet has 120 diamonds on 136 grams of 18 carat white gold, the value of the 2007 bracelets have not been released, but the typical price of a Corum watch ranges from $1, 500–$30, 000+. In 2008, the Main Event Bracelet had 291 diamonds, totalling 2.81 carats set in 168 grams of 18kt white gold, the other 54 event bracelets consisted of 55 diamonds, totalling 0.25 carats set in 80 grams of 14kt yellow gold
5.
World Poker Tour
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The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in 2002 in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises, in 2008, the WPT started offering bracelets to its event champions. Players who won a title prior to the release of the WPT Bracelet were given one retroactively, in November 2009, PartyGaming announced its acquisition of the World Poker Tour from WPTE for $12.3 million. In December 2014, World Poker Tour announced an alliance with Ourgame, agreeing to license products, in June 2015, The World Poker Tour announced that it was acquired by Ourgame International Holdings Ltd. for a price of $35 million in cash. The year-round WPT television show, building on the annual broadcast of the World Series of Poker, has contributed to the Poker boom in American homes, in casino poker rooms. The key sponsors of the WPT are casinos and online poker sites, the WPT television show, which is syndicated internationally, features commentary and analysis by World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mike Sexton and actor Vince Van Patten. Interviews and sideline reporting are provided by a female host, shana Hiatt served as the show host and sideline reporter in its first three seasons. Courtney Friel took over the host role for the fourth season, layla Kayleigh and Kimberly Lansing began serving as hostesses in season six. Poker player and reporter Amanda Leatherman was the host for season seven, Kimberly Lansing returned as anchor for seasons nine through eleven. Lynn Gilmartin assumed the role for season twelve and remains the current anchor for season thirteen. Following the November 2009 acquisition of the World Poker Tour by PartyGaming plc and this series has, to date, focused on televising the European stops of the WPT. Mike Sexton continues to provide commentary, though he is partnered with Denmark-based American commentator Jesse May rather than Vince Van Patten, the role of female show host and sideline reporter has been served by a number of personalities, often from the country where the event is held. One exception is Canadian born poker player Kara Scott, who has served as host for a number of the Party Poker branded telecasts of these European WPT events. In 2014, the World Poker Tour launched a high roller tournament series, WPT Alpha8, the series originally featured commentary and analysis by Ali Nejad and Olivier Busquet, with Lynn Gilmartin serving as anchor. In later seasons, Vince Van Patten and Tony Dunst replaced Nejad, the tour had its debut season in the latter part of 2002 and early part of 2003, climaxing with the WPT Championship in April 2003 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first season aired on the Travel Channel on American cable television in the spring of 2003, the show made its network debut on February 1,2004 on NBC with a special Battle of Champions tournament, which aired against CBS coverage of the Super Bowl XXXVIII pre-game show. The Travel Channel aired the first five seasons of the Tour, in April 2007, WPTE announced that the series would move to GSN for its sixth season in the spring of 2008. The first WPT tournament to air on GSN, the Mirage Poker Showdown, in July 2008, WPTE announced that the series would move to Fox Sports Net for its seventh season
6.
European Poker Tour
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The European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour, created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the explosion in Texas Hold em popularity. Since 2011 the EPT has been sponsored and wholly owned and controlled by PokerStars the online casino and taped by Sunset + Vine for television broadcast across Europe. In seasons 1-3, the most significant difference between the competing poker tours was the buy-in and its effect on the pool, with the EPT featuring buy-ins about half the size of the WPT. This changed in season 4 when the buy-in for most EPT events was increased to €8,000, at 2007 exchange rates, this is approximately equal to the US$10,000 which is the buy-in for most WPT events. Furthermore, the table is made up of 8 players. For the first couple of seasons, Duthie commentated for the show alongside Colin Murray, since the middle of Season 3, James Hartigan has been the lead commentator, with professional players Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu and Victoria Coren providing analysis. Hartigan also presents the live webcast from each event, the TV show was first hosted by Caroline Flack, then joined by Natalie Pinkham. Seasons 4 and 5 were hosted by Kara Scott, while Seasons 6 and 7 were fronted by Michelle Orpe, on March 6,2010 four masked men, armed with knives and at least one hand gun robbed the EPT event in Berlin. According to the police, the robbers got away with €242,000, no one was seriously injured, only one guard got a minor cut while trying to detain one of the robbers. The panic which gripped the crowd was briefly captured on the live webcast before the cut away. The attackers were caught several days after the robbery and later convicted and sentenced to three years in prison
7.
Poker
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Poker is a family of card games that combine gambling, strategy, and skill. Poker games vary in the number of cards dealt, the number of shared or community cards, the number of cards that remain hidden, and the betting procedures. In most modern games, the first round of betting begins with one or more of the players making some form of a forced bet. In standard poker, each player bets according to the rank they believe their hand is worth as compared to the other players. The action then proceeds clockwise as each player in turn must either match, or call, a player who matches a bet may also raise, or increase the bet. The betting round ends when all players have called the last bet or folded. If all but one player folds on any round, the player collects the pot without being required to reveal their hand. If more than one remains in contention after the final betting round, a showdown takes place where the hands are revealed. By the 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a derivative of As-Nas. There is evidence that a game called poque, a French game similar to poker, was played around the region where poker is said to have originated. The name of the game likely descended from the Irish Poca or even the French poque, yet it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero, the English game brag clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing. It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now, the unique features of poker have to do with the betting, and do not appear in any known older game. In this view poker originated much later, in the early or mid-18th century and it was played in a variety of forms, with 52 cards, and included both straight poker and stud. 20 card poker was a variant for two players, the development of poker is linked to the historical movement that also saw the invention of commercial gambling. English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards, and four players betting on which players hand was the most valuable. As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, soon after this spread, the full 52-card French deck was used and the flush was introduced. The draw was added prior to 1850, during the American Civil War, many additions were made including stud poker, and the straight
8.
Poker Hall of Fame
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The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Binion was known for the ways in which he marketed his casino. In 1949, he convinced Johnny Moss and Nick The Greek Dandolos to play high-stakes poker heads up where the public could watch them, in 1970, he invited a group of poker players to compete in what would be the first World Series of Poker. When Harrahs Entertainment, now known as Caesars Entertainment, acquired the rights to the WSOP in 2004, currently, membership in the Poker Hall of Fame is handled directly by the WSOP. As of 2016,52 people have been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame,21 of whom are still living. Before the 2009 World Series of Poker, then-WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack announced that the process for becoming a member into the Poker Hall of Fame would undergo a slight modification, starting in 2009, the Poker Hall of Fame started accepting nominations from the public. This move was intended to increase interest in the Hall, almost immediately after this decision was announced, Party Poker started an online campaign to get its representative and World Poker Tour commentator Mike Sexton elected to the Hall. Other poker sites, namely PokerStars Tom McEvoy, followed suit by pushing their own poker professionals, or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results. In 2009, 23-year-old online poker professional Tom Dwan was a finalist for the Poker Hall of Fame because of public balloting, as a result, a new age requirement was added in 2011. This rule, known as the Chip Reese Rule, established an age of 40 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This new requirement eliminated some players who were regular nominees over the years, such as Phil Ivey. Admission into the Poker Hall of Fame is considered one of the biggest honors in poker, in his acceptance speech, T. J. Cloutier declared, Its one of two things Ive always wanted to win. Barbara Enright, the first woman inducted into the Hall, considers her induction to be a lifetime achievement honor, before being acquired by Harrahs Casino, R. S. Owens & Company was commissioned to design an award for Poker Hall of Famers. The award was an 8-inch-tall piece of glass with a hand of cards sandblasted at the bottom, the name. The circle had a gold emblem bonded to the glass and had the Binions Horseshoe Casino logo in it, there was a gold plated base with three gold-plated stacks of chips. World Poker Tour Walk of Fame Poker Hall of Fame Doyle Room Poker Hall of Fame Legends Jack Binion & Crandell Addington Accessed March 3,2008
9.
New Brunswick, New Jersey
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The City of New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is the county seat of Middlesex County, and the home of Rutgers University, the city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line,27 miles southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. The corporate headquarters and production facilities of several global companies are situated in the city, including Johnson & Johnson. New Brunswick is noted for its ethnic diversity, at one time, one quarter of the Hungarian population of New Jersey resided in the city and in the 1930s one out of three city residents was Hungarian. The Hungarian community continues to exist, alongside growing Asian and Hispanic communities that have developed around French Street near Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and it was first inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. The first European settlement at the site of New Brunswick was made in 1681, the settlement here was called Prigmores Swamp, then known as Inians Ferry. In 1714, the settlement was given the name New Brunswick, after the city of Braunschweig, in state of Lower Saxony, in Germany. Braunschweig was an influential and powerful city in the Hanseatic League, later in the Holy Roman Empire, and was an administrative seat for the Duchy of Hanover. Shortly after the first settlement of New Brunswick in colonial New Jersey, George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, alternatively, the city gets its name from King George II of Great Britain, the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. New Brunswick was incorporated as a town in 1736 and chartered as a city in 1784 and it was incorporated into a town in 1798 as part of the Township Act of 1798. It was occupied by the British in the winter of 1776–1777 during the Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence received one of its first public readings, by Col. John Neilson, in New Brunswick on July 9,1776, in the days following its promulgation by the Continental Congress. The Trustees of Queens College, founded in 1766, voted to locate the college in New Brunswick, selecting the city over Hackensack, in Bergen County. Classes began in 1771 with one instructor, one sophomore, Matthew Leydt, classes were held through the American Revolution in various taverns and boarding houses, and at a building known as College Hall on George Street, until Old Queens was erected in 1808. It remains the oldest building on the Rutgers University campus, the Queens College Grammar School was established also in 1766, and shared facilities with the College until 1830, when it located in a building across College Avenue from Old Queens. The New Brunswick Theological Seminary, founded in 1784 in New York, moved to New Brunswick in 1810, New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1,1784. The existence of an African American community dates back to the late 18th century, the citys Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 39 Morris Street, was originally established in 1825 at 25 Division Street, making it one of the oldest in New Jersey. New Brunswick began attracting a Hungarian immigrant population around the turn of the 20th century, hungarians were primarily attracted to the city by employment at Johnson & Johnson factories located in the city
10.
Telemarketing
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Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches programmed to be played over the phone via automatic dialing. The term telemarketing was first used extensively in the late 1970s to describe Bell System communications which related to new uses for the outbound WATS, the rise of telemarketing can be traced back to the 19th century telephonists, or switchboard operators. Trans-cultural hiring of switchboard operators became especially popular in North America throughout the 20th century, after the shift from public switched telephone network to computer-based electronic switching system, the job of switchboard operators gradually diminished. However, with the rise of advertising and with the popularity of the use, new jobs. Telemarketing, as it was the case with telephone operators, is one of the known to be occupied mostly by women. The central reason for hiring women operators lay in the fact that work was considered a form of cheap labor. It was also highlighted, however, that women were more polite, moreover, the calming, more delicate nature of a womans voice was considered to be womens natural quality, although no scientific evidence supports this statement. This naturalization led to normalizing the perception of women as operators and consultants. The two major categories of telemarketing are business-to-business and business-to-consumer, demand is generally created by advertising, publicity, or the efforts of outside salespeople. Call to Action, the implementation of outbound telemarketing to activate or elicit an action or response from prospects, appointment Setting, utilizing inbound or outbound telemarketing to create face-to-face or telephone appointments for sales purposes. Database Cleansing, the calling of databases with the particular purpose to clean and prepare data. Surveys, the implementation of telemarketing with the purpose of collecting data. Telesales, telemarketing with the intention of making an actual sale/transaction over the phone. Often includes the collection of credit card details over the phone for payment purposes, Telemarketing may be done from a company office, from a call center, or from home. It may involve a live operator voice broadcasting which is most frequently associated with political messages, an effective telemarketing process often involves two or more calls. The first call determines the customer’s needs, the final call motivates the customer to make a purchase. Prospective customers are identified by means, including past purchase history, previous requests for information, credit limit, competition entry forms. Names may also be purchased from another companys consumer database or obtained from a directory or another public list
11.
Atlantic City, New Jersey
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Atlantic City is a resort city in New Jersey, United States, known for its casinos, boardwalk and beach. In 2010, it had a population of 39,558, incorporated on May 1,1854, from portions of Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township, the city borders Absecon, Brigantine, Pleasantville, Ventnor City, West Atlantic City and the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic City inspired the American version of the board game Monopoly, especially the street names, since 1921, Atlantic City has been the home of the Miss America pageant. Because of its location in South Jersey, hugging the Atlantic Ocean between marshlands and islands, Atlantic City was viewed by developers as prime real estate and a resort town. In 1853, the first commercial hotel, the Belloe House, was built at the intersection of Massachusetts, the city was incorporated in 1854, the same year in which the Camden and Atlantic Railroad train service began. Built on the edge of the bay, this served as the link of this remote parcel of land with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That same year, construction of the Absecon Lighthouse, designed by George Meade of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, was approved, by 1874, almost 500,000 passengers a year were coming to Atlantic City by rail. In Boardwalk Empire, The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, the hotel was owned by the railroad. It was a sprawling, four-story structure built to house 2,000 guests and it opened while it was still under construction, with only one wing standing, and even that wasnt completed. By years end, when it was constructed, the United States Hotel was not only the first hotel in Atlantic City. Its rooms totaled more than 600, and its grounds covered some 14 acres, the first boardwalk was built in 1870 along a portion of the beach in an effort to help hotel owners keep sand out of their lobbies. Businesses were restricted and the boardwalk was removed each year at the end of the peak season, because of its effectiveness and popularity, the boardwalk was expanded in length and width, and modified several times in subsequent years. The historic length of the boardwalk, before the destructive 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, was about 7 miles and it extended from Atlantic City to Longport, through Ventnor, the first road connecting the city to the mainland at Pleasantville was completed in 1870 and charged a 30-cent toll. Albany Avenue was the first road to the mainland available without a toll, by 1878, because of the growing popularity of the city, one railroad line could no longer keep up with demand. Soon, the Philadelphia and Atlantic City Railway was also constructed to transport tourists to Atlantic City, at this point massive hotels like The United States and Surf House, as well as smaller rooming houses, had sprung up all over town. The United States Hotel took up a city block between Atlantic, Pacific, Delaware, and Maryland Avenues. These hotels were not only impressive in size, but featured the most updated amenities, in the early part of the 20th century, Atlantic City went through a radical building boom. Many of the modest boarding houses dotted the boardwalk were replaced with large hotels
12.
Phil Hellmuth
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Phillip Jerome Hellmuth, Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won a record fourteen World Series of Poker bracelets. He is the winner of the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and the Main Event of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe, Hellmuth is also known for his temperamental poker brat personality. Since 1992, he has lived in Palo Alto, California with his wife Katherine Sanborn, who is a psychiatrist at Stanford University, as of 2016, his total live tournament winnings exceed $20,900,000. He is ranked seventh on the money list. Hellmuth is known for taking his seat at poker tournaments long after they begin. On October 18,2015, Hellmuth is ranked #119 on the Global Poker Index, Hellmuth holds the records for most WSOP cashes and most WSOP final tables, overtaking T. J. Cloutier. As of March 2015, Hellmuth has won over $12,000,000 at the WSOP and ranks fourth on the WSOP All Time Money List, behind Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Colman, and Daniel Negreanu. Hellmuth also is tied for all time in number of times cashed in the WSOP Main Event. He has eight Main Event cashes, placing him behind Berry Johnston, and Humberto Brenes, Doyle Brunson, of those 22 events, Hellmuth has finished runner-up six times. At the 1993 World Series of Poker, Hellmuth became the player in WSOP history to win three bracelets in one WSOP. At the 1997 World Series of Poker, Hellmuth won his 5th bracelet of the decade, at the conclusion of the 1999 World Series of Poker, his five bracelets would stand to lead the decade for most WSOP bracelets won by one player in the 1990s. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, Hellmuth captured his 10th World Series of Poker bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Holdem with rebuys event, at the time, it tied him with Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan for most bracelets. At the 2007 World Series of Poker, Hellmuth won his record-breaking 11th bracelet in the $1,500 No Limit Holdem Event, Hellmuths sponsor arranged for him to arrive at the 2007 WSOP Main Event in a race car. Hellmuth lost control of the car in the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino parking lot and he gave up the car for a limo, arriving at the Main Event two hours late. At the 2008 WSOP Main Event, Hellmuth verbally abused another player, after a private meeting with WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack the penalty was overruled and Hellmuth finished the tournament in 45th place. On June 11,2012, Hellmuth won his 12th World Series of Poker bracelet in the $2,500 Seven-Card Razz event, defeating Don Zewin, Zewin had finished third to Chan and Hellmuth when Hellmuth won his first bracelet in 1989. Hellmuth also collected $2,645,333 for his finish in the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament. This win also made Hellmuth the first player in WSOP history to win multiple bracelets in three different years, also, Hellmuth finished runner-up in the WSOP Player of the Year race for a record third time
13.
Ted Forrest
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Ted Forrest is an American professional poker player, currently residing in Las Vegas, Nevada. Forrest won three bracelets at the 1993 World Series of Poker, after the mid-1990s, Forrest turned his attention full-time to cash games. He made a triumphant return to the WSOP by winning 2 bracelets at the 2004 World Series of Poker, Forrest competed in the second season of Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, where he advanced to the quarter-final stage. He did not fare as well in three, being mathematically eliminated early in the preliminaries. He played in the first two seasons of the GSN series High Stakes Poker. Continuing with his history of tournament success, in March 2007 Ted won the Bay 101 Shooting Stars Tournament, for the victory, Forrest collected the first prize of $1,100,000. In June 2014 Ted defeated notable poker player Phil Hellmuth in the table of the WSOP Razz event. As of 7 August 2015, his live tournament winnings exceed $6,200,000. His 31 cashes as the WSOP account for $1,922,990 of those winnings, Forrest is well known as a competitive high-stakes gambler. Forrests first three bracelets were stolen and he gave one of the remaining two to his daughter, and has the other locked away. Hamid told him, “They say it’s worth $5,000, in September 2016, Forrest was charged in the Las Vegas Justice Court with two felonies, drawing and passing a check without sufficient funds with the intent to defraud, and theft
14.
Puggy Pearson
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Walter Clyde Puggy Pearson was an American professional poker player. He is best known as the 1973 World Series of Poker Main Event winner, Pearson was born and raised in Tennessee in a family with nine siblings. He got his nickname Puggy from an accident that left him with a disfigured nose at the age of twelve. He dropped out of school in the grade, and at the age of 17 he joined the United States Navy. He strengthened his skills at poker and gambling while in the Navy, 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 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 game action, Binion founded the World Series of Poker in 1970. Pearson won the 1973 World Series of Poker main event when his A♠ 7♠ defeated Johnny Mosss K♥ J♠ and he won four bracelets, two of which were in seven-card stud and two of which were No limit holdem. Pearson was known as a man who would seek out the biggest game in town. He owned a RV, which he called the Roving Gambler, with this painted on the side, Ill play any man from any land any game he can name for any amount I can count, Pearson was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987. Pearson, who had a history of heart problems, died on April 12,2006. Guardian article by Victoria Coren CardPlayer article by Jeff Shulman Hendon Mob tournament results http, //www. wnypoker. com/forums/showthread. php. p=81528
15.
Jeff Lisandro
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Jeffrey Lisandro is an Italo-Australian professional poker player, now residing in Salerno, Italy. Lisandro is known as a cash game specialist, but he also often in the poker tournament circuit and is regarded as one of the premier Seven Card Stud players in the world. Growing up near Salerno, Italy, Lisandros mother taught him how to play poker at the age of five, in December 2004, Lisandro won the $25,000 limit holdem heads-up tournament, defeating Howard Lederer in the final to take home the $194,000 grand prize. In May 2005, he won the $10,000 no limit holdem World Series of Poker circuit event at Lake Tahoe, defeating Phil Ivey in the final heads-up confrontation to win the $542,360 prize. Lisandro has said that he considers this to be one of his greatest achievements, Lisandro finished 17th in the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event, winning $659,730. He was also noted for an incident with Prahlad Friedman during the event, Friedman brought it up constantly through the hand, with the dealer telling him to stop bringing it up. Friedman would not stop, and called Lisandro a thief, Lisandro was very upset to hear that, and argued with Friedman, telling him he would take his head off. Friedman tried to settle things with Lisandro afterwards during play, Lisandro asked him, Can you take him with you. He won his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2007 in the $2,000 Seven-Card Stud event beating a final table that included Daniel Negreanu, Lisandro plays online at PokerStars and is a good friend of Jean-Robert Bellande. He is known for chewing gum at the table to reduce tells. He placed 2nd in the World Championship Pot Limit Holdem in 2007 and he won $294,620 as the runner-up to Allen Cunningham. At the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific, Lisandro won his 6th bracelet in Event #3, A$1,650 Pot Limit Omaha, as of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $5,400,000. His 56 cashes at the WSOP account for $4,151,222 of those winnings, in 2009, Lisandro won the World Series of Poker Player of the Year award. In addition to his residence in Salerno, he owns a property in Santa Barbara
16.
2005 World Series of Poker
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The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15 marked the close of play, eSPNs broadcast began July 19 with coverage of WSOP Circuit Tournaments, and coverage of the Main Event began October 11 and ended November 15. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino with the exception of the two days of the Main Event which were held at Binions Horseshoe. This marked the last time the Main Event final table was held at Binions Horseshoe, there were 5,619 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter what was the largest poker tournament ever played in a brick, many entrants won their seat in online poker tournaments. NB, This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry
17.
Amarillo Slim
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Thomas Austin Preston, Jr. known as Amarillo Slim, was an American professional gambler known for his poker skills and proposition bets. Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker Main Event and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992, before becoming a well-known tournament player, Preston was a rounder, touring the United States looking for gambling action along with Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts. Following his WSOP victory, he appeared on talk shows, including The Tonight Show. He appeared on Ive Got a Secret, where his secret involved losing $190,000 in one night of poker, Preston won four WSOP bracelets including two in Omaha. Prestons final WSOP win was in 1990, in the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the 2000 WSOP, he came in second to Phil Ivey. In January/February 1980, Amarillo Slim hosted the Second Annual Poker Classic and this series eventually came to be called the Super Bowl of Poker and continued until 1991. Gabe Kaplan became the first winner of this tournament series and Stu Ungar won the three times. Prestons lifetime tournament earnings totaled more than $587,000, in 1973, Preston and Bill G. Cox wrote Play Poker to Win which was published by Grosset and Dunlap. A revised edition was published by HarperCollins in 2005 entitled Amarillo Slims Play Poker to Win. In May 2003, Preston published his autobiography Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People, where he wrote of playing poker with Larry Flynt, Lyndon Johnson, in addition to his poker exploits, Preston wrote about his exploits in proposition betting. In April 2007, Preston created a website and released an E-Book called All In, the book was written by Preston along with Joe Brent Riley. Thomas Austin Preston, Jr. was born on December 31,1928, in Johnson, Arkansas, after they divorced, his mother returned to Johnson, while his father moved to Amarillo. Slim is quoted as saying, Its a good thing he did, Preston was divorced, had three children, and lived in Amarillo, Texas. In August 2003, Preston was indicted in Randall County, Texas on charges of indecency with a 12-year-old grandchild. The charges were reduced to misdemeanor assault in a bargain and on February 10,2004, Preston pleaded no contest to the reduced charges. Preston received a $4,000 fine, two years probation and was ordered to undergo counseling, in a 2009 interview, he stated that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, but chose to take the plea bargain in order to spare his family from a court trial. Early on the morning of October 4,2006, Preston was the victim of an armed robbery. The armed robber fired three bullets into Prestons car as he sped away, on January 28,2007, Preston was robbed at gunpoint while in his home
18.
2010 World Series of Poker
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The 2010 World Series of Poker was the 41st annual World Series of Poker, held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, and ran from May 28 to July 17. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No Limit Holdem Championship that began on July 5, the November Nine concept returned for the third year, with the Main Event finalists returning on November 6. A notable change from 2009 was the revamping of the $50,000 buy-in tournament, from its inception in 2006 through 2009, it had been a H. O. R. S. E. Event in which play rotated between Texas hold em, Omaha 8-or-better, Razz, stud, and stud 8-or-better, all played with a betting structure. In 2010, it became an 8-game tournament, rotating between the five H. O. R. S. E, games followed by rounds of no-limit hold em, pot-limit Omaha, and limit 2–7 triple draw. Once the final table was reached, play switched exclusively to no-limit hold em, the tournament, now known as The Poker Players Championship, was moved to the second spot on the WSOP schedule, preceded only by the restricted $500 Casino Employees No Limit Holdem event. Thus, the 2010 WSOP open events started with The Poker Players Championship, in 1995, Howard Lederer and Annie Duke made the final table in a pot-limit Holdem event and in 2002, Ross and Barny Boatman made it to the final table in a pot-limit Omaha event. While the event is called the Ladies Championship, the WSOP cannot ban men from participating. ”Robert and they and their brothers Eric and Donny became the first set of four siblings ever to cash in the same Main Event. Breeze Zuckerman won the 2010 Last Woman Standing Cup in the Main Event, finishing 121st, the $10,000 No Limit Texas Hold em Championship Main Event began on July 5 with the first of four starting days. Each of the participants at the 2010 WSOP Main Event received 30,000 in tournament chips for the $10,000 buy-in event, after reaching the final table of nine players on July 17, the final table was delayed until November 6. The total number of entrants in the 2010 Main Event was 7,319 with a pool of $68,798,600 with the winner receiving $8,944,138 for first place. The payout bubble was reached during Day 4 at 747 players, the bubble finisher was Tim McDonald, a professional angler and recreational poker player from Lexington, Kentucky, he received the consolation prize of a guaranteed seat in the 2011 Main Event. Matt Affleck, with his 15th-place finish in this year’s championship combined with an 80th-place in 2009, outlasted 13,718 players in back-to-back years, NB, This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry. *Career statistics prior to the beginning of the 2010 Main Event, american jewelry designer Steve Soffa was chosen by the World Series of Poker to design and manufacture the entire set of bracelets for the 2010 World Series of Poker
19.
Bill Chen
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William Bill Chen is an American quantitative analyst, poker player, and software designer. Chen holds a Ph. D. in mathematics from the University of California and he was an undergraduate at Washington University in St. He heads the Statistical Arbitrage department at Susquehanna International Group. At the 2006 World Series of Poker Chen won two events, a $3,000 limit Texas Hold em event with a prize of $343,618, and a $2,500 no limit hold em short-handed event with a prize of $442,511. Prior to these events Chens largest tournament win was for $41,600 at a no limit hold em event at the Bicycle Casinos Legends of Poker in 2000. Chen has been a participant in the rec. gambling. poker newsgroup. He is also a member of Team PokerStars, with Jerrod Ankenman, Chen coauthored The Mathematics of Poker, an introduction to quantitative techniques and game theory as applied to poker. In February 2009, he appeared on Poker After Darks Brilliant Minds week, as of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,000,000. His 14 cashes at the WSOP account for $882,744 of those winnings and he is currently the Honorary Chairman of the Churchill Regular Association for Poker, a poker club at Churchill College which has 21 Nobel Laureates as members
20.
John Juanda
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Johnson John Juanda is an Indonesian-born American professional poker player based in Marina del Rey, California. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets, Juanda arrived in the United States in 1990, when he enrolled at Oklahoma State University. He earned an MBA from Seattle University, Juanda was a high school track star for the 200 meter sprints to 5000 meters races. In both 2001 and 2002, he was Cardplayer Magazines tournament Player of the Year, winning four World Series of Poker titles, in November 2004 he won the inaugural Professional Poker Tour event at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. Net Invitational Live from Monte Carlo. Juanda won the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 No Limit Holdem Main Event, although Juanda has made six World Poker Tour final tables, he has never captured a WPT title. He has finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and he has also finished 7th and 8th, just missing two more opportunities at another final table. As of 2014, his live tournament winnings exceed $16,000,000. Juandas 54 cashes at the WSOP account for $4,702,392 of his tournament winnings. In 2015, he was selected to be part of the Poker Hall of Fame, an E following a year denotes bracelet won at the World Series of Poker Europe
21.
Chad Brown (poker player)
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Chad Brown was an American actor, poker player and color commentator, based in Los Angeles, California. Brown was born in Manhattan, New York in 1961, Brown was raised in The Bronx, where he began playing poker in Italian cafés. He moved to Los Angeles in the early 1990s where he working in Hollywood. Brown has had minor roles in television series and films, including Basket Case 2. He also appeared as an assistant host on the game show Caesars Challenge in the early 1990s, Brown was the presenter of the Ultimate Poker Challenge television series. Brown made back to back final tables at 2005 World Series of Poker circuit events, including a third-place finish behind Chris Ferguson, Brown made 10 Final Tables at the WSOP, but never won a WSOP Bracelet in open competition. He finished runner-up three times and in place three times. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary World Series of Poker bracelet for his contributions to the game of poker. Brown also made the table of the World Poker Tour fourth season Bay 101 Shooting Stars Tournament. Brown won one of the biggest online poker tournaments in the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker $5000 H. O. R. S. E and he bested 174 other players to take down the $223,125 first prize and a gold bracelet. In 2007, Brown cashed in the money for the first time in the $10,000 no limit Texas holdem championship coming in 97th place out of a field of 6,358 players, winning $67,535. Browns biggest win came at the 2009 Gulf Coast Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Brown and Vanessa Rousso served as the official celebrity hosts of the tournament. For first place, Brown earned $225,567, Brown was named Bluff Magazine’s Poker Player of the Year for 2006, and in his own words, “Winning player of the year is like an actor winning an Oscar”. Browns total live tournament winnings exceed $3,600,000 and his 38 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,220,357 of those winnings. Brown was married to professional poker player Vanessa Rousso, the couple separated in early 2012. Brown died on July 2,2014, in February 2011, he was diagnosed with liposarcoma and had a ten-pound tumor removed from his abdomen. Brown continued to battle the rare cancer while resuming his poker career, just prior to his death, the World Series of Poker honored him by awarding him an honorary bracelet for his achievements in poker, but Brown was unable to make the ceremony due to his condition. He died in care at Calvary Hospital in his native New York at the age of 52
22.
Darvin Moon
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Darvin Moon is an American self-employed logger and amateur poker player who was the runner-up of the 2009 World Series of Poker US$10,000 no-limit Texas holdem Main Event. It was his first time playing in the World Series of Poker, Moon, who taught himself how to play poker, ran a small logging company in the Maryland Panhandle before earning a 2009 World Series seat by winning a $130 satellite tournament. Moon earned the lead early in the tournament, and eventually entered the final table as the chip leader. Although Moon briefly lost the lead, he regained it after eliminating veteran players like Steve Begleiter. Moon ultimately lost heads up against Joe Cada, earning Moon US$5.18 million for his second-place finish, although some criticized his playing style and lack of experience, Moon was also praised for his working stiff personality and self-deprecating manner. Moon participated in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, but lost in the round to poker professional Annie Duke. He also competed in the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event, Moon lives in the western Maryland town of Oakland, at the foot of Backbone Mountain. Prior to entering the World Series of Poker, Moon lived in a 14 by 70 feet trailer with his wife, Moon owns and operates a small logging company with other family members. Most of his days were spent in pine forests scattered throughout the Maryland Panhandle, Moon taught himself how to play poker, and he first started playing with his grandfather at a young age. He started playing frequently around 2006 and studied the game by watching televised poker, Moon regularly played home games at such places as fire departments, Elks Lodges and American Legion buildings. Moon earned his seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker no-limit Texas holdem Main Event by winning a $130 satellite tournament at the Wheeling Island Casino in Wheeling, West Virginia. He lost in two Wheeling Island tournaments before finishing in first place on his attempt, winning a $10,000 main event seat. The event marked Moon’s first time playing in the WSOP, as well as visiting Las Vegas, Nevada, on the first day of the tournament, Moon was dealt pocket aces six times and got three-of-a-kind on the flop three times. He performed well on the first day and continued a successful streak throughout the tournament and he eliminated several professional poker players during the tournament, including David Benyamine. He eventually obtained the lead and kept it until the seventh day of play. At that time, he fell to tenth place, but won a few big hands to recover and he eliminated Billy Kopp in one of the biggest hands in the tournament when his Q♦ J♦ led to a higher flush than Kopps 5♦ 3♦. Moon entered the final table as the leader, holding 58.6 million chips. During the final table, Moon eliminated Steve Begleiter and seasoned pro Phil Ivey, Moon lost the chip lead during the November Nine game, but his elimination of Begleiter brought him back into the chip lead with 63.9 million chips
23.
Doyle Brunson
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Doyle F. Brunson is an American poker player who has played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and he is also one of only four players to have won the Main Event at the World Series of Poker multiple times, which he did in 1976 and 1977. He is also one of two players, along with Bill Boyd, to have won WSOP tournaments in four consecutive years. In addition, he is the first of five players to win both the WSOP Main Event and a World Poker Tour title, in January 2006, Bluff Magazine voted Brunson the most influential force in the world of poker. Brunson was born in Longworth, Fisher County, Texas, one of three children and he was part of the All-State Texas basketball team. In the 1950 Texas Interscholastic Track Meet, he won the event with a time of 4,43. Despite receiving offers from colleges, he attended Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. The Minneapolis Lakers showed interest in Brunson but an injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional basketball player. He still occasionally requires a crutch because of the injury, Brunson earned a bachelors degree in 1954 and a masters degree in administrative education the following year. Brunson had begun playing poker before his injury, playing five-card draw and he played more often after being injured and his winnings paid for his expenses. After graduating, he took a job as a business machines salesman, on his first day, he was invited to play in a seven-card stud game and earned over a months salary. He soon left the company and became a poker player. Brunson started off by playing in games on Exchange Street in Fort Worth with friend Dwayne Hamilton. Eventually, they began traveling around Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, playing in bigger games, the illegal games Brunson played in during this time were usually run by criminals who were often members of organized crime, so rules were not always enforced. Brunson has admitted to having a gun pulled on him several times, Hamilton moved back to Fort Worth, while the others teamed up and travelled around together, gambling on poker, golf and, in Doyles words, just about everything. They pooled their money for gambling and after six years, they made their first serious trip to Las Vegas and lost all of it and they decided to stop playing as partners, but remained friends. Brunson finally settled in Las Vegas and he made some WSOP championship event final tables before his back-to-back wins, but since this was when the event was winner-take-all, they are not counted as cashes. Besides his two wins in 1976 and 1977, Brunsons other main event cashes are,1972,1980,1982,1983,1997,2004 and 2013
24.
Johnny Chan
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Johnny Chan is a Chinese-born American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including the 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively. Chan moved with his family in 1962 from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona, and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas, where his family owned restaurants. When he was 21, Chan dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, Chan won the World Series of Poker in. A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads up match is featured in the movie Rounders and he almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. He is the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events, jerry Buss, who was an avid poker player and owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, promised Chan an NBA championship ring if he could win three in a row. In 2005, Chan became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker bracelets and he is currently tied with Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey for second place with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002, in 2008, Chan cashed for the first time in the Main Event since 1992, earning $32,166 for his 329th-place finish. In 2010, Chan cashed in the Main Event taking 156th place for $57,102, Chan competed in the $400,000 Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament in February 2005. He came back from having $20,000 chips out of $3,200,000 in play to finish in place to Gus Hansen. Chan later competed in Poker Superstars II during the summer of 2005 and he defeated 22 players to make it to the finals. He defeated Todd Brunson in the finals after three matches to win the $400,000 first prize, Chan appeared in Poker Superstars III where he made it as far as the semi finals but was defeated by Todd Brunson after three matches. On NBCs late-night show Poker After Dark, a six-person $20,000 buy-in winner-takes-all tournament and he came in second and fifth when he did not win. His appearances in which he made it to heads-up were, WSOP Champions — originally aired Jan. 1,2008 — Won heads-up against Patrik Antonius Dream Table III — originally aired Mar. 23-27,2009 — Won heads-up against Jennifer Tilly Chan won Bob Stupaks 1981 American Cup poker tournament and he defeated all 9 other players at the final table in less than an hour. As a result, Stupak gave Chan the nickname The Orient Express, Chan has never made a final table on the World Poker Tour. Chan played in the 2004 and 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions events, as of 2014, his total live tournament winnings exceed $8,600,000. His 45 WSOP cashes account for $4,355,464 of those winnings, in addition to playing poker, Chan owns a fast-food franchise in the Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel and is a consultant for casinos and game makers
25.
Billy Baxter (poker player)
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William E. Baxter, Jr. is an American professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won tournament titles in his career as a professional poker player. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006, born in Augusta, Georgia, Baxter started his gambling career like many others of his age by gambling in the pool halls. When he was 14 he discovered he had a talent for hustling pool games. By the time he was 16, he had saved $5,000 from his money, and when he turned 18 he was old enough to head to the taverns. In 1975, he took a trip to Hawaii and ended up in the Las Vegas Valley. He and his new bride lived in a hotel there for nine months while Baxter played poker for a living and it was there that he met fellow legends Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson and eventually Stu Ungar. Baxter has won seven World Series of Poker bracelets, all of Baxters bracelets are in lowball games, notably Razz, Deuce-to-Seven and California Lowball. He ranks second all-time in non-Holdem bracelets behind Phil Ivey, Baxter is known for staking Stu Ungar to the buy-in for Ungars victory in the main event of the 1997 WSOP. Thereafter, he entered into an arrangement to stake Ungar in tournaments, as of 2017, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,600,000. His 35 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,093,044 of those winnings, although Baxter is best known for his on-table poker accomplishments and staking Stu Ungar, he is also known for the case of William E. Baxter Jr. vs. the United States. It was the ruling that Baxters poker winnings should be classified as earned income. Thus, in the process, Baxters victory in this case has helped all American poker players by providing equal tax status to those earning a living as professional poker players
26.
Toto Leonidas
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Toto Leonidas is an American poker player with over $3,200,000 in live tournament lifetime winnings. His 24 WSOP cashes account for $812,218 of those winnings, in the 2003 World Series of Poker, Leonidas won a World Series of Poker bracelet playing seven-card stud. He also won the United States Poker Championship that same year at a table that contained the likes of Erik Seidel, Phil Hellmuth. In 2009, Leonidas made it to his first final table on the World Poker Tour and he finished in fourth place, earning $144,600 in the tournament won by Prahlad Friedman. This was his fifth cash in WPT events, Leonidas currently resides in Glendale, California
27.
Huck Seed
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Huckleberry Huck Seed is an American professional poker player best known for winning the Main Event of the 1996 World Series of Poker. Seed was born in Santa Clara, California, but grew up in Corvallis, Montana and he was a member of the 1987 Montana All-State basketball team. Seed was an engineering student at California Institute of Technology. He took a leave of absence in 1989, started playing poker, Seed was a star player on Caltechs basketball team and is featured in the 2006 documentary Quantum Hoops. Seed won the 1996 World Series of Poker main event, which resulted in his second bracelet and he made the final table of the 1999 WSOP main event, but was eliminated in sixth place by eventual champion Noel Furlong. In the 2003 World Series of Poker, Seed won his fourth bracelet in a $3,000 Limit Razz tournament. He defeated Phil Ivey in heads-up play to win the bracelet, in the 2007 Main Event, Seed finished 73rd out of 6,358 players. Seed won the 2009 NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship, where he took the top prize of $500,000 and improved his record in the event to 18-4. In addition, Seed became the player to cash in every NBC Heads-Up tournament. Seeds streak ended in the 2010 tournament with his first round loss to eventual runner-up Erik Seidel, in 2010, Seed won the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions freeroll for $500,000. As of October 2011, his live tournament winnings exceed $5,900,000. He has four WSOP bracelets and 40 total cashes at the WSOP, Seed has been involved in many prop bets. He once made a $10,000 proposition bet with Phil Hellmuth, by bet rules, he was not allowed to bet more than an additional $15,000, and could settle the bet without attempting the feat for $5,000, which is what eventually happened. This bet has been reported, Seed discussed it in a podcast. Seed once took a bet that he could break 100 on a desert golf course four times in a day using just a five iron, sand wedge. He has also bet that he would be able to go a year without shaving
28.
Robert Williamson III
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Robert Williamson III is an American poker player from Dallas, Texas. Williamson grew up with three sisters and his best friend, Chris Caywood in Granbury, Texas and received B. B. A. degrees in finance and he began playing aged 10 or 11, after being introduced to the game by his father. He quotes Russ Hamilton as the player he has learned from the most, Williamson is known as an Omaha specialist, with numerous notable finishes in World Series of Poker Omaha tournaments. Williamson had gastric bypass surgery between 2002 and 2005, reducing his weight from 400 lb to 200 lb and he now claims to be half the man used to be. As of 2009, his live tournament winnings exceed $1,900,000. His 20 cashes at the WSOP account for $1,101,976 of those winnings, in 2015, Williamson has consistently finished high in the $100 daily no limit holdem tournaments at the Aria. Williamson and his wife, Cate Wakem-Williamson, own a custom gaming jewelry line. Official site Poker Pages interview Hendon Mob tournament results
29.
2006 World Series of Poker
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All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, which marked the first time that a casino other than Binions Horseshoe hosted the final table of the main event. Six days reserved for the first two rounds of play for the event were established by Harrahs Entertainment, which has run the annual event since its purchase from the Binion family in 2004. The first prize in the event was $12 million, at that time the richest prize for the winner of any sports or television event in history. The top 12 players became millionaires, the record prize was surpassed at the 2012 WSOP, when the winner of the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop, Antonio Esfandiari, received a first-place prize $18.3 million. The 2006 World Series featured a much-anticipated HORSE tournament with a $50,000 buy-in, humberto Brenes, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, and Alex Jacob tied for the most number of cashes during the WSOP, with eight cashes each. Jeff Madsen, who won two events and made two final tables, was named the 2006 WSOP Player of the Year. He barely edged Hellmuth, who made four final tables. The 2006 Main Event remains the largest tournament in history by prize pool with a total prize pool of $82,512,162. The tournament, like every WSOP Main Event, is a $10,000 No-Limit Texas Holdem event, due to the 8, 773-player field, there were 4 separate starting days, each playing down to 800 people. They were later combined into one set of separate days before becoming one whole group. The field was whittled down to 9 players on August 8, the final table of the Main Event was offered live on Pay-Per-View, but unlike ESPN telecasts, viewers at home could not see the hole cards of the players unless the player turned their cards over. Along with the usual $10,000 chip stacks, a new feature to the WSOP was the All-In button, Tournament directors have informed the participants that the coin could be used in lieu of pushing all of one’s chips into the pot. The beige $50,000 chips that were used in 2005 were not used in 2006, instead, tangerine and yellow $25,000 chips, in the design of the current $25 chips, were used. And for the first time in World Series of Poker History, the chips were mint green with black edge spots in the design of the current yellow/black $1,000 chip. NB, This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry, day 1, Dan Harrington, Phil Hellmuth Jr. Both Davis and Erna finished in the money, coming in 579th and 713th places respectively, unknowingly, the rest of the players assumed that this stack was someone elses who was late and blinded off the stack. Eventually a player noticed that the stack was Mirza Nagjis chips, players estimate that out of the extra 120,000 in chips that were put into play, around 10, 000–11,000 in chips had already been blinded off from the empty stack. Many poker players who entered into the HORSE event discovered that the cards they were playing with were marked or easily markable
30.
Sam Farha
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Ihsan Sam Farha is a professional poker player. He is best known for finishing as runner up in the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003 and he has won three bracelets at the WSOP in his career. Farha moved to the United States after the Lebanese Civil War broke out when he was a teenager, after settling in Wichita, Kansas in 1977, he attended the University of Kansas. He graduated with a degree in administration and moved to Houston. Farha first played a game of poker a year moving to Houston. He quit his job in 1990 to focus on playing poker full-time, Farhas biggest tournament finish was in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished second to Chris Moneymaker for $1,300,000. On the second day of play, Farha lost a pot to Barry Greenstein leaving him with only 10% of the average stack. He was considering leaving at this point and was talked into staying in the tournament by Greenstein, in a rematch between Farha and Moneymaker a few months later, organized by PokerStars, Farha won. They played against each other again in a grudge match during 2011 World Series of Poker. Farha also finished in the money in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, Farha, after winning the $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event in 2006, skipped playing the event the next three years. He played it again in 2010, after it was increased to a $10,000 buy-in event. He went on to win his third bracelet in the tournament, so while not winning the event consecutively. In 2012, Farha finished 11th in the 2012 World Series of Poker $10,000 Omaha event, all of Farhas WSOP bracelets have come in Omaha events. Farha has also finished in the money in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, once for $75,000 and he also has three cashes in World Poker Tour events, for a little over $100,000. Farha co-authored a book Farha on Omaha, a guide on Omaha poker strategy. Farha intersperses basic strategies with his own personal strategies, so players can not only the game. Farha is working on a book, tentatively titled Luck is Not Enough, a reality TV poker series, and he is a spokesman for Harrahs casino in Las Vegas. He has appeared on the GSN series High Stakes Poker, in seasons 1-4, Farha also made a cameo appearance in the 2007 film, Lucky You
31.
2007 World Series of Poker
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The 2007 World Series of Poker began on June 1,2007. The $10,000 no-limit Texas hold em Main Event began on July 6 and was completed on the morning of July 18. All events were held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada by Harrahs Entertainment, for the first time players began each event with double the amount of chips as the buy-in. This means that players in the Main Event started with 20,000 chips, the blind structure has also been increased and some blind levels removed but slowed to allow for more play. In addition to the $50,000 H. O. R. S. E, Event, which was first played at the 2006 World Series of Poker, this year there were two additional H. O. R. S. E. Tom Schneider, who won two events and made one final table, won the Player of the Year Award. Michael Binger and Chad Brown led all players with eight money finishes. The annual celebrity event was changed this year, as it became a pro and celeb event called Ante Up for Africa, hosted by actor Don Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke. The final two players, Dan Shak and Brandon Moran, agreed to share first place and donate all prize money to charities in Darfur, the last woman standing of the 2007 Main Event was Maria Ho who finished in 38th place. Also this year, KEM Plastic Playing Cards were once used for the events, rather than Copag brand plastic playing cards. Steve Billirakis became the youngest person to win a WSOP bracelet at 21 years and 11 days. This record was three months later at the World Series of Poker Europe by Annette Obrestad, aged 18 years,364 days. Phil Hellmuth became the first player to win 11 bracelets, Phil Hellmuth set a record of 63 all-time WSOP cashes. June 9 was the busiest WSOP day ever, with 3,009 participants starting in two events on the same day, the largest non-WSOP Main Event tournament record was broken. The $1500 Buy In No Limit Holdem Event #49 attracted a record 3151 players for the noon start and this event broke the single busiest start date set on June 9. Annie Duke set the record with 33 WSOP cashes. 1,286 women set a new record for number of participants in an all womens poker tournament, the 2007 WSOP also boasted the largest number of total registrants in history, with 54,288 registrations for all of the events. Michael Binger and Chad Brown tied Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, the $10,000 No Limit Holdem Main Event began on July 6 with the first of four separate starting days
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Chris Reslock
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Chris J. Reslock is a professional poker player from Valley City, North Dakota, who now lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Reslock was a semi-retired cab owner and operator before he began playing professionally, he was a highly ranked Scrabble player. Reslock also competed in the $50,000 H. O. R. S. E, Event at the 2007 WSOP where he finished in 15th place earning $88,800. He also finished runner-up in the 2005 Trump Classic No Limit Holdem Championship earning $126,000, Reslock finished in 4th place at the 2006 WSOP Tournament of Champions event that was won by poker pro and WPT announcer, Mike Sexton. That final table also featured well known pro poker players including Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow. As of 2012, Reslocks total live tournament winnings exceed $1,825,000
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Andy Frankenberger
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Andy Frankenberger is a professional poker player and former equity derivatives trader from New York City. In his first year as a poker player, Frankenberger was named World Poker Tour Season IX Player of the Year. Card Player Magazine described this as one of pokers best rookie years in a September 2011 cover story, Frankenberger followed this up by winning back to back bracelets at the World Series of Poker in 2011 and 2012. He has been featured in financial media including The Wall Street Journal, Fox Business Network. As of June 2012, Frankenbergers live tournament winnings exceed $2,500,000, andy Frankenberger was born in New York City and grew up in Andover, Massachusetts. He studied Russian at Phillips Academy and spent a Semester in Siberia on a program where he became fluent in Russian. Frankenberger earned a perfect 800 score in school on his math SAT. He turned down Harvard University and graduated from Duke University with degrees in Economics, Frankenbergers first title as a professional came when he bested a field of 350 players to win the 2010 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III for $162,110. These results, combined with a 16th-place finish at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, Frankenberger reached his third WPT final table at the WPT Season 10 World Poker Finals in 2011, finishing 5th for $99,585. At the 2011 World Series of Poker, Frankenberger won his first WSOP bracelet in a $1,500 No Limit Holdem event, later that year, he reached the final table of the nationally televised 2010/2011 WSOP Regional Championship, where he finished 6th for $66,758. At the 2012 World Series of Poker, Frankenberger won his second World Series of Poker bracelet in the $10,000 Pot Limit Holdem tournament, Frankenberger is a member of the Epic Poker League. He qualified for a Two-Year B card with his win at the 2011 WSOP, Frankenberger won the Premier League Mixed Game Championship in London in November,2011 for $100,000. The televised event featured 12 of the top players in the competing in No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha. Frankenberger was named to Woman Poker Player Magazines 2011 Top Ten Hottest Men in Poker
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