Mark Rogers

Below is an excerpt for an article I did for Southern Gaming and Destinations magazine

The 80's

USA's hockey team won gold in 1980 overcoming the dominate Russians along the way in what has been coined the Miracle on Ice. In as much dramatic fashion that sitting in a chair and fingering chips can muster, Stu Ungar accomplished a similar feat in poker. The first two years of the '70's only knew one champion and the next decade would be no different. Stu Ungar, the gin rummy master, made his World Series of Poker Main Event debut in 1980. He was an aggressive and brash kid. His reputation as a New York rummy player had preceded him. As it turned out 'the Kid' was also pretty good at Texas Hold'em. In 1980 and again in 1981, Stu Ungar won the Main Event Championship event at the World Series of Poker. Stu's first title came against dominate Texan players Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss at the final table; Brunson ended up being Stu's head's up competitor.
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A true poker miracle actually took place in 1982. As the saying goes, all you need is 'a chip and chair'. Never did this expression ring so true than in the 1982 Main Event championship. Jack 'Treetop' Straus pushed in what he thought were his remaining chips into a losing effort. He began his exit, until someone noticed a single $500 chip partially hidden from view underneath a napkin. This was Straus' saving grace. He bet his last chip on the next hand and won. Through a series of stealing blinds Straus collected a formidable stack. His remarkable rush ended with a Main Event championship victory.
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An appropriate title for Binion's tournament could have been the Texas Series of Poker. But by the 1980's the title could have shifted to the America Series of Poker, before finally settling, in 1987, as a true World Series of Poker. Johnny 'the Orient Express' Chan was born in Canton, China and immigrated to America when he was nine and eventually resided in Las Vegas. Chan learned the game through employment on the Strip. At one point players welcomed his money at the table, but the Chinese native learned poker quickly as he transformed himself into a poker shark. 'The Orient Express' became the fourth person in history to win back-to-back Main Event titles, doing so in 1987 and 1988. The west coast was also enjoying the same back-to-back success with the Los Angeles Lakers. Jerry Buss, owner of the Lakers and poker regular himself, challenged Chan that if he won a third poker championship the Lakers would follow suit with a three-peat. Chan came close; finishing second in 1989 to the youngest World Series of Poker champion ever, Phil Hellmuth (from Madison, Wisconsin.) In similar fashion, the Lakers placed runner-up to a team from the Midwest; the Detroit Pistons.
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Mark "52" Rogers is the author of the '52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker'
available at www.52pokermoments.com

Below is an excerpt for an article I did for Southern Gaming and Destinations magazine

The 70's
In the beginning there was Lester 'Benny' Binion- A bootlegger, murderer, casino owner and in the words of Steve Wynn "...was either the toughest gentleman I ever knew, or the gentlest tough person I ever met." Benny Binion was just the man to take a game born from outlaws on riverboats to the public forum. And in 1970, he did just that, by bringing a Reno poker invitational to the Binion Horseshoe in Las Vegas. From that moment the game of poker was forever changed. In 1970, Benny was host to 38 players for what he called the World Series of Poker.
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That first year the field played a variety of games often determined by what the players at the table dictated. The scene was much like the cigar and beer card games found in countless kitchens and basements across the nation, but with one big difference; this pack of buds anted up $5,000 a piece to play. The ensemble of friends included the top players of the day; 'Amarillo Slim', Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson and Jack Straus. Only food and sleep would allow a player to break the action. After ten days the poker crew gathered in the Horseshoe's restaurant, the Sombrero Room, where Johnny Moss' peers elected him the first World Series of Poker champion.
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Like the Green Bay Packers had dominated football before winning the first two Superbowls; Johnny Moss had been poker's elite player long before the World Series of Poker. In the second annual tournament the freeze out was introduced. Each man now put $10,000 in the pool and the one with all the chips at the end would covet the championship title. Fittingly the Texan dominated field chose Texas Hold'em to determine the Main Event champion. Johnny Moss would be the last one standing in 1971, solidifying his election the year prior. With his victory he became the first back-to-back and only Main Event champion the young WSOP knew.
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Apple pie and poker remained at opposite sides of the American values spectrum in the 1970's. But, the wit and charm of the 1972 Main Event champion helped bring poker to the main stream. A better gambler than poker player, Thomas 'Amarillo Slim' Preston's Main Event victory was a catalyst for the 'Amarillo Slim' poker promotion tour. Slim would share the camera with Steve Allen, Andy Griffith and Red Foxx on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, guest appearing 11 times. Viewers got a kick out of his stories of ping ponging with Coke bottles and bowling blindfolded; proposition bets that Slim won each time.
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The World Series of Poker grew in popularity as more gamblers flopped down the cash to play in the tournament. And each year it seemed that the Texans would take the loot. That remained the case in 1976 and 1977 when Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson won back to back Main Event championships. Brunson credits Johnny Moss for teaching him how to play tournament poker. The basics are simple: survive early and be aggressive late. Brunson put the tools to the test and so the Texas gambling torch had been passed from Moss to Brunson.

Mark "52" Rogers is the author of the '52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker'
available at www.52pokermoments.com

I would say the calendar turned 2003 before I purchased a cellular phone; a bulky walkie-talkie by Nextel. My friends started pressing the waves to their ears three to four years prior. In the same stride, I have only recently entered my virtual being into the MySpace domain. And now I am hearing that MySpace is becoming the bulky Nextel of the social networking world. Supposedly Facebook is the "Q" if you will. I really don't give a damn either way. My dogs playing poker background and scrolling photo montage suits me just fine for now.
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In the very brief time I have spent surfing MySpace pages I came across some pretty suh-weet nicknames from the females; "Hot Chips"- nice Tiffany- or the one I dig the most, "Jennicide". That one works on so many different levels! This got me thinking about my nickname; and the only thing cooler than being on MySpace is self-proclaiming your own moniker. And so I debuted Mark "52" Rogers on my profile. If I were to continue following trends I might need to get my 'sexy on' for some head shots. Currently I have a couple's pic of my girl and me. (Is this a MySpace faux pas?) Anyhow, a Blue Steel pose might be in my future or maybe a group shot of me and some blonde bimbos, if "The Kid" can spare a few.
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Search me up, I would like to know about the viewers and contributors of Wise's World.
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Post scriptum: Here's a quote for Gary per his "About Me" section:
"If knowledge is power, than a god am I!" - The Riddler (Jim Carrey), Batman Forever.

Mark Rogers is a poker historian and author of "52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker"
www.52pokermoments.com

The Oral History Program under the University of Nevada, Reno conducts taped interviews with those figures who have impacted the development of Nevada. For two days in 1973, Mary Ellen Glass sat down with Lester Benny Binion. The interview covered Binion's childhood, careers in Texas and Las Vegas, while emphasizing the Horseshoe and his family. The transcript is a fascinating read and not lost is Binion's Texan dialect.
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By 1973 the popularity of the World Series of Poker had just began to bud. The year prior Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston won the event and took his prize on the road appearing on many radio and television spots including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Still at this time, Mary Ellen Glass did not dig that deep into the event as I might have hoped for. In fact, only two letter style sheets are dedicated to the WSOP, and even then the tournament is only mentioned, not from direct questioning, but from Binion discussing the advertising involved in running the Horseshoe. He briefly describes the action between Puggy Pearson and Johnny Moss in the '73 Main Event, but the majority of the excerpt is devoted to one man, Jimmy 'the Greek' Snyder.
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"The first year, when he (the Greek) put on the poker game here for us, he didn't charge us anything. Howard Hughes had just let him go, and he wanted to prove hisself, what he could do, he just took this poker game. Hell! Nobody thought you could get this much publicity out of this poker game! I didn't, but he did. He said, "I just want to show 'em what I can do with this poker game. Let me have it."
We said, "You got it!"
He put it in seven thousand newspapers. So I'd say that's pretty doggone good."
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I agree. Snyder's promotion came before the pocket cam, rabbit cam and cheesy ESPN coverage; not an easy sell. He narrated the first television documentary of the WSOP in 1973. And if you happen to bootleg that one at the market, you might find it to be the best WSOP coverage to date; old school in the truest sense, and bluntly real.
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Binion goes on to describe Snyder as having "a lot of personality, he's a good speaker...And I think he can just get about as good as coverage as anybody. Fact of business we use him exclusive for the poker game." The game was lucky to have the notorious Snyder as a spokesman in the early stages. After 1973, CBS began regular documentaries on the event into the 80's, then ESPN eventually took over in the 90's and the circus culminated with the 2003 poker media explosion. A lot of poker players are rich today, outside of the playing itself, thanks to Snyder's promotional seeding.
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Interesting note: Doyle Brunson received his nickname when Snyder planned to announce Brunson to the crowd as "Texas Doyle" but instead mistakenly uttered "Texas Dolly". The nickname stuck.
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Mark Rogers is a poker historian and author of "52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker"
www.52pokermoments.com

The Chicago troops and I headed to the bright light city for a couple days of bachelor debauchery. My buddy Hebda will be taking the eternal plunge May 12. My cohorts had their eyes peeled for blackjack tables, poker tournaments and Bunny. In stark contrast, my mind set on one man, Howard Schwartz.

That's right, the librarian for gamblers himself has shop just ten minutes from the strip. This is the home of the Gamblers Book Shop; a virtual candy-land for a gambler. I brought an entourage of two with me, Don Burgess of ppwellness.com, Chicago's finest personal trainer and damn good Tommy Boy impressionist. And Matt Booma of amalgamstudio.com, the creative genius that designed my poker history book. Impressed? Neither am I. As I walked into the corner lot of the book shop, it became very obvious what a tri-peon monster we were entering the gambler's sanctuary. Sure the dark red book I authored stood front and center, but of course I gave Howard notice of my arrival. I gazed up at the collection of photographs Howard had hanging up bordering the book shelves. Famous actors, movie directors, sports figures and poker icons all freeze framed from the otherwise non-descript concrete shell ten minutes from the ritz of the strip.

The Gamblers Book Shop opened its doors in 1964. Fifteen years later, Susan bore Mark Rogers, and Howard Schwartz took the marketing director role at GBS. Coming from a journalism background, Howard traveled this country from New York to California writing for various newspapers. He has authored numerous gambling articles and his gambling book reviews are featured in many publications. Having conquered the gambling scene long before I was a twinkle in the poker world, Howard remained a gracious and extremely excited host. My "Eric" and "Turtle" joined me, as Howard gave us the tour of his second home as if it was his first time. Leaving the public space behind, we ventured into room after room, I didn't remember the CMU block extending that far from the outside. Filing cabinets were filled with historical gambling data, old WSOP flyers lay on shelves, and newspapers from the 1800's stuck in the corners. The whole time Howard filled our ears with stories of Doyle Brunson, Jack Straus and countless other dignities to share a moment of history at the book shop.

Recounting his stories blog-style would be an injustice to the storyteller. Instead, I recommend taking the time from Vegas' vices, to make the trip to Howard and his shop. Give the place a call first, make sure Howard is there. The librarian for gamblers is as much a part of the GBS as the annals of gambling books that store their.

Gamblers Book Shop
630 South 11th Street
Las Vegas, NV 89101
702-382-7555
www.gamblersbook.com

Mark Rogers is the author of "52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker"
www.52pokermoments.com

Gary noted that the Leyser-Gold case had been settled recently. Sounds like Jamie Gold had to hand over a substantial portion of his $12M.(Couldn't have happened to a cooler guy.) The following lists some quick hits about past WSOP prizes.

2006: David Einhorn finished 18th in the Main Event, won $659,730, turned around and gave the entire sum to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. (Jamie Gold eliminated him.)

2005: Steve Dannenman finished runner-up to Joseph Hachem, won $4,250,000, and split half of the loot with Jerry Ditzell; a friend who bought half his entry fee. Even with no written agreement, Dannenman noted that "it was a gentleman's agreement - implied but not spoken."

2003: Before heads-up play commenced, Chris Moneymaker and Sammy Farha found themselves in the restroom together. Moneymaker proposed a split deal that Farha politely declined.

1999: After winning $1,000,000 in the Main Event, Irishman Noel Furlong was happy to inform everyone that there were no taxes on gaming in Ireland.

1991: Huck Seed bought 40% of the eventual winner Brad Daugherty. Seed not only cashed $400,000 for that investment but ended up winning the Main Event himself in 1996.

1989: The youngest Main Event winner, Phil Hellmuth, purchased a Benz for his dad, contributed to his siblings’ college funds and gave a good chunk to the University of Wisconsin.

1988: Johnny Moss won his last bracelet at the age of 80. The event was the Ace-to-Five draw and the $116,400 prize purse went straight to Virgie Moss as a 62nd anniversary gift.

1984: Jack Keller won the Main Event, won $660,000, paid out his backers and had $280,000 left to pay for his two sons’ school tuition.

1983: The first satellite winner to win the Main Event, Tom McEvoy, held on to less than $200,000. The remainder of the $540,000 went to his backers.

1982: Jack Straus gave $20,000 of his $520,000 Main Event money to the dealers and staff; some of the rest went to an African safari and an elephant for his friend Ray Miranda.

1981: After winning his second consecutive Main Event and collecting $375,000 for his efforts, Stu Ungar simply explained that his plans were to “Lose it.”

1977: Doyle Brunson used his $340,000 Main Event payday to start his own publishing company and produce his own book initially titled, "How I Made over $1,000,000 Playing Poker." And since the work has been renamed, "Super/System: A Course in Power Poker."

1973: Puggy Pearson took a portion of his Main Event $130,000 to purchase an Imperial Holiday Rambler. On the side of the mobile home in big letters read:

“I’LL PLAY ANY MAN FROM ANY LAND ANY GAME THAT HE CAN NAME FOR ANY AMOUNT THAT HE CAN COUNT.”

Followed in smaller letters with

“PROVIDED I LIKE IT.”

Mark Rogers is the author of 52 Greatest Moments, World Series of Poker
Find out more at www.52pokermoments.com

Much like the Green Bay Packers had dominated football before winning the first two Superbowls; Johnny Moss had been poker’s elite player long before the World Series of Poker. At the age of 16 Moss found work as a lookout man in the Otter’s Club poker room. This crew of cheating, smoking, gun wielding gamblers played draw poker; a game that Moss honed during these developmental years and the game that gifted him two WSOP bracelets later in his gambling career. After three years of patrolling the Otters he moved to the hold’em dealing Elks. The lessons at this club also paid dividends when he won three championships in the WSOP hold’em events. By the time Johnny Moss was 24 in 1931, two things became a reality; gambling was his profession and Las Vegas had just legalized gambling.

Johnny Moss’ counterpart and fellow Texas paper boy during adolescence was Lester ‘Benny’ Binion. Benny put his money in the middle as the house, Moss simply put his money in the middle. A legal Vegas in the thirties and forties meant little to Moss. Benny would not boss a casino in Vegas until Moss turned 42. And even then, only when the Social Security system recognized Johnny as retired at 62, did Benny’s World Series of Poker premiere. That too was of little concern to Moss. Texas was affluent with cash heavy oillionaires, more than willing to risk a chunk in a high stake poker game.

Still, a young man in his prime, probably the best in the business, fed on money alone. No glory. No championships. No Neiman Marcus wrist wear. No measuring sticks for future generations to shoot for. Johnny Moss may have drifted off into gambling folklore had not the idea of Benny and the execution of Jack Binion come to fruition in the World Series of Poker in 1970. Even now, Johnny had been an official AARP member for twelve years and his gambling comrades pinned him the ‘Grand Old Man of Poker.’ Imagine what might have been had poker’s preeminent tournament known the ‘Grand Young Man of Poker.’

Not that age hindered the Grand Old Man. Between the ages of 62 and 80, Johnny won nine championships at the WSOP. Two of his first three were Main Event championships; the other event, Ace-to-Five Draw. In 1974 the term bracelet became synonymous with championship, when, for the first time, the Main Event awarded the jewelry. Moss collected that loot in route to his third Main Event championship in five years. What followed from 1975 to 1981, included four bracelets in the Seven-Card Stud event and two Main Event final tables; one playing Stu Ungar in 1980.

Then the Grand Old Man suffered a bracelet drought; which is a quite amazing feat in itself. The very premise of a drought is that 1) you have had to have some solid and continued success in the past and 2) come out of your funk to win again. Many would not admit, but many probably thought that Moss, who hit his seventies, was for all intents and purposes, retired. That was not the case. The seven year dry spell was no more than a drought.

In 1988, 194 entrants sat for the Ace-to-Five draw event. The Grand Old Man may have been 80, but he had been seasoned at this game since his Otter days in the Roaring Twenties. Moss took home his ninth WSOP championship in May of 1988. He also celebrated 62 years of marriage to Virgie Ann Mouser that month. The same 62 he was when he began his WSOP career. The same 62 Doyle Brunson aged the year Johnny Moss played in his last WSOP tournament; 1995. Doyle has won 3 bracelets since in 10 years. And when Johnny and Virgie cut their 62nd anniversary cake, Phil Hellmuth began his WSOP career. He has since won 10 bracelets over 18 years of his prime.

After Johnny Moss finished runner-up to Puggy Pearson in the 1973 Main Event, Virgie exclaimed he had let Puggy win. Admittedly, Moss was losing his poker touch having many times announced his retirement in the ‘70’s only to come back the next year. By no means did his WSOP career correspond with his poker prime. That is a scary thought. The Grand Old Man of Poker won nine WSOP championships in 18 years when others his age were content with bridge, golf, grandchildren and memories. What if Benny Binion opened his WSOP doors in 1931? Then the world would have seen the Grand Young Man of Poker; 40 years worth. Imagine the collection of bracelets; dare I predict 35. Larger fields certainly define the current tournaments, but only the best played back in the day when holding a .38 pistol, hammer removed, was as common as the bank roll you brought with you.

Look at other legends in other fields; Joe Montana with the Kansas City Chiefs or Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards. Did these greats transcend their prime? Make no mistake, what Johnny Moss accomplished in the last leg of his professional career is nothing short of remarkable. An argument can be made using only his WSOP years as evidence, that Johnny Moss was one of the greatest if not the greatest poker player of all time. Now add his poker prime from ’30-’70, and from the very humble opinion of this author, Johnny Moss is hands down the greatest poker player to have graced the green felt.

Mark Rogers is the author of 52 Greatest Moments, World Series of Poker
Find out more at www.52pokermoments.com