Mark Rogers

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