Poker has been one of the most popular card games at home or casinos. What is poker all about? Most people think it is all about bluffing or a game of luck. However, poker is a game of strategy and decisions. This is something that most poker players try to master to become poker champs.
Poker players know that this is a test of skills. It is a skill of understanding the overall situation and having foresight in your opponent’s move. Bluffing is also a skill that most players try to master. Many poker champs started young and perfected their craft in poker by playing a lot of games and taking mentorship from experienced players.
Poker champs know that it is more than just playing or for the money. Most of these players invest a lot in education, training, and money to be at the top. As they say, practice makes perfect and consistency is the key. The more you play the game, the better your understanding will be. You will be able to learn from your mistakes and play better and more responsibly.
Let us not forget about the poker rules. It is important to fully grasp the rules since there are different variants of poker such as Texas Hold’em and Badugi. Once you know the general rules, you will have to know your odds and learn poker concepts.
Every poker champion knows that learning the odds of hitting a winning hand when your odds are low is important, and of course, knowing when to stop. Investing in your knowledge should come from professionals. Below are some examples of famous poker players.
Learn from Famous Poker Players
If you want to be a professional poker player, it is best to learn from famous poker players. They all have started young and have trained a lot, even waking up as early as 6 a.m. to train.
You must be thinking. How long will it take to be a poker champion? Based on their stories, it took them three months, if you are ridiculously good at it, or as long as one year to be a winning player. Keep in mind that there are many factors to consider that will influence you in becoming good at poker.
To progress even more at poker, you have to consider the time spent in playing, how serious you are in learning, how much time you study reading strategies, how fast you pick-up, and many more. Here at poker rules, we will help you learn more strategies, tips, and inspiration from famous poker players.
Poker Players – Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos
Known as the philosopher of gambling and called Nick the Greek, Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos was a professional gambler who won and lost millions of dollars throughout his career. He began gambling on horse races, which then shifted to Poker when he moved to Chicago. Among all poker players in the past, he was a legend.
He was a celebrity at casinos and known to be a master of bluffing. One of his famous games was a poker match that he lost to Johnny Moss, a game that continued for five months. When Nick knew he lost the game as he already lost about $4 million, he told Moss “Mr. Moss, I will have to let you go.”
However, near the end of his career, he was almost broke and played at small-sized poker games in California. When questioned why he wasn’t high-rolling with poker players in millions, he answered back with his famous line “It’s still poker, isn’t it?” Throughout his life, he also donated millions of dollars to charity and other organisations. In his entire gambling career, it is claimed that he had won and lost more than $500 million.
Poker Players – Felton “Corky” McCorquodale
He was born on August 23 1904 in Fort Worth, USA and passed away on November 23 1968, at the age of 64 years old. In the year 1963, Felton “Corky” McCorquodale was an American professional poker player who brought another form of poker game called Texas hold ’em at the California Club in Las Vegas.
Upon his passing in 1968, this game grew to be among the most popular games around the world. The game quickly became so popular to the people that it reached places like Stardust and Golden Nugget.
Corky McCorquodale was one of the greatest players of all time. He is known as a player having no limits. In 1979, the Poker Hall of Fame included him as a charter member for having introduced Texas Hold ’em.
There is only a few pieces of information that we know about his career and biography. One thing is for sure though, maybe we would not have known Texas Hold’em today if he did not introduce it. Maybe we would be playing the usual poker game until now. It’s named so because he was from Texas.
Poker Players – Edmond Hoyle
Edmond Hoyle was born in 1672 and passed away in 1769. He was a professional of card games and is often called the Father of Whist by poker players.
He popularised the phrase “according to Hoyle” because of the rules of whist and customs. He did not create the games, but he published books about rules on backgammon, brag, quadrille, piquet, and chess. His book, A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist, was revised and reprinted in 14 editions and is one of the best-selling works of the 18th century.
His other books are Short Treatise on the Game of Backgammon, Short Treatise on the Game of Piquet, and Short Treatise on the Game of Quadrille, to name a few. In 1979, Hoyle became a charter member in the Poker Hall of Fame because of his contributions to card games.
Poker Players – Johnny Moss
Johnny Moss was born on May 14, 1907 and passed away on December 16, 1995. He was a professional poker player and a high-roller. He was the first poker champion of World Series of Poker Main Event and also in 1971 and 1974. Below are some of the highlights in his career.
- He competed against Nick “The Greek” Dandolos and won the tournament after five months. It was an intense game where they would play for four to five days straight and would only rest to sleep and eat.
- Johnny Moss won eight gold bracelets out of more than 25 World Series of Poker tournaments that he played in his career.
- Although he is considered to be among the greatest poker players of his time, he also lost a huge amount of money on the craps table, up to the point he had to borrow $500,000 from the casino where he also lost.
- Despite the challenges, he was able to build his bankroll up again and was able to pay back his debt in five years.
- He also won other competitions in his poker career. He won the World Series of Poker Championship in 1970, Limit Ace to Five Draw: $10,000 in 1971, Ace to Five Draw: $116,400 in1988, and many more.
As you can see, not all poker players became champions overnight. They had to go through a lot of ups and downs, wins and losses. From rags to riches, from bankrupt to millions, they were able to learn from their mistakes and acquired the mental strength to get back up again and try again.