Poker Facts
Phil Hellmuth dropped out of college to play poker full time and in 1989 became the youngest poker player to ever win the World Series of Poker at just 24 years old. He has reached the final table of the WSOP over 20 times and currently holds 9 WSOP gold bracelets.
Doyle and Todd Brunson are the first father and son combination to ever win bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Doyle won a total of ten WSOP bracelets from 1976 to 2005, while Todd won his first bracelet in Omaha High Low this year.
One of the most colorful characters in poker history is Nicholas Andreas Dandolos, more popularly known as "Nick the Greek." Throughout his life, Nick was estimated to have won and lost more than $500 million and his personal claim was that he went from rags to riches over 75 times. He never respected money and aside from gambling, an estimated $20 million ($400 million in today's dollars) of his riches went to charity.
Annie Lederer Duke is one of today's best female poker players having won a WSOP bracelet and more than $3.1 million. She is also popular for having tutored actor Ben Afleck in poker in 2004; in the most recent WSOP tournament, she eliminated her brother, pro Howard Lederer, in four separate events.
Semi-legendary American Wild West gunslinger and poker player Wild Bill Hickok's death gave birth to the hand called "Deadman's Hand" -- a pair of aces and a pair of eights, all of black suit. This hand was claimed to be the last hand held by Hickok before he was shot in the back of the head by an assassin while playing in Saloon No. 10, in Deadwood, South Dakota on August 2, 1876.
Though Stu Ungar was more popularly known for his genius in poker, he was also a champion in gin rummy and was regarded as one New York's best gin rummy players. Ungar himself acknowledged that he was better at gin rummy than he was at No Limit Hold'em. He once stated, " I swear to you, I don't see how anyone could ever play gin better than me."