Johnny Moss
Johnny Moss was born on May 14th, 1907 in the small town of Marshall, Texas. His mother passed away suddenly from a burst appendix when he was only eight years old, and his dad was seriously injured in a working accident just a few months later.
Johnny was forced to move to Dallas, Texas when he was fifteen to work for the Western Union Telegraph Company; he would be his family’s main source of income.
Johnny Moss (May 14, 1907 – December 16, 1995) was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of his peers in 1970. Another source: the frontpage of this site is dedicated to Moss Which says he was 88 when he died 'The “Grand Old Man of Poker,” Johnny Moss, the only three-time World Series of Poker champion, died of a heart attack on Dec. 16 at Medical Site Hospital in Odessa, Texas.
Johnny would spend his down time at the nearby pool halls with his friends. He would place small wagers on anything and everything he could get his hands on, as he was trying to earn as much money as possible to send back to his family.
By the time Johnny turned sixteen, he was able to get a second job working at the Otter’s Club where he was trained on how to prevent cheating from occurring. He had to keep his eye on both the dealers and those who were playing the game.
This is when he acquired a true appreciation for the game of poker, learning how to play through watching the regulars at the club.
As his love for poker grew, so did his love of women. One woman in particular, Virgie Ann Mouser, particularly caught his attention. After convincing her father that he was worthy to marry Virgie despite his profession, the two got engaged.
Records show they were married on May 1st, 1926, but little is known about their relationship beyond that point. None of the stories about Johnny make any mention to his wife’s presence, and yet there are no records that show a divorce. Their relationship will have to remain a mystery for now we suppose.
Nonetheless, everyone was amazed at how quickly Johnny became a seasoned player; it wasn’t uncommon for him to walk away from the club with almost $500 a night. After spending about two years honing his poker skills, he decided to quit his jobs and become a rounder.
He travelled around Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana to compete against the best poker players, hoping to win as much money as possible.
Since there was an oil boom in Texas at this time, there were a lot of wealthy businessmen who had no problem playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars per hand. At the Metropolitan Hotel in Fort Worth, Johnny had actually walked away with over a million dollars on more than one occasion thanks to their large bankrolls.
Johnny was as fearless outside the poker table as he was at the poker table. Once while playing in the backroom of an old casino, Johnny recognized that there were small peep holes in the ceiling that he suspected the casino was using to read the player’s hole cards.
It wasn’t until 1951 that Johnny would hear from Benny Binion again. He called to tell Johnny that he set a tournament up for him to play against the infamous Nick “The Greek” Dandolos at his famous Horseshoe Casino. Up for the challenge, Johnny headed to Las Vegas for the first time to compete in one of the longest playing sessions of his career.
Every hand they played would be open to the public, as Benny knew the competition would attract large crowds. Almost every day people gathered around the two men as they went head to head for almost five months straight.
They would play for four to five days in a row before taking time to rest; these were very intense playing sessions.
They played 5-card No Limit Stud, 7-card Stud, 7-card Hi-Lo, and Lowball: alternating between the various games frequently. Every once and awhile, other players were allowed to join the competition, but they had to be willing to fork over $10,000 for the buy-in.
There were a few bold players that tried, but no one lasted for more than a couple of days.
By the time their session had come to an end, Nick was down $4 million dollars and was ready to admit his defeat. His final words before he withdrew from the competition were,
This competition is what inspired Benny to create the World Series of Poker, where famous players from all over the world are invited to compete against each other while playing a variety of kinds of poker.
World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker was first established in 1970, and there were only six contestants. The first year of the competition was set up differently from the rest. After three days of intense play, the men were asked to vote on who they thought was the best player.
Each person voted for themselves, so the votes were dis-credited. When asked which player they thought was second best, it was Johnny Moss’ name that appeared the most, which is why he was deemed the overall champion. He was awarded a pure silver cup: the first and last of his kind.
The competition has changed drastically over the years; now thousands of players compete in an elimination based competition, and they are given gold bracelets and money as an award for winning.
Johnny competed in over twenty five World Series of Poker competitions, and won an equivalent of eight gold bracelets. Below we have provided a complete list of each event he has won over the years, along with the amount of money he was awarded.
- World Series of Poker Championship (1970)
- $5,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship: $30,000 (1971)
- Limit Ace to Five Draw: $10,000 (1971)
- $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship: $160,000 (1974)
- $1,000 Seven Card Stud: $44,000 (1975)
- $500 Seven Card Stud: $13,000 (1976)
- $5,000 Seven Card Stud: $48,000 (1979)
- $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo: $33,500 (1981)
- $1,500 Ace to Five Draw: $116,400 (1988)
We could go on and on for hours about how victorious Moss has been when it comes to gambling, but we would be lying if we tried to claim that he never lost. In fact, there were even times when he was in serious financial trouble because of his gambling habits.
The worst predicament he ever got himself into was when he decided to play craps at a casino in Las Vegas.
He spent endless hours at the craps table, slowly but surely watching all of his money be taken away. He even borrowed $500,000 from the casino, and proceeded to lose all of that too. Now he was half a million dollars in debt and barely had enough money in his pockets to make it home.
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Nothing can bring this man down forever though. After a lot of time and hard work, he built up his bankroll again and was able to pay off the casino in just a little over five years.