Johnny Moss

Johnny Moss was one of the original six players inducted into the poker hall of fame. This honour came in 1979, the same year as he won his fifth of what would become seven World Series of Poker Championships. (He was also awarded the 1970 championship title after a vote amongst his peers, and received a silver cup, although opinion is split as to whether this should count as a title win.)

Moss was born in Marshall, Texas, in 1907 and grew up roughly 150 miles west in Dallas, travelling there in a covered wagon. Gambling has always been a big part of his life from the moment he learnt to play cards as child.

Because of his interest in betting, he soon fell in with the wrong crowd who went about teaching Moss how to cheat at cards. Life as a cheater had no appeal to Moss so he instead used his new found knowledge to help his career and he was hired to watch for foul play in the games played in a local venue.

Being so close to the action meant Moss picked up hints from some of Texas’ regular players and used them to develop his own game. Before too long he felt confident in his own ability and went to travel the country playing poker.

As a rounder, Moss won money (fairly) everywhere he went. At the time the game was littered with cheaters but Moss knew the signs to look for and how to look after himself. In one game he realised that his cards were being spied on and the information was being relayed to a player at the table; Moss always carried a gun with him and he casually pulled this pistol out and shot the cheater in the arse before continuing with the game.

His biggest moment of fame came in 1949. Moss was playing at the top of his game and he was seen as one of the best players in the country. Benny Binion set up a marathon match between Moss and Nick “the Greek” Dandolos, another of the world’s top players and another of the first entrants into the hall of fame. After five months of poker play, Moss had won millions of dollars from the European. It was at the end of this game that Nick uttered the immortal line, “Mr Moss, I have to let you go.”

Moss loved the game and played as much as he could. In 1988, at the age of 81, he won his final bracelet but he continued to play for seven years. He eventually gave up when a stroke deprived him of the use of his hands and then on 16 December 1995 heart failure signalled the end for this true great.