The Lesser Known

Posted by Craig on October 8, 2008

Every year poker players converge on Las Vegas to compete for World Series of Poker bracelets. As poker has become popular we have become familiar with a lot of the tops professional players in the world. Every year we expect to see guys like Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Scotty Nguyen on WSOP programming. All of those players are great and deserve all the publicity they get, but there are other great players you just don’t hear a lot about. Players who have won multiple bracelets, but aren’t as visible as the television professionals. Its time these guys get a little attention of there own for the great accomplishments at the WSOP.

Billy Baxter - Baxter has seven World Series of Poker bracelets and a lot of people don’t even know who he is. Billy is a true legend of the game, winning his first bracelet in a 1975 deuce to seven lowball event and has went on to cash 28 times so far. He won 5 of his seven titles in the 80′s , but only won 1 in the 90′s. He captured his last bracelet in 2002 and has made seven cashes since. The reason you may not be familiar with Baxter is because his wins have come in less popular games like deuce to seven lowball, Razz and Ace to Five draw. Most recently in 2008 he had a final table in event 40 and proved he is still a great player. With 7 bracelets and more then a million in WSOP earnings, Baxter deserves his spot amongst the poker greats of all time.

Layne Flack - You might know who Layne is, but I bet you don’t know that he has 6 WSOP bracelets. Flack has been on television a few times, but isn’t a regular on popular programming. He has more then $2.2 million in career World Series earnings, with 19 career cashes. He won his first title in 1999 in a pot limit holdem event for more then $220 000. His career would take off from there winning bracelets in no limit holdem, Omaha hi/lo and pot limit Omaha rebuy. In 2008 Layne won his first bracelet in 5 years and took home more then a half a million dollars. Throughout his career Flack has 6 titles and has finished in the top five, five times, he had won a couple of those tournaments he would be right up there with career bracelets. Flack is a great holdem player and I hope we get to see more of him in the future.

Berry Johnston - Berry is a main event winner and a lot of people don’t know him. In 1986 Johnston won the main event taking home the bracelet and $570 000. In total Johnston has 5 bracelets and has cashed an amazing 56 times in his career. He has won titles in limit/no limit Holdem, Omaha, Razz and in Heads up. He cashed 3 times in 2008 with his best finish being 10th in the World Championship of Omaha. With over $2 million in career earnings Johnston has definitely had a great career. Johnston is known as one of the tightest and most solid players in Texas Holdem history. The way he plays Johnston is bound to get a lot more cashes in his career and compete for more bracelets. You won’t see him on television a lot, but he definitely is one of the best players.

Tom McEvoy - Another main event winner, Tom took home the title in 1983. He has 4 bracelets in total and 36 career World Series of Poker cashes. He has career earnings of more then $1.2 million and continues to play in the series every year. McEvoy is on a big bracelet drought not winning one since 1992, but he has cashed 7 times in the last three years. 1983 was his best year when he won two events including besting Doyle Brunson at the final table of the main event. His four bracelets are in four different games Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Razz and Omaha. In 2008 in finished in the top 30 twice and made more then $12 000. McEvoy is an excellent player and deserves his spot in poker history.

Chau Giang - Chau is one of the best characters in poker and I wish we could see more of him. He has 46 career cashes and has won 3 bracelets. Giang had an amazing 2008 with 8 cashes with 3 top 15 finishes. Giang is getting older, but is still an excellent poker player and can win every time he plays. His first bracelet came in 1993 and most recently won a 2004 Pot Limit Omaha event. Chau is a cash machine, finishing in the money 17 times over the past 3 World Series of Poker’s. His biggest cash was in 2006 when he finished 3rd at a Pot Limit Omaha event for almost $300 000. Career earnings of close to $1.5 million Chau is one of the most consistent and best players in the world.

These players may be lesser known pro’s, but they all deserve there place in poker history. All these guys listed have the same or more bracelets then bigger names like Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harmon and Sammy Farha. The World Series of Poker has a great history and if you are a true poker fan you should educate yourself and learn about the greats of the game. The WSOP has changed a lot since the boom, now a days players have to beat thousands of players to win a bracelet. Back in the day, the fields were smaller, but they were full of professional players which made it very difficult to win. Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet is an amazing thing and winning multiple will put you in great company. Watch, play and enjoy the World Series of Poker.