He did not cherish gambling as his only goal and aim. He was a talented football player during his high school days and had planned to play the same at the college level as well. But then a change of mind landed him the Navy. His duty years coincided with the years of Korean War. He had almost become familiar with all types of war ships. The nickname “Sailor” came to him in this fashion. But one thing was certain. All through his times in the Navy he continued his craps game and seemed determined to be a professional gambler when once permanently found foothold on land.

In the 1950s he teamed up with Amarillo Slim Preston and Doyle Brunson. The group travelled throughout the country. They specialized in playing poker and sports-betting. For an unbroken period of six years this continued. The provisions of the Federal Wire Act caught up with Roberts in 1962 and he was arrested for conducting betting on sports over the telephone. After a year’s prison life Roberts concentrated only on poker.

In 1970 when World Series of Poker was in its infancy, Roberts was among the invitees for the first game. He was a regular in the event for many years. It was in 1974 that he got his first WSOP bracelet in the $5,000 2-7 Draw Event. His prize earnings were $35,850 when he won over Larry Perkins. In the following year he achieved cherished goal winning the WSOP Main Event. This he accomplished by outlasting 20 players. He took home the Championship Bracelet and prize earnings of $210,000.

It was the practice until 1975 to award the Main Event Winner just a trophy and the prize money. In 1975 the idea of giving a physical bracelet began. In this sense Roberts may be said to be the first person to have won a bracelet. Subsequently past champions were also awarded the bracelets retrospectively as a decision had been made that for Main Event Champions the bracelet would be the reward of recognition.

Roberts continued to play at the WSOP for many more years though he did not meet with a high level of success. The 1982 Main Event saw him finish in the 8th place. He passed away later on due to sclerosis caused by hepatitis. He was fondly recollected for his generosity to every one. In 1961 he looked after Doyle Brunson who had just then undergone an emergency surgery. He was also noted for compassion for a luckless fellow gambler and helped such people often. The best tribute to his personal popularity was when nobody felt jealous when he won the Main Event.

Despite a relatively short career in the poker world, he was noted for being a good man and that was not said of many in the field. It is true that this did not guarantee substantial earnings at the table, but it brought him the unreserved respect from others.

The manner in which he was attracted towards poker remains unclear. But he is often spoken along the same lines as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim. Equally fascinating is the fact that was showed great creativity in bluffing at the poker tables. Once he was playing a hand blind after a rush. Raising the states he glanced and found he had just 7-2. But the flop was 7-3-3 and Straus had the prospect of a raise. After his opponent made the call, the turn fell a 2 and he boisterously made a big bet. Naturally the opponent was perturbed and it is said that Straus told his opponent that he would let him see one of his hole cards for $25. The opponent obliged and saw the deuce card. The opponent put Straus on pocket deuces and eventually folded his hand. This earned him the distinction of being a great bluffer.

He is remembered for two great events in the World Series of Poker. In 1973 he won his first WSOP bracelet when he won the 2-7 Lowball bracelet with take home earnings of $16,500. The second one is significant not for the achievement as such but the way it was done.

It took place on the first day of the Main Event in 1983. Jack Straus placed moved all of his chips to the middle and was called. He in turn lost the hand. Naturally he was preparing to leave the place when one chip said to belong to him was discovered either under a chair or under a napkin. It so happened that the floor authorities allowed him to continue with the single chip. In a while he made a remarkable comeback. This is the origin of the phrase “a chip and a chair” in the poker world. His progress was phenomenal that day and on the following day he found himself at the final table. A galaxy of big names like Dewey Tomko, Doyle Bruson and Berry Johnston were there as well. Eventually it was a toss between Straus and Tomko and in the end he walked away a world champion. He went home with the bracelet, not to mention the $520,000 in prize earnings.

He was a regular in many subsequent tournaments. Although he played in a lot of tournaments, his game was much more suitable to cash game. The reason was obvious. His capacity to bluff was much more useful in cash games back in that era as tournament play was much more conservative. There were a number of small time events where he fared well but his best were in his WSOP finishes.

In November 1988 while a high stakes cash game was in progress he died suddenly due to unexpected massive heart attack. One cannot assert with authority how his game would have stood up to the modern era of poker. He likely would have continued to play cash games and endured. Whether this would have come about or not his fame as a legend in the game lives on.

He went on to become a dealer at the tables in order to learn more for another couple of years before finally deciding to become a poker player. He knew he was on the right track when he was able to take down a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1997 when he won the Omaha 8 bracelet and $156,959. His biggest score in the professional world came in 1998. He was at the final table of the Main Event when he was up against Kevin McBride, moving “all in” on a board of 8-8-8-9-9. McBride was carefully considering his move when Nguyen dropped his famous line playing McBride with the words “You call this one, and it’s all over baby”, which actually worked as McBride did call and played the board. Nguyen had a J-9 for a full house and was named the World Champion of Poker. Nguyen’s line has become famous throughout the poker world and Kevin McBride for the most part has faded into obscurity.

His main even win was the 2nd of 5 bracelets. The 2001 $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better event was also a glorious day when he won 3rd bracelet. He also won the bracelet for the $2,500 PL Omaha event in the same year. His biggest triumph was in 2008 when he came out the top winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship wherein 148 top professionals gathered to compete in this World Series of Poker event. Nguyen was the last man standing bringing home a staggering $1,989,120 or roughly about 2 million dollars!

Scotty Nguyen became a legendary poker player and has 31 titles under his belt in almost all walks of poker, and still counting. To date, his value amounts to $10 million from his total winnings. He also defeated Michael Mizrachi in a single hand, winning the 2006 WPT Event held in Tunica, MS. Today, he says he is done playing cash games, as he finds them stressful. When he won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event he stated that there isn’t much left for him to do in the poker word was to take a bracelet in the game of lowball. Of course, technically he still needs a win in Razz, but he might consider that covered with his H.O.R.S.E. win.

Scotty Nguyen is a living legend in the world of poker for his outstanding accomplishments in this field. His magnetic and enthusiastic disposition at the table totally deserves the attention of the crowd. Expect more of his presence as long as he still has the desire for playing poker.

Erik Seidel is a New York man that started his gambling career with backgammon.  At this time he was attending Brooklyn College, however, though he later dropped out.  After leaving college he took up backgammon professionally. Soon after that, he also began to play poker.  He continued these two games until 1985. This is when the decision was made that it was time for a new job.  He continued to play poker in his spare time for the years that he was a stock broker.  After a few years, the stock market crashed and he lost his job but continued to play poker.  Seidel took his first try at the World Series of Poker during 1988 after he worked on his game for a while.

Erik Seidel’s first nine games didn’t go as planned.  He had absolutely no cashes during that time.  Seidel eventually found himself against the World Champion, Johnny Chan, during the Main Event, and though he lost, it became obvious that great things would be seen from him later on.

Eric Seidel spent a few years playing high stakes poker while he was a stock broker.  Seidel refrained from playing poker as a professional even as he won the bracelets in 1992 and 1993.  After winning the $210,000 and his third bracelet in 1994 when he won the $5,000 Limit Holdem event, Seidel to decide to turn professional.  He soon moved to Vegas with his wife.

Moving was the best decision Seidel could possibly make.  He now ranks 5th all time for WSOP bracelets. On the whole, Seidel won eight different world series of Poker Bracelets to earn that ranking.  He of course won them in different areas, including two wins in bracelets in No Limit Holdem, two wins in Limit Holdem, two wins in 2-7 Lowball, one win in Pot Limit Omaha, and a win in Omaha 8.  In his career, he has managed to win over nine million dollars in tournaments.  He also won his very first WPT title in April of 2008.  He won the Foxwoods Poker Classic earning $967,390.  He also now embraces the titles for the former Diamond Jim Brady, Four Queens classic, and Fiesta Al Lago events.

Erik Seidel enjoys music and is a huge music buff.  He can usually be seen with a set of head phones that allows him listen to his favorite music as he plays.  He also works for Full Tilt Poker.  He is one of the people in charge of site design.

Seidel is just 48 and chances are he will be around for a long time to come.  It will be interesting to see where he finishes on the all time list for WSOP bracelets.

Harrington finished sixth at the WSOP in 1987, which was when people really began to notice him. You might remember this as the very same year Johnny Chan managed to win his first title. It was 1995 before Dan won the NL Holdem Event for $2,500, taking home his very first WSOP bracelet. Later in the year, he walked away with his second bracelet and the $1 million prize pool after winning the Main Event. Harrington at different points of the final table tried to talk players into accepting a deal but they would not agree and he ended up walking away with all the money.

Even though that prize pool and the title would be considered a major feat for most players, Dan Harrington managed to top himself. It was the year 2003, and Harrington had again went to the Main Event. This time, he finished third. This was when Poker really boomed because of the unexpected win of Chris Moneymaker. The very next year, there was a huge increase in the number of people that showed up. There were 2,576 people on the field. It was a new record! There were so many people there that Harrington had to work to find his way to that final table. He failed to win the tournament, and received only fourth place, but his achievements was is still considered one of the greatest in the history of poker.

Harrington doesn’t only have his accomplishments in the World Series of Poker. He’s also made two final tables in the World Poker Tour. He took second in his first final table at the Doyle Brunson North American Championship winning $620,730. When WPT made the decision not to randomly raise limits in 2007, Harrington made the final table for the Legends of Poker. Harrington managed to win his very first WPT title, which ended up being the longest final table in the entire history of WPT.

Dan Harrington won well over 6.5 million dollars in tournaments. While winning his poker tournaments, he wrote books and worked as real estate as well as a stock investor. He wrote five different books dedicated to poker. They were Harrington on Holdem: volumes 1 through 3, all of which focus on tournament play. He also wrote two books entitled Harrington on Cash Games, both of which keep their focus on ring games.

Though it may seem boring, if you want results, Dan’s tight and aggressive approach is the way to go. Even if it is in business you want to go, having his solidness and business smarts will help you become a winner.

Heading in to the 1987 World Series of Poker Main Event Chan had already had one bracelet to his name, but the Main Event would be where his career truly started. The Main Event final table in 1987 was littered with poker greats like Howard Lederer, Dan Harrington and Mickey Appleman. At the final table Johnny proved that he was a player to reckon with and beat all those top pros and took home the title. Chan beat Frank Henderson heads up and won $650 000. Once again in 1988 Chan made the final table of the Main Event and once again a lot of names you will recognize were at the table with him, guys like Erik Seidel, TJ Cloutier and Humberto Brenes. Once again Johnny showed  that he was one of the top pros in the world besting Seidel heads up to take home the bracelet and $700 000. The 1989 Main Event, Johnny was now the man to watch with back to back wins and three career bracelets. This is where legends are born, Chan once again was there in the end. He battled his way to once again being heads up for the title, and what happened was two future poker legends would take battle. Phil Hellmuth vs Johnny Chan, maybe poker fans didn’t realize it at the time, but it was legend vs legend. Hellmuth would take home the title, but Chan would still take home more then $300 000.  We will never see another player make three main event final tables in a row, let alone win 2 and finish second once. Johnny had made his name in the poker world, but he wasn’t done there, he would win more bracelets and even make another Main Event final table in 1992.

Chan wouldn’t win his fourth bracelet until 1994 when he won a seven card stud tournament. His fifth came in 1997 when he outlasted Barry Greenstein, Steve Zolotow and Lyle Berman in winning the deuce to seven lowball bracelet. Chan won his sixth bracelet in 2000 and in 2002 he met an old friend in the no limit holdem heads up tournament. That player was Phil Hellmuth and this time Johnny took home the title and his seventh bracelet. His eighth and ninth bracelet both came in 2003 in event 15 and event 24. In 2005 Chan won his then record 10th bracelet in a pot limit holdem tournament. To win that 10th title he had to beat Phil Laak heads up, which earned him over $300 000. Since then Johnny has cashed eight times and most recently finished 4th in an Omaha event in 2008.

Overall Johnny has 10 bracelets and cashed 41 times in his career. Over his 25 year career Johnny has made more then $4 million at the World Series of Poker alone. 25 years and 27 final tables made, Chan is one of the most consistent poker players in poker history. He has had success playing Holdem of all limits and styles, Omaha and seven card games. The first thing that jumps out at me when I look at Johnny’s WSOP record is the amount of great players he has run into over the years. Chan vs Hellmuth will always be debated, who is the best player of there generation. I am not about to pick, but they will forever be linked in World Series of Poker history.

Johnny is more then just the World Series he commonly appears on Poker After Dark on NBC.  He also won Poker Superstars and has career tournament earnings of more then $6.5 million. Johnny has written two books, Play Poker Like Johnny Chan and Million Dollar Holdem. He runs his own online poker site, owns fast food franchises and wants to eventually open his own casino.  Chan is a business man and a great poker player who will strive for success in all his endeavors.

I am sure if you took a poll of professional poker players, it would be close to unanimous that Johnny should be considered one of the best players to ever live. With back to back main event titles and 10 bracelets in total Chan has proven that he belongs in that category. He will forever be linked with Phil Hellmuth, and people will wonder who truly is the best player of there generation. Chan is currently sitting tied for second all time in career World Series of Poker wins with poker legend Doyle Brunson, just one behind Phil Hellmuth’s 11 bracelets. I don’t think Johnny is going anywhere, he loves playing poker and I think he will play as long as physically possible. Chan continues to frequently be on poker programming and is still at the top of his game. In the near future Johnny Chan will win his 11th bracelet and the debate will continue Chan or Hellmuth. In a dream world some day they will play heads up to set the record for most career bracelets, but that becomes less likely the bigger the game gets. Chan has proven he could win against the best pros in the world and that he can win in big field events. Johnny Chan is one of the best poker players to ever live, in any generation.