The great game of no-limit Texas Hold’em poker has evolved into a twenty-first century spectacle. Television cameras, online poker endorsements and million-dollar prizes have turned professional poker players into overnight celebrities. However, the great American card game was not always so civilized. Many old-time poker legends tell of times when they had to go into games armed against robbers, crooked dealers, and even dishonest players.
When most players have a problem with their hand, they ask the dealer or floor manager for help. In April 2008, a disagreement during a poker game at the Trump Taj Mahal resulted in a fatal stabbing in the outdoor parking area. The suspect, Vicente Perez, was visiting from Georgia when he decided to play a few hands at the famous Atlantic City casino. He was later arrested on manslaughter charges after his Saturday afternoon poker session turned violent.
Another famous poker fight, this one decidedly less deadly, came in a high-stakes cash game at the legendary Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, the birthplace of the World Series of Poker. Phil Hellmuth, the all-time leading WSOP bracelet winner, got into a fistfight with fellow player Sam Grizzle, a man at least twenty years Hellmuth’s senior. As Hellmuth described the epic confrontation, “We both threw punches, landed punches. But the next day, neither one of us had a mark on our faces! Thus, the perfect fight! Sam and I were laughing and joking about it the next day.”
In another fight between pro poker players, Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen took on fellow countryman Theo Jorgensen in an actual boxing match during the European Poker Tour’s Scandinavian Open. Despite Hansen’s training session with Olympic boxing medallist Johnny de Lima, the judges gave Jorgensen the decision after three rounds of action.
Now who says poker isn’t a contact sport?
