Some great poker trivia,
poker stories, poker myths and poker
quotes.
Johnny
Moss cleans out Nick the Greek
Nicholas Andreas "Nick the Greek"
Dandolos was a professional gambler
and high roller. Dandolos was the son of wealthy parents. He
attended the Greek Evangelical College and earned
a degree in philosophy. When he was 18 years old
his grandfather sent him to the U.S.A. with an
allowance of $150 per week. Although Dandolos
settled down in Chicago he eventually moved to
Montreal where he began gambling on horse
races.
He died on Christmas
Day in 1966 and was a charter inductee of the
Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.
Johny
Moss was born
in Marshall, Texas in 1907 and grew up in Dallas,
Texas where he learned how to gamble as a young
boy. A group of cheaters taught him how to cheat
in games, but Moss put this knowledge to good use.
As a teenager he was hired by a local saloon to
watch over games and make sure they were played
fairly. While he was keeping games safe from
cheaters, he was also learning the strategy behind
playing poker. Two years later he became a
rounder, a player who travels the country looking
for gambling action.
Moss was a charter inductee to the
Poker Hall of Fame in 1979.
The Texas Hold'em starting hand Ace-Ten is
named the Johnny Moss in his honor.
The
Game!
In one of the most
famous poker confrontations of modern times, poker
legend Johnny Moss battled with Nick The Greek in
a 1949 marathon game at Binion's Horseshoe
Casino in Las Vegas. The game lasted five
months and they played every
variation of poker there was. At the end, Moss
reportedly over $4 million from the Greek. The
game was actually a precursor to the World Series
of Poker (WSOP), which would officially begin in
1970. Johnny Moss went on to become the first
player in history to win the WSOP three times.
At the end of this five month poker marathon,
down an estimated $4 million dollars, Dandolos
uttered what has become one of the most famous
poker quotes ever: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you
go." Fatigue was a major factor for Dandolos' loss
as he was more than 15 years older than Moss.