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The godfather of poker #3: The arrival of the game called hold'em and finally time to go to Vegas
In 1958, I first heard about a game called hold'em. We didn't know what it was, they described it to us as a variant of seven card stud, since at the end there are seven cards in the game (5 community and 2 own). In those days, only one blind was played, which was paid by the player to the left of the dealer. The betting rounds were, like today, flop, turn and river, followed by a showdown. I won't forget how I liked the game right away, because compared to other variants, it ran at a fast pace, which I think is the reason why it gained such popularity".
"During my first NLH games, I felt like I was in a toy store - almost all the players had no idea what they were doing. So, once I understood the need to play good hands and use position to do so, I quickly started beating them. And I was winning a lot." But the constant winnings and the pleasant feeling of winning money were spoiled by a series of family tragedies that fell on Doyle like an avalanche. In one year, Doyle buried his father (he had a heart attack while mowing the lawn), his older brother (he was only 37, he died of cancer) and two aunts.
“To make matters worse, I saw another death right at the table when I played against Senior MP Red Dodson. Red was one of the tightest players I've ever met, so I bluffed him with impunity all night and felt like an early visit from Santa Claus. In one game, when Red finally hit the second best combination A-2-3-4-6, I deliberately hit Wheel (A-2-3-4-5) against him, but when Red saw the showdown he turned blue, and before he fell to the floor he was dead. The summoned doctor only stated that it was a massive heart attack."
"Things started to go downhill on Exchange Avenue, there were drugs everywhere, attracting more and more police. Constant raids, frequent conflicts and the fact that I myself spent several nights in jail made it definitive - it was time to get out. Of course, I chose Las Vegas as my destination, and together with David Vernon and Wayne Hamilton, we took our entire bankroll ($500 each) and set off to make our dream come true. But it quickly dissipated."
"We split up on the main street, each went to a different casino. We agreed to meet here in 2 hours and see how it goes. We did indeed meet there at the agreed time, but each of us without money. We lost absolutely everything, we had the last 5 cents left and even had to borrow money to get home. So we started from scratch again in Texas, but this time we went about it wisely. On the Texas circuit, as the area around Fort Worth was called, higher and higher limits began to be played, which, in addition to mobsters and rich people, began to attract great players. I met a lot of them here in 1958, but I was most curious about a guy named Johnny Moss, who was considered by many to be the best NLH player in the world."
"When I met him for the first time I was 25 years old and I really wanted to prove to him how good I was. I played a lot of hands with him, won a lot of money from him, and was fascinated by how he could handle big losses with a cool head. I was up about $35,000 from him when a hand came that I still consider the turning point of my entire career. On the K-7-8-2-3 board, I held JTo and faced a big $4,000 Moss bet. Although the board didn't hit me, I only had J-high, but in my mind I believed that Moss had some big draw and that I was better. So I ended up calling, which took out the third player who had the better hand, but Moss turned me 65o! I showed my cards, Moss looked at me and there was respect in his eyes."
After this, Doyle himself believed that he was a top player, and other opponents also began to consider him as one of the best in the world from that moment on. Success came one after another and the word spread, but in the early 1960s, with a boost of confidence and a newly acquired bankroll, it was time to try Vegas again!
Source: The Poker Minset, the autobiography Godfather of Poker, CardPlayer, Wikipedia