Puggy Pearson

‘Puggy’ Pearson, one of the godfathers of poker passed away last week, April 12, in Las Vegas aged 77.

Born Walter Clyde Pearson, the 1973 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and three-time bracelet winner, leaves the game a rich legacy of colourful stories and classic poker sayings.

Not only that, Pearson is credited with coming up with the idea of the ‘freezeout’ tournament, which was first used for the World Series of Poker and has become the standard tournament format for poker the world over.

Born in Tennessee in 1929, the young Pearson dropped out of school early and joined the US Navy, where he honed his poker and gambling skills.

Nicknamed ‘Puggy’ after an accident which disfigured his nose, Pearson was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987.

One of his most famous sayings adorned his 38-foot motorhome which he called the ‘Roving Gambler’:

"I’ll play any man from any land any game that he can name for any amount that I can count." And then in smaller letters: “providing I like it”.