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Our Departed Members of Poker

Famous poker players become an integral part of the game for enthusiastic poker players. Specific television show episodes in which they were featured and qualities that made them stand out from the crowds are things that remind us of them. Some of these players have travelled other paths that took them away from the game while some have died. Either ways, we miss them at the poker table and wish that could be part of the game again.

1. Amir Vahedi: An Iranian professional poker player, born in Iran, who won a World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2003 WSOP. Before becoming a war refugee and immigrating to the US, Vahedi served in the Iranian army during the Iran- Iraq War. He was one of Ben Affleck’s early poker tutors. Vahedi dies at the age of 48 due to possible complications of diabetes on 8^th January, 2010. He won $3.250,000 in live tournament play during his lifetime.

2. David Ulliott: He is known by the nickname Devilfish. David was an English professional gambler and poker player. He went on to become a WSOP bracelet winner and also a mainstay of televised poker. He was known for wearing orange-tinted sunglasses, a sharp suit and gold rings reading Devil or fish which he made himself. Ulliott was diagnosed with colon cancer in February 2015 and he died on 6^th April 2015 at the age of 61.

3. Sam Simon: Simon quietly amassed the list of poker accomplishments. He won three no-limit hold’em tournaments, totalling more than $100,000. His winnings on the felt paled in comparison to the wealth he accumulated via his TV work even though poker was a serious hobby for him. After finding out that he had cancer, he gave away almost everything he had. “Simpsons” co-creator and poker enthusiast Sam Simon passed away after a three-year battle with colon cancer at the age of 59. 

4. Chad Brown: Chad was the presenter of the Ultimate Poker Challenge television series. He has won one of the biggest online poker tournaments in the 2006 World Championship of Online Poker $5,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. He was diagnosed with lip sarcoma and had a ten pound tumour removed from his abdomen Brown resumed his poker career despite having the rare cancer. He died on 2^nd July 2014, at the age of 52. 

5. Johnny Moss: He was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of World Series of Poker main event. He was given a nickname “The Grand Old Man of Poker”. A book called Champions of Champions, written by Don Jenkins is an authorized autobiography on Moss. He died on 16^th December 1995 at the age of 88. He played at every WSOP from 1970 through 1995, and during his career he won nine WSOP bracelets.

Stay tuned for more ‘Poker Gyaan’.

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