Being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame is the pinnacle of success, or at least recognition, for poker players, so this is a big week for Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel. They were announced as the Hall's newest members, joining 38 other masters of the game. Both players have had lucrative careers and are well deserving of the honor, but it took an appearance at the final table of the World Series of Poker's $10,000 Buy-in Hold 'em Championship for either player to become a household name. That's a reality.
Of course that's understandable since poker's TV exposure has skyrocketed and it's the World Series of Poker that has led the way since the early '70's. The strange thing is that the idea for the tournament started at the Holiday Casino in Reno, Nevada, not at Binion's Horseshoe Club in Las Vegas. Sure, it got to the Horseshoe the next year, but the gathering of poker players in Reno was the start, and that too, is a reality.
The Holiday in Reno
Tom Moore, who owned the Holiday, needed gamblers to prop up his business, so Amarillo Slim helped out his fellow Texan by bringing a trainload of players up North to see the casino in 1969. Those gamblers included players like Johnny Moss, Puggy Pearson and Doyle Brunson, all soon to be in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Benny Binion also made the trip, saw an opportunity, and held his own tournament the following year which he called the World Series of Poker. It was held, naturally, at Binion's Casino in Las Vegas, and while poker is played all over the world, it took a casino setting, and a casino owner, to really set the stage for both a world championship and a hall of fame.
The ironic thing about the induction of Seidel and Harrington is that you can't really visit the Poker Hall of Fame, because there isn't one. Well, not a physical one. It's reality, but only virtual reality.
So, sit back and relax because you don't have to leave the comfort of your easy chair to read about the history of the Poker Hall of Fame. You can do it right now, online, which makes it quick, fun, and easy. And, just like it took a casino to come up with the World Series of Poker and launch the Poker Hall of Fame, it will take a casino to house the Hall of Fame. I wonder, when will that be?
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