View source for Johnny Moss

{{Short description|American gambler and poker player (1907–1995)}}
{{other people||John Moss (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{infobox poker player
|name= Johnny Moss
|nickname= The Grand Old Man of Poker
|image=JMoss.jpg
|caption= Moss at the [[1974 World Series of Poker]]
|birth_date={{birth date|1907|5|14}}
|birth_place=[[Marshall, Texas]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1995|12|16|1907|5|14}}
|hometown= Dallas, Texas
|wsop bracelet count= 9
|wsop money finishes= 25
|wsop main event best finish rank=Winner
|wsop main event best finish year=1970
|wsop main event best finish year 2=1971
|wsop main event best finish year 3=1974
|updated=2010-01-30
}}

'''Johnny Moss''' (May 14, 1907 – December 16, 1995)<ref>{{Citation |last=Green |first=Marian |title=Poker King Johnny Moss Dies |date=December 20, 1995 |work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 19, 1995 |title=Hall of Fame Poker Classic (Dec 17, 1995) |url=http://www.conjelco.com/hof95/17-Dec-hof.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028075628/https://www.conjelco.com/hof95/17-Dec-hof.html |archive-date=October 28, 2018 |access-date=August 12, 2006 |website=ConJelCo}}</ref> was a [[gambling|gambler]] and professional [[poker]] player. He was the first winner of the [[World Series of Poker]] (WSOP) Main Event, at the time a [[cash game]] event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of his peers in 1970. He also twice won the current [[Poker tournament|tournament]] format of the WSOP Main Event in 1971 and 1974. He was one of the charter inductees into the [[Poker Hall of Fame]] in 1979.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wolford |first1=Byron |author-link1=Byron Wolford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9k5v-I6spwC&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker |title=Cowboys, Gamblers and Hustlers |last2=Smith |first2=Shane |publisher=Cardoza Publishing |isbn=9781580424721 |language=en |access-date=November 29, 2023 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Early years==
Moss was born on May 14, 1907, in [[Marshall, Texas]] and grew up in [[Dallas, Texas|Dallas]], [[Texas]], which was 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 [[bar (establishment)|saloon]] to watch over games and make sure they were played fairly. While he was keeping games safe from cheaters, he was learning the strategy behind playing poker.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2, 2018 |title=Poker in the Past: Johnny Moss |url=https://medium.com/@GGPoker/poker-in-the-past-johnny-moss-bd14ade94e66 |access-date=November 14, 2022 |website=Medium |language=en |archive-date=November 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114050446/https://medium.com/@GGPoker/poker-in-the-past-johnny-moss-bd14ade94e66 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Gambling career==

Two years later, Moss became a [[Glossary of poker terms#rounder|rounder]] and traveled the country looking for gambling action.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Moe |first=Albert Woods |date=2001 |title=Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yHP6Usz3vJ0C&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PA47 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Al Moe|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9780971501904}}</ref> In the 1950s, Moss moved to [[Odessa, Texas]] to be a part of the oil boom and gambling action. Moss and his fellow gamblers were part of one of the biggest poker games in Texas for many years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Johnny |date=August 2012 |title=Famous Gamblers, Poker History, and Texas Stories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QY73Y14TevAC&q=johnny%252520moss |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=iUniverse |language=en |via=Google Books |isbn=9781475942156}}</ref>

===Heads-up marathon with Nick The Greek===
In 1949, Moss played with [[Nick the Greek]] in a five-month-long "heads up" poker marathon set up by mob boss [[Benny Binion]], winning between $2 and $4 million.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schoonmaker |first=Alan N. |date=April 19, 2010 |title=Poker Winners Are Different:: Get the Mental Advantage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6i2XBgAAQBAJ&q=johnny%252520moss&pg=PT155 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Kensington Publishing Corp.|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9780806534794}}</ref> At the conclusion of the game, Nick the Greek uttered what has become one of the most famous poker quotes ever: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go."<ref name="espnhistory">{{Cite web |date=May 21, 2009 |title=Johnny Moss The "Grand Old Man" Of Poker |url=http://vicepost.com/2009/05/21/johnny-moss-the-grand-old-man-of-poker/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205201122/http://vicepost.com/2009/05/21/johnny-moss-the-grand-old-man-of-poker/ |archive-date=February 5, 2013 |access-date=November 6, 2010 |website=Vicepost}}</ref> This game is often cited as the inspiration behind the WSOP.<ref name="espnhistory" /><ref name="d334">{{cite web | last=Harris | first=Martin | title=Poker & Pop Culture: Moss and Dandolos at the Horseshoe | website=PokerNews | date=2017-05-23 | url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2017/05/poker-pop-culture-moss-dandolos-horseshoe-legend-myth-28031.htm | access-date=2024-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alvarez |first=Al |author-link=Al Alvarez |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVMU2B2AbIAC&q=johnny%252520moss |title=The Biggest Game in Town |date=February 3, 2009 |publisher=Picador |isbn=9781429918664 |language=en |access-date=November 29, 2023 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  This game became the foundation for [[Al Alvarez]]'s book ''The Biggest Game in Town'' and is one of the best known stories in poker. Despite being one of the best-known poker stories, claims have been made that the game never took place.<ref name = "never">Fischer, Steve.  "The Biggest Game Never Played" in ''Poker Pro Magazine'' pages 36-43. December 2009.  <!-- The magazine published an excerpt from the Fischer's yet to be released book. --></ref>  According to author Steve Fischer, there were no stories or reports of this tournament until six years after Nick's death. Binion never spoke of the game even when providing a detailed history of Las Vegas and avoided answering questions about the game by saying, "Well, my memory ain't what it used to be."<ref name = "never" /> While Nick the Greek was often covered by the national media, there are no news reports in any local or national source. Fischer says that nearly every version of the story is virtually identical to the version first told by Moss beginning ''circa'' 1971. The story is consistently said to have taken place in 1949 at the Horseshoe Casino, a casino that did not exist for another year and a half. Fischer also points out that during the time that Binion supposedly set up the game, he was fighting off a request from Texas to have him extradited. Because of his past, Binion lost his license to run a gambling establishment in 1948 and did not regain it until April 13, 1950. He was not granted a license to open the Horseshoe Casino until December 5, 1952. Fischer believes that the notion of Binion sponsoring a poker game, in front of a window, of a casino that had not opened, while fighting extradition is "absurd."<ref name = "never" />

In reaction to a 2017 pokernews.com article on the topic, Jack Binion, at the time 80 years old, attempted to clarify. To address the heart of the matter first, Binion explained that Johnny Moss and Nick Dandolos ''did'' play a poker match in 1949, although it was not at the Horseshoe at all. Nor was it the months-long spectacle open to spectators many have suggested the match to have been.

"It took place at the Flamingo," Binion explained. Also, it was "not in public." This, he noted, was a quote from Dandolos himself.

Meanwhile, a few years later there was another poker game involving Moss, this time at the Horseshoe.

"There was a big game at the Horseshoe in the early '50s," Binion explained, "but Nick didn't participate." The game featured "multiple players" including Moss, who came and went as the game continued around the clock. Unlike the game at the [[Flamingo Las Vegas|Flamingo]] in 1949, the later one "was held in public."

The confusion, Binion surmised, likely stemmed from Moss having participated in both games. However, there was never one between him and Dandolos at the Horseshoe, and the pair never did have a high-stakes heads-up battle in public. Binion also clarified that the inspiration for the WSOP was the previously held Texas Gamblers Reunion and not any Moss/Dandolos match.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grotenstein |first1=Jonathan |last2=Reback |first2=Storms |date=September 19, 2006 |title=All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=evfshFCaxFgC&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520&pg=PT204 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Macmillan|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9781466832848}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=William N. |date=February 10, 2015 |title=Gambling in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and Society, 2nd Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAI9BgAAQBAJ&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PA335 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9781610699808}}</ref>

===World Series of Poker===
[[File:MossChrisWillsSlimJackBinionPearson.jpg|300px|thumb|A group of players outside of [[Binion's Horseshoe]] in 1974. The players pictured are (from left to right) Johnny Moss, [[Chill Wills]], [[Amarillo Slim]], [[Jack Binion]], and [[Puggy Pearson]].]]
Moss won the [[1970 World Series of Poker|1970]], [[1971 World Series of Poker|1971]], and [[1974 World Series of Poker]] Main Events.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lubet |first=Steven |date=May 25, 2006 |title=Lawyers' Poker: 52 Lessons that Lawyers Can Learn from Card Players |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1p6eBgAAQBAJ&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PT29 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9780199884667}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Swanson |first=Doug J. |date=July 15, 2015 |title=Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-KGCgAAQBAJ&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9781445648187}}</ref> For the 1970 Main Event, Moss was actually elected champion by his peers and received a silver cup as his prize. A (possibly apocryphal) story about that election which has appeared in print several times has every one of the seven players voting for himself as the best player, and that it was only when the players were asked to vote for the ''second'' best player that Moss emerged.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Des |date=March 17, 2009 |title=Ghosts at the Table: Riverboat Gamblers, Texas Rounders, Roadside Hucksters, and the Living Legends Who Made Poker What I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6jRC-dMFtXsC&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PA171 |publisher=Hachette Books|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=978-0-7867-3205-0}}</ref> He played at every WSOP from 1970 through [[1995 World Series of Poker|1995]], and during his career, he won nine WSOP bracelets. Moss had at least a share of the lifetime WSOP bracelet lead up until the [[2005 World Series of Poker]], which is where [[Johnny Chan]] became the first player to win a tenth career bracelet.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Nitya |date=June 13, 2020 |title=Johnny Chan: First Player to Reach 10 WSOP Bracelets! |url=https://gutshotmagazine.com/johnny-chan-first-player-to-reach-10-wsop-bracelets/ |access-date=November 14, 2022 |website=Gutshot Magazine |language=en-US |archive-date=November 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221114050301/https://gutshotmagazine.com/johnny-chan-first-player-to-reach-10-wsop-bracelets/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== World Series of Poker bracelets ====

{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Tournament
!Prize (US$)
|-
|[[1970 World Series of Poker|1970]]
|World Series of Poker World Championship*
|
|-
|[[1971 World Series of Poker|1971]]
|Limit Ace to 5 Draw
|$10,000
|-
|[[1971 World Series of Poker|1971]]
|$5,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship
|$30,000
|-
|[[1974 World Series of Poker|1974]]
|$10,000 No Limit Hold'em World Championship
|$160,000
|-
|[[1975 World Series of Poker|1975]]
|$1,000 Seven Card Stud
|$44,000
|-
|[[1976 World Series of Poker|1976]]
|$500 Seven Card Stud
|$13,000
|-
|[[1979 World Series of Poker|1979]] 
|$5,000 Seven Card Stud
|$48,000
|-
|[[1981 World Series of Poker|1981]] 
|$1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo
|$33,500
|-
|[[1988 World Series of Poker|1988]] 
|$1,500 Ace to Five Draw**
|$116,400
|}

<sup>*</sup>In 1970, Moss was voted champion by his peers and was awarded a silver cup.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Mark |date=2006 |title=52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdMMJTytBs4C&q=johnny%2520moss%2520silver%2520cup&pg=PA92 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Cornhole Book|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9780978744694}}</ref>

<sup>**</sup>Moss set the record for the oldest bracelet winner in WSOP history, which still stands as of the end of the [[2017 World Series of Poker]].{{cn|date=November 2022}}

==Personal life and legacy==
Moss's wife was Virgie, who was from West Texas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hale |first=H. D. |date=1999 |title=The Life and Times of a Gentleman Gambler: "Oklahoma Johnny" Hale on Poker & Las Vegas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pC4Lclov5SUC&q=johnny+moss+poker |access-date=November 29, 2023|via=Google Books |publisher=Poker Plus Publications |language=en |isbn=9781884466113}}</ref>

One of Moss's strategies for tournament poker was survival in the early stages. As the tournament goes on and blinds increase, his strategy was to test opponents with aggression and bigger pots.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Apostolico |first=David |date=August 1, 2006 |title=Lessons From The Pro Poker Tour: A Seat At The Table With Poker's Greatest Players |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taV2zkiWy1QC&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PA6 |access-date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Kensington Publishing Corp.|via=Google Books |language=en |isbn=9780818407345}}</ref>

Moss outlined his strategies in a slim 1950 book, "How to Win at Poker"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moss |first=John |date=1973 |title=How to win at poker |url=http://archive.org/details/howtowinatpoker00moss |access-date=November 29, 2023|via=Archive.org |publisher=Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday}}</ref> The publisher's foreword demurs that there is any such person as "John Moss," stating that the name hides the identity of "a very astute midwest poker player." Further biographical details confirm that the author is indeed Moss.

Fellow professional [[Doyle Brunson]] put Moss on his [[Mount Rushmore]] of poker players, along with [[Puggy Pearson]], [[Sailor Roberts]], and [[Chip Reese]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brunson |first=Doyle |author-link=Doyle Brunson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0oaXG8xeoMC&q=%252522johnny%252520moss%252522%252520poker&pg=PT287 |title=Godfather of Poker |publisher=Cardoza Publishing |isbn=9781580424776 |language=en |access-date=November 29, 2023 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

An authorized autobiography on Moss, which is called ''Champion of Champions'', was written by Don Jenkins.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steiger |first=Tristan |title=Poker Book Store: Don Jenkins, Johnny Moss. Champion of Champions |url=http://www.poker-soft.com/pages/BookStore/Jenkins_Johnny_Moss.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130111538/http://www.poker-soft.com/pages/BookStore/Jenkins_Johnny_Moss.htm |archive-date=November 30, 2018 |website=www.poker-soft.com}}</ref>

Moss coined the phrase "It's no disgrace to go broke".<ref name="t294">{{cite web | last=Blount | first=Chuck | title=A tall tale of poker and golf | website=The Lawton Constitution | date=2024-02-27 | url=https://www.swoknews.com/a-tall-tale-of-poker-and-golf/article_8e0a9888-6181-59f4-9c6f-9be18e2063dc.html | access-date=2025-03-05}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*[https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/25529-johnny-moss Card Player profile]
* [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=27562 Hendon Mob profile]
* [https://www.pokernews.com/poker-players/johnny-moss/ PokerNews profile]
* [https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=17691 WSOP profile]

{{WSOP Main Event champions}}
{{1970s WSOP Bracelet Winners}}
{{1980s WSOP Bracelet Winners}}
{{Poker Hall of Fame}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Johnny}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:World Series of Poker Main Event winners]]
[[Category:World Series of Poker bracelet winners]]
[[Category:Super Bowl of Poker event winners]]
[[Category:American poker players]]
[[Category:People from Marshall, Texas]]
[[Category:Game players from Dallas]]
[[Category:American gamblers]]
[[Category:Poker Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:20th-century American people]]