Poker Games that have Become Legends

Watching a poker tournament in its final stages is about as tense as it gets, if you play often yourself. Knowing everyone's hands and watching someone make a fatal error is enough to send a crowd of poker fans into complete uproar around the television, and watching someone get dealt pocket aces after being the underdog for the last several hands is a cause for cheers amongst the audience (at home, of course, cheering might give the game away in person). But what about the most famous poker wins of all time?

Johnny Moss and the five-month game

If you think playing poker from after work until the early hours of the following morning, then you've got nothing on the legendary Johnny Moss game, in which the talented player played a mind-numbing five-month-long game against Nick "the Greek" Dandolos, a high roller and the inspiration for the modern-day World Series of Poker, Moss walking away with $4 million. Of course, to many pro players this sounds like pocket change for a five-month game, but considering the fact that this was way back in 1949, the amount tends to look slightly more impressive. A true achievement.

Wild Bill's Dead Man's Hand

Wild Bill, whose name was actually James Butler Hickok, was an American law enforcement officer who was a talented marksman and an even more talented bringer of justice to criminals on American soil in the 19th century. Always playing with his back to the wall, he was paranoid about being shot from behind, and thus enabled himself to enjoy games of poker without worrying about a surprise attack. However, on August 2nd, 1876, he was shot dead from behind whilst playing. His hand, a respectable pair of eights and a pair of aces, was from then own known as a Dead Man's Hand.

Doyle Brunson's one man tournaments

If you're not aware of him already, Doyle Brunson is a truly legendary poker player, known for being one of the best in the history of the game. One of the reasons he became so talented so quickly due to his habit of playing by himself. It sounds odd, but the poker-table terror was then so good at predicting the moves of other players at his table that people were intimidated by his brash, aggressive table manner and he began to steamroll tournaments left and right.

Benny Binion, poker inventor

The man was the mind behind Dandolos and Moss' five-month poker game, and was a significant figure in gambling in his own right. His biggest achievement? Being the creator of the World Series of Poker, a tournament that is still occurring even now, and is largely regarded as the ultimate poker tournament. He has no specific games, like Brunson, to distinguish his career, but playing against someone this immersed in the world of cards must have been pretty intimidating.

There are some seriously historic games out there, but the best achievement is to actually star in them! So take some tips, arrange a six-month poker marathon (but please get some sleep on occasion) and enter into legend along with these four.