Two Types of Poker Celebrities. And Poker's Unsung Heroes.
These days, there are two distinct types of "poker celebrities."
The first is:
Poker players whose tournament winnings (or public antics in the recent media spotlight on poker) have created "celebrity" status for them.
When Chris Ferguson won the 2000 World Series of Poker and brought home $1.5 Million, poker was just gaining a foothold on the media, with ESPN devoting a seasons worth of episodes to the WSOP that year. Then in 2003, from out of the blue a young man named Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP title, taking home $2.5 million, but mostly shattering the old paradigm of who a poker player was, and how much fun the game could be for just about anyone.
Since then, the media spotlight on poker has created celebrities from amongst its ranks.
This group includes such notables as Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Kathy Liebert, Daniel Negreanu, Jamie Gold, Jennifer Harman, Allen Cunningham, and Phil Ivey, to name just a very few.
The second group is:
Media celebrities who happen to play poker.
Once poker became "acceptable" by virtue of the attention it received from the media (now one could even argue that it's "cool"), celebrities came out of the woodwork. Some were "closet" poker players, having played since they were kids with their parents as family entertainment. Some just wanted to jump on the bandwagon of something that looked like it would be a fun way to spend their time and their hard-earned money.
This group includes such notables as Vince Van Patten (Co-Host for the televised World Poker Tour), Ben Affleck, Don Cheadle, James Woods, Matthew Perry, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Alexande and Jennifer Tilly, to name just a very few.
But there is another group of "poker heroes."
These are the players who have been playing the game not just for years, but for decades. They've sought to make poker more acceptable in the public eye, and have devoted themselves to making the the poker community a community that someone would want to be a part of - even be proud to be a part of.
Some of them, including most notably Mike "Poker's Ambassador" Sexton and Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, have gained public notoriety.
Most, however, are generally not thought of as celebrities, since their names and faces seldom appear on TV, and their names seldom grace the public media. They remain relatively unknown to the general public, although many, if not most, are well-known within the poker community.
They are the long-term ambassadors for the game, who have given of themselves in ways other than just sitting at the table. Some have made contributions to gaming laws. Others have introduced new games or new rules that made specific games better. Many have given charitably, extensively. They are poker's unsung heroes, and as such are worthy of mention.
This group includes such notables as Mike Caro, Linda Johnson, Phyllis Caro, Robert "Chipburner" Turner, Susie Isaacs, Lou Krieger, Marsha Waggoner, Kenna James, Barbara Enright and many, many more.
If you're reading this, and you belong to any of these three groups but your name is not included, you can be assured that there was no specific intent to your omission. This is written mostly to help others understand the distinctions between the two types of "celebrities" and the third group - the unsung heroes who will likely not achieve celebrity status, but have laid the foundation upon which those celebrities have built their public platform.
Meet Five "Poker Heroes"
You can meet five of the group of "poker heroes" by visiting www.FourQueensOfPoker.com. 2008 inaugural "Women in Poker Hall of Fame" Inductees Linda Johnson, Marsha Waggoner, Barbara Enright and Susie Isaacs are featured in an interview presented by Phyllis Caro and the International Poker Institute and featuring interviewer Jay Aaron.
The live teleconference / audio Webcast takes place on April 1st, 2008, and you can listen to the recording of this historic call any time afterward via downloadable MP3 audio file.
All contents of this article International Copyright 2008 Jay Aaron. All International Rights Reserved. Please contact: info [at] InsidePokerCentral [dot] com for reprint permission.
