Dozing off can be good - sometimes

Author: Simon Dexter

With record number of entrants in several of the preliminary WSOP* tournaments, quite a few have developed into lengthy affairs with 2am and 3am finishes not unusual. On several occasions, more than one player has had to be prodded into action by a neighbour when it was their turn to play. There has even been reports of one guy falling off his chair when he fell asleep.

Not as though the action has been necessarily slow – there are simply incredible numbers of players to eliminate before a more sensible playing schedule can be adapted. Meanwhile, it shows the stamina modern-day players require to go deep in a live tournament.
It’s a scenario that would have been familiar to a regular all-nighter, Johnny Moss, the inaugural winner of the WSOP* back in 1971.

Actually, if we’re being absolutely accurate, we should record Moss as a winner in 1970 when he was elected champion by his poker-playing peers.

The great man died in 1995, but not before revealing that he would regularly rock back and forth on his chair throughout games to keep the blood flowing, repeating the motion thousands of times. He was also one for cat-napping between rounds, snatching a few minutes sleep wherever he could and relying on the person next to him to give him a nudge when it was his turn to play. Given what he achieved when sometimes half asleep, how good would he have been wide awake? Something for players in this year’s WSOP* to mull over when they feel their eyelids getting a little heavy.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (”Harrah’s”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Littlewoods Gaming or it’s products, services, promotions or tournaments.

Tags: Johnny Moss, Vegas, WSOP

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am and is filed under News & Promotions Blog.