WSOP 1973
It can be safely said with a measure of personal authority by myself, Peter Thorn, as well as a number of other reputable historians, than 1973 was a watershed year in American history.
In fact, a number of momentous events unfolded all around the globe almost simultaneously, giving hope to a generation just barely surviving the turbulent 1960s that perhaps this new era would at last deliver on the broken promises of the previous decade.On January 28th, the U.S. signed a cease-fire which brought an end to the involvement of American ground troops in Vietnam. This certainly was a bitter conclusions to a misguided war, but at least our boys would not continue to be sent over there in increasing numbers. Meanwhile, back in Washington, President Nixon accepted responsibility but no actual blame for the Watergate scandal. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned abruptly in a cloud of disgrace regarding charges of income tax evasion. Clearly the administration was crumbling from within. "The writing's on the outhouse wall for Tricky Dick," I remember saying to Hunter Thompson over a few whiskey in the Owl Bar.
Meanwhile, over at the Binion's Horseshoe casino on Fremont Street in Vegas, the World Series of Poker was entering its fourth year. And, you better believe it, things were just really starting to heat up. For one thing, the grand prize continued to get larger and larger with each year. In 1973, there was a whopping $130,000 at stake. You can bet that all players involved sat down at the green felt table with every intention of taking home that big pile of cash. But, obviously, only one could win. After all, Benny Binion had always envisioned this event be one in which a single victorious player could be crowned the greatest poker player alive (at least for one year.)
It is fairly safe to say that "Amarillo Slim" was highly sanguine about his ability to match Johnny Moss's achievement of winning back to back titles. But that was not to happen in 1973. Just as in the previous year, there would be a new champion. His name was Puggy Pearson and that 130-large was all for him. Johnny Moss continued to make a strong showing by finishing as the runner up, as he did in 1972. As for Slim, he would simply have to new plaster a fake smile onto his face and wait for another chance to emerge as the victor.
by Arthur Crowson
