RE: Chris Ferguson among ?-marks2009 Binion Cup Line-up
KevMath (the Snopes.com of Poker?) challenged my facts on the easy-to-prove number of eligible players for the WSOP Main Event Champions Invitational. I say there are 27, he says there are 25. So, going through the list … here’s who may or may not be playing:
There have been 39 main event bracelets.
Seven winners are deceased:
Johnny Moss ’70 ’71 ’74
Puggy Pearson ’73
Stu Ungar ’80 ’81 ’97
Hal Fowler ’79
Jack Strauss ’82
Jack Keller ‘84
Bill Smith ’85
That leaves 28 bracelets still in play … hmm … and two are repeat winners … so 26?
Those eligible:
(unconfirmed attendance in italics)
1.   Amarillo Slim ’72
2.   Sailor Roberts ’75 — also deceased
3.   Doyle Brunson ’76 ’77
4.   Bobby Baldwin ’78 – can’t make it
5.   Tom McEvoy ’83
6.   Berry Johnston ‘86
7.   Johnny Chan ’87 ’88
8.   Phil Hellmuth ’89
9.   Mansour Matloubi ’90
10.   Brad Daugherty ’91
11.   Hamid Dastmalchi ’92
12.   Jim Bechtel ‘93
13.   Russ Hamilton ’94 – snubbed
14.   Dan Harrington ’95
15.   Huck Seed ’96
16.   Scotty Nguyen ’98
17.   Noel Furlong ’99
18.   Chris Ferguson ’00
19.   Carlos Mortenson ’01
20.   Robert Varkonyi ’02
21.   Chris Moneymaker ’03
22.   Greg Raymer ’04
23.   Joe Hachem ’05
24.   Jamie Gold ’06
25.   Jerry Yang ’07
26.   Peter Eastgate ’08
OK, crap, math … KevMath … 25 it is.
So how do you call it? I guess we kinda split the difference? I’m considering both Hamilton and Baldwin as eligible, albeit expected no-shows.
CORRECTION: Sailor Roberts also deceased … OK, crap, Mathers wins.
Kevin Mathers says:
May 18th, 2009 at 6:20pm
Sailor Roberts is deceased as well, a fact not noted in the WSOP Media Guide.
DanM says:
May 18th, 2009 at 6:28pm
Ah! I wondered about him … but on first glance of his wikipedia page, i didn’t see a date of death:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Roberts
I am glad we didn’t wager.
Kevin Mathers says:
May 18th, 2009 at 6:29pm
Yeah, I can’t find one either to be honest. I’d assume it was sometime in the 90’s.
Johnny Hughes says:
May 19th, 2009 at 4:12am
I have played poker with four of the deceased main event champs. Three of their deaths were hurried up some by drugs or alcohol.