"Puggy" Pearson, 1929-2006

In an age when poker has gone mainstream and upscale, we note the passing on Wednesday of Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson, at the age of 77. Pearson was a colorful and controversial character, and he was one of the biggest names in the game in the days when the World Series of Poker [WSOP] was just getting underway.

However one felt about Pearson the person --- and there are two sides to that story, by most accounts --- the game owes one large debt of gratitude to Pearson's memory. After all, it was he who came up with the "freezeout" concept that remains the foundation of modern high-stakes tourneys, a concept which was reportedly shared with Nick "The Greek" Dandalos, then passed on to Benny Binion, the WSOP's founder.

Pearson, well known to some as a supporting character in Al Alvarez's seminal tale of high-stakes poker, The Biggest Game in Town, was the WSOP Main Event winner in 1973, won two other WSOP bracelets, and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1987. One of the most famous "Puggy" tales concerned his ability to gamble fearlessly at golf, where he always played his toughest as the stakes grew higher, regardless of the competition. "I shoot whatever it takes to get the money," was the famed Puggy quote on the matter. There's absolutely no doubt that Puggy had plenty of gamble in him.

As to the other side of Pearson's character, this blogger can't offer any direct commentary. We merely note a couple of other enlightening passages, such as this one from Pearson's Wikipedia entry: "Pearson once threw cards at a dealer, who responded by hitting him on the head with her high heels while another dealer held him down."

That's funny (and obviously not the whole story). If it were the only such tale, it'd be easy to chalk it up as one of those odd "celebrity"-type incidents, knowing that famous people are sometimes held to higher behavioral standards, in public, than many others; odd transgressions are invariably set in stone. But then there's a rather cryptic post from Felicia Lee, on Puggy's passing, which includes this: "I'm glad I didn't have to suffer his abuse, and I apologize for him to all of the dealers who did."

Whatever was going on there with Puggy, whether a tendency toward dealer abuse or just some plain ol' ordinary mysogynism --- the "anti-girl" thing --- it no longer matters much. We'll just call Puggy "old school" and let it go at that. He was and still is, despite his passing, someone to be remembered.

For those interested in learning more about Puggy Pearson, Card Player ran a brief obituary and has announced plans to run a longer piece in the next day or two.