On March 28, 1951, Reese was born in Centerville, Ohio, and started a successful career after contracting rheumatic fever when he was nine years old. He learned card games from his mother, who stayed at home. As soon as he was well, he won almost every baseball card in the neighbourhood.

The Early Years

Six-year-old Reese beat his fifth-grade peers at card games. A card room in his fraternity in Dartmouth was named after him since he dominated poker games. Despite being accepted to Stanford Law School, he abandoned his plans to attend after stopping in Las Vegas to turn $400 into $66,000.

He defeated professors as well as students at bridge, gin rummy, and poker at Dartmouth.

His Poker Career

In 1974, Reese went to Las Vegas with $400 in his pocket and slowly built his bankroll to $20,000 in moderate-stakes poker. When he visited the Flamingo Hotel one evening, he thought he could beat the high rollers at his favourite game, seven-card stud. He left with $66,000 and the start of a reputation. In 1978 and 1982, he won his first World Series.

Three of Reese’s World Series of Poker championships, the crown jewels of tournament poker, were won in private games against high rollers.

The World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeff Pollack called Chip ‘the greatest cash player who ever lived.

When he left to watch a Little League game for his son, he was losing $700,000. Reese was unlike many gamblers who wouldn’t leave a table while losing.

Chip became the youngest player to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1991.

Chip Reese’s death

Chip Reese passed away in December 2007 at the age of 56. His death was caused by a heart attack, which left the poker world without one of its great legends. His fans and fellow players still miss him.