Poker News

Byron Liggett

This 4th of July be proud you’re an American Poker Player. After all, we invented the game. Poker is more American than baseball or apple pie. Poker developed with the new nation and is a part of our heritage and culture. As such, it reflects much of the American character and personality.

The Colonies were a hostile land in which courage and selfreliance determined success…and often survival. Only the most rugged, independent, capable risk-takers were attracted to the New World. American Independence wasn’t a gift. It was won. The Founding Fathers were courageous competitors who staked their lives in a No-Limit contest with Britain, the world’s strongest player. The winners then created a nation based on the principles of individual freedom and self-reliance. The new nation was declared a Democracy! In the USA, anyone can have a seat at the table, regardless of race, sex, or religion. Everyone is equal …as long as they have a buy-in.

Free enterprise capitalism would “power” the new Republic. It was a natural, ideal system for a nation of gamblers. Every player risks an investment to make a profit through wisdom and luck. Whether you’re talking about Adam Smith, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, or Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Chris Moneymaker - they’re all champions of the same game.

When sculptor Gutzon Borglum was chosen to design “a monument to America” on the granite face of Mt. Rushmore, he decided upon a colossal work featuring four gamblers.

George Washington, “The Father of Our Country” was a courageous,bold, disciplined risk-taker. Like many “Gentlemen” of the period, he was fond of horse racing and occasionally bet on cockfights. One of Washington’s favorite pastimes was playing cards. A careful competitor, he meticulously noted every penny won or lost.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States, was an avid gambler. Late in life, he wrote to his grandson who was entering college, admitting that as a young man he was often among “the society of horseracers, cardplayers, foxhunters, and professional men [gamblers].” President Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory doubled the size of the country. Thirteen states would eventually be carved from it. Moreover, with the purchase, gambling would forever become an intimate part of America’s history and culture. Rivers became principal avenues of transportation and commerce throughout the vast new frontier, igniting the Golden Age of Riverboats, and riverboat gamblers. The Westward Movement was led by gold miners, gamblers and gunslingers.

Abraham Lincoln was a product of the early frontier. In his youth, Abe earned a few cents and the respect of others as a referee for cockfights. As a young man during his riverboat days, Lincoln was a penny-ante poker player. Abe eventually pursued a career in politics to become our 16th President. Although it took a Civil War, he ended slavery and kept the nation whole. Many consider him our greatest leader.

Theodore Roosevelt was the fourth and final profile on Mt. Rushmore. Sculptor Borglum included the nation’s 26th President because he thought TR epitomized the energy, confidence, and charisma of the American spirit. Teddy admired the rugged men who built the West. As a young man roaming the West, these were the men from whom he learned to ride, hunt, drink, and play poker. He once said, “The gambling cowboy is an excellent figure.” It’s more than coincidence that all four Presidents honored on Mt. Rushmore were gamblers. Historians consider the extent to which a President changed the course of history to be the measure of their greatness. If so, then greatness goes to the gamblers.

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