Old-style poker players had something different about them. Maybe it’s the sepia that some of the footage of them is now shown in; they’re viewed through a filter from which seems to seep time itself. Poker players of old have become part of the folklore that surrounds the game and that applies to no-one more than poker idol Puggy Pearson.  Puggy Pearson was a world champion, a raconteur and is now remembered as one of the few men who were there at the formation of the World Series of Poker in 1970. But who was he really? Let’s cast our eye back in time to find out.  

The Tennessee Titan  

Born in 1929 and raised in Tennessee, Walter Clyde Pearson got the nickname ‘Puggy’ after he suffered a broken nose in a childhood accident. Despite having a disfigured nose from the age of 12, Pearson would join the navy at 17 and served three terms at sea, becoming a prolific gambler and poker player during his time in the Navy.  

Pearson wouldn’t win his first WSOP bracelet until 1971, but then, he hadn’t invented the poker tournament yet. Yes, you read that correctly. After years of playing cash game poker, it was in the early 1950s that Pearson shared his idea for a ‘freezeout’ tournament with Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandalos. The idea more than took off. Dandalos then took the concept to Benny Binion and after encouragement from players such as Pearson, Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim, the World Series of Poker was founded in 1970.