Poker Stories 3

Johnny Moss vs Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandolos – the match that may never have been

This infamous heads up took place between Johnny Moss and Nick The Greek in 1951.  It is

Johnny Moss

one of the most arresting and entertaining stories ever to emerge from the world of poker and when the match ended, one player was down by between $2 and $4 million.  There’s just one problem, there’s never been any really hard evidence that the story is true.  No pictures were taken nor was there any video footage (it was 1951 after all) and all we have to go on is several accounts from people who claimed to have been there and who are now all dead.

Nick 'The Greek' Dandalos

The story goes that Benny Binion, of Binion’s Horseshoe fame, persuaded the two players to participate in a high stakes game of Five Card Stud that ended up lasting five months.  Moss was quite possibly the best contemporary poker player at the time but Nick the Greek was famous for wagering huge amounts on games.  Binion set up the game as something of a tourist attraction and marketing opportunity and for five months it was the clearly the biggest game in town.

As far as the game goes, Moss won an enormous amount from Dandalos and his famous final words in the game were “Mr Moss, I have to let you go”.

The sums won and lost were enormous.  $4 million would be a lot now but in 1951 the figures were astronomical, one of the reasons why many are sceptical.

Why else are we suspicious?  Johnny Moss told the story in 1971 – 22 years after it happened.  How did he keep it secret for that long?  Benny Binion, owner of Binion’s Horseshoe where the game is said to have been played, set the game up but the casino it’s did not open until 1952.  Binion himself was facing extradition to Texas and additionally had lost his casino operators license in 1948.  He regained it in 1950.

So it’s a great story and you can make your own mind up whether it’s true or not.