Chip Reese, World's Greatest Poker Player, Dead at 56

Chip Reese, arguably the world's greatest poker player, died yesterday at age 56.

Drive and Dish is normally focused on basketball, but we think the story of Chip Reese should be better known. With professional poker's recent boom in popularity, it's surprising that more people aren't aware of man who was often described as the best poker player on the planet.

In the summer of 1974, Reese (who had just graduated from Dartmouth) was set to begin law school at Stanford. On his way to Palo Alto, he stopped in Las Vegas to play a few rounds of poker. He parlayed $400 into $66,000 and never made it to Palo Alto.

Although many fantasize about doing so, few people are able to make a living as professional gamblers. Chip Reese not only made a living as a professional gambler, his earnings made him a wealthy man.

More here.