We just got word that the legendary Chip Reese has passed away.Chip Reese was considered by many old school poker pros to be one of the best all around players in the history of poker. Doyle Brunson called Chip Reese “the best seven-card stud player I had ever seen.”
Reese won the inaugural $50K HORSE event at the 2006 World Series of Poker, in a marathon heads up session against Andy Bloch, proving to the entire world that he was indeed one of the best mixed game players of all time.
More after the jump….
David “Chip” Reese was born in Dayton, Ohio and played poker as a kid using baseball cards as currency. During his teens in Dayton, Reese regularly played in home games with WPT announcer, Mike Sexton.
Reese graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in economics. He was the best player on campus and crushed the competition. The card room at his fraternity house was named the David E. Reese Memorial Card Room in his honor.
Chip Reese was accepted into law school at Stanford University and was planning on a career as an attorney. As the legend goes, in 1974 on his way out to California to attend law school, Reese stopped off in Las Vegas and started playing poker. He won a tournament worth over $60,000 and decided to skip law school and play poker for a living. He was once quoted saying, “Law doesn’t have the same monetary incentive as poker.”
Reese has three WSOP bracelets and would have won more if he played more tournaments. He was too busy beating the biggest cash games in the world to waste his time with tournaments.
Reese also wrote a chapter on seven-card stud in Super System.
Stay tuned for more information…