The Last Musketeer

Will Rogers, the beloved American cowboy humorist and trick roper, is famous for many sayings. One of my favorite is, 'I never knew a man I didn't like'

Notice he didn't say 'met.' He said 'knew' There is a big difference between the two words

Take the game of poker. This card game which is popular around the world has created many colorful characters over the years. Or maybe the truth is that they created themselves because of circumstances and the luck of the draw.

Having been a participant in this game as well as a bit of a historian for more than 40 years -- I sold my first short story, 'Weeping Willie,' about a one-armed poker player who got the edge on other players by making them feel sorry for him -- I think I am qualified to make a few observations about the legends of poker.

For starters, here are my nominations for the four musketeers of poker:

DOYLE 'TEXAS DOLLY' BRUNSON.

THOMAS 'AMARILLO SLIM PRESTON

JOHNNY MOSS.

WALTER 'PUGGY' PEARSON.

Over the years as a journalist, magazine writer and poker player, I have collided with these fellows in card rooms and casinos in many places. While it's been mostly friendly, there have been a few tense moments as well as I shall share with you.

Let's start with the following for instance; which of poker's four musketeers would I enjoy having a cup of coffee with and who would I trust most as a business partner.

The answer isn't even close. Puggy Pearson is the winner by a mile

Unlike the other three musketeers, Puggy had a streak of generosity a mile wide. I think he kept a pocket in the jacket he wore filled with $100 bills to hand out to any broke poker player or down-and-outer who came to him for a loan. I can attest to the fact that he showed his generous spirit by helping me out one time when I was living in Lake Elsinore and Puggy was headed down toward Pechanga. And it's a known fact that Puggy was the only person who visited Stu Ungar in a Las Vegas hospital when Stuey was near death from a drug ovverdose.

According to a nurse I spoke to, Puggy put away his trademark cigar long enough to drop $1,000 on Ungar's bed while Stu was comatose. He said something like, 'Hey, Buddy, here's that grand I owe you. Get well. I'll see you at the World Series of Poker,' or something like that

Hell, he didn't owe Ungar a dime Stu Ungar never lent anybody anythin He was too busy buying that white powder that fools and people with a death wish shove up their nose.

Amarillo Slim Preston did a lot for poker. No question about that At a time when the public thought of poker players as sleazy characters you would not want to bring home and introduce to your daughter or evven your next door neighbor, Slim came across as a Texas cowboy with a drawl, a quip, a wink and a bankroll, ready to lay down his money any time you had a card game going on in the back room.

I never heard any tales of Slim being generous to anyone There was also that matter of charges of sexual molestation of a young female relative that he faced in a criminal court of law. Slim beat the charges, but the ultimate truth of did he or didn't he will probably only be known to Thomas Preston and his God.

Johnny Moss? Well, Johnny's claim to fame was that he killed two men in shootouts in Texas and was a lifelong friend of Benny Binion, who is credited with creating Binion's Horseshoe and the World Series of Poker.

Moss had narrow slits for eyes and reminded me of a serpent. He was not a man for small talk and never granted me the interview he promised me for years. Not that I expected it. Johnny was a man born to gamble or to run a gambling game. He had no time for people unless they were the principals in whatever enterprise he was cooking up.

That leaves Texas Dolly Brunson.

For many years, I admired Doyle. As a young journalist, I met him in Las Vegas where he granted me an interview and over the years I have written dozens of stories about him for newspapers and magazines.

Doyle was never generous with his cash. He wrote several books and my sources inform me that the main author of those books was his friend Mike Caro, who contributed some of the writing in his best-seller, 'Super-System,' which sold at one time for $100 per copy.

For the past month or so, I had been trying to locate Doyle. He is at the age when that Golden Handshake all gamblers must eventually face could really come at any moment. I tried to find him at the Bellagio in Las Vegas where a special poker table bears the nickname 'Doyle's Room.' He wasn't there and except for a friendly young valet attendant, I was treated rudely by the over-protective staff who told me 'Doyle isn't here.' They also refused to carry the information to Brunson that I was looking for him to do an interview.

A friend in Las Vegas was kind enough to give me the last known email she had for Brunson. I wrote a letter to him stating that a magazine editor wanted me to do an interview about how he was doing in his 80s.

The other day an email arrived. It was from the same poker player I had met so many years before. The email was only two sentences long. He thanked me for being interested in doing an interview. He also stated that his minimum fee these days for doing an interview was 50k.

The request was kind of shocking. Real journalists don't pay for interviews. Even if I had the money, which I don't, I don't feel that even the last remaining member of poker's four musketeers is worth that kind of money.

I was wrong. Somebody like Doyle Brunson comes along once in a lifetime. Like the old saying goes, when the Lord created Texas Dolly, He threw away the mold.

After I responded to Doyle's too brief email, he wrote back in a kinder, more apologetic tone, which he certainly did not have to do. He said too many writers who had contacted him in the past for an interview didn't take the interview anywhere. He also pointed out he is 82 and spends most of his time seeking out the highest cash games he can find. And why shouldn't me? That is who he is.

I feel honored that I met Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Puggy Pearson and even Johnny Moss when they were in their prime. In their own way, each was the best at what he did. Even though only one remains, in my book they will always be remembered as Poker's Four Musketeers. Let the games begin.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter. If you have a unique gambling story to share with him, you may qualify for a cash award. Send your story with all the details to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).