World Champions in the Field: Tom McEvoy (1983)
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When McEvoy won the WSOP Championship in 1983, he beat out Poker Hall of Famers Doyle Brunson and Crandall Addington. He won $540,000. At that time, it was the highest payout for any poker tournament. McEvoy won his seat into the 1983 main event from the first-ever satellite held at Binion's Horseshoe.
McEvoy has four WSOP bracelets in his collection. He won bracelets in NL Hold'em, Limit Omaha, Limit and Hold'em Razz. He has made 17 final tables at the WSOP. McEvoy also won an event on the PPT.
Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, McEvoy's grandmother taught him how to play penny ante poker. According to McEvoy's Team PokerStars bio, he "took quite a beating in those days."
McEvoy got into trouble a lot after he'd shark all the kids in school and take all of their money. The kids would run home to their parents and complain. They'd call up McEvoy's mother hoping to get their children's money back. That never happened.
"If little Johnny is dumb enough to lose his money," his mother said in defense of the future WSOP Champion, "There is nothing I can do about it."
McEvoy switched to playing poker full time after he was laid off from his accounting job int he late 1970s. When he realized that he was making more money than his accounting gig, he eventually moved to Las Vegas.
Over the last twenty years, McEvoy has been the author of over a dozen books. He has also co-authored many books with TJ Cloutier.
If you are a non-smoker, thank Tom McEvoy for smoke-free poker rooms in Las Vegas. He helped organize the first non-smoking tournament in 1988. In 2002, he bribed Becky Binion Behnen to make the WSOP a smoke-free tournament. She agreed to prohibit smoking, only if he would give her poker lessons.