Poker Legend Bobby Hoff Passes Away at 73

Last Sunday the poker legend Bobby Hoff passed away at the age of 73. Hoff, known as “The Wizard” was regularly seen in high-stake cash games in Las Vegas and California, his poker career dates back to the 60s and he was a regular competitor of players such as Doyle Brunson and Brian “Sailor” Roberts.

Hoff learned to play poker at the University of Texas and begun taking the game seriously in 1959.

Early on in his career Hoff won 40 times in a row collecting a total of $8,000. In 1959 this was an incredible amount and Hoff said, “I thought I was not only the best poker player in the world, but one of the richest ones. I soon discovered I was not.”

Hoff eventually went broke and started working in a Nevada casino. He then moved on to playing Blackjack for a living but was soon barred for all the casinos for card counting which prompted him to move back to poker.

The most notable success of his career was being the runner-up in the 1979 WSOP main event to Hal Fowler. His total tournament winnings were over $550,000 and he cashed 29 times in major tournaments over his career.