Harold Arthur "Hal" Fowler (January 12, 1927 – November 7, 2000) was an American

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player known for winning the 1979 World Series of Poker Main Event. He is considered the first amateur poker player to become poker's World Champion. Fowler was born in

Rutland (city), Vermont Rutland is the only city in and the county seat, seat of Rutland County, Vermont, Rutland County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 15,807. It is located approximately ...

and later lived for many years in

Tulare, California Tulare ( ) is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 68,875 per the 2020 census. It is located in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, south of Visalia and north of Bakersfield. The city is named after the Tul ...

. Before his WSOP victory, he worked as an advertising executive.

Poker

Although he was a relative unknown amateur player, Fowler won the

1979 World Series of Poker The 1979 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from May 11 to May 22, 1979. Events There were 11 preliminary events at the 1979 World Series of Poker. The 1979 WSOP fea ...

Main Event. At one point in the tournament, he was down to around 2,000 in chips (out of over 500,000 total tournament chips) at a final table that included

Johnny Moss Johnny Moss (May 14, 1907 – December 16, 1995) was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of ...

Bobby Baldwin Bobby Baldwin (born c. 1950)MGM Mirage's 2006 proxy statement, filed on April 30, 2006, recorded Baldwin's age as 55 is a professional poker player and casino executive. As a poker player, Baldwin is best known as the winner of the 1978 World S ...

Bobby Hoff Bobby ''"The Wizard"'' Hoff (December 14, 1939 – August 25, 2013) was an American professional poker player, based in Long Beach, California. According to Hoff, his nickname "The Wizard" refers to his ability to make mountains of chips di ...

, and other professional players. Additionally, it is believed that Fowler could not cover the entrance fee and

Benny Binion Lester Ben Binion (November 20, 1904 – December 25, 1989), better known as Benny Binion, was an American casino operator who established illegal gambling operations in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. In 1931, Binion was convicted of shooting an ...

had to loan it to him. Fowler's 1979 win is sometimes called the greatest upset in the history of the WSOP. Fowler defeated professional

heads up to win the championship when his made a gut-shot straight and defeated Hoff's on a board reading . Fowler later faded from the poker scene because of complications from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

that hurt his

eyesight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual perception can be enabled by ph ...

and his

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element cap ...

s. Fowler's career tournament earnings exceeded $380,000. He died at the age of 73 of hemorrhagic shock due to upper gastro-intestinal bleeding, after having been driven to the hospital by a friend on November 7, 2000. He had been living in a seniors housing complex and was experiencing symptoms of a duodenal ulcer and cirrhosis.

World Series of Poker bracelet

References

External links

Card Player profileHendon Mob profileWSOP profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Hal 1927 births 2000 deaths American poker players World Series of Poker Main Event winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners People from Rutland (city), Vermont People from Tulare, California Diabetes-related deaths