There are no Heroes in Poker: Another Reason the Boom is Over

[gaboonviper]

There are no real heroic figures in poker, are there? Every sport has its list of heroes both living and dead. For example baseball has Babe Ruth, and many others. All sports have heroes who people can really look up to and admire.

But what about poker? Where are the heroes?

Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Tony G...are they heroic figures?

What about Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem? Are they heroes?

Then we have Antonio, Phil Laak and Freddy Deeb. No heroes there.

What about Daniel, Phil Ivey and Allen Cunningham? You may admire them as poker players, but heroic figures...no way.

And Stu Unger. The only person to ever win the WSOP Main Event 3 times. A hero? LOL!

Doyle, TJ, Bobby Baldwin, Johnny Moss. Great players...of course. But hardly heroes.

No need to list every top pro. Yes, some have reached minimal "celebrity status" but not a hero in the bunch.

The poker boom has in fact created no real heroes. Just a bunch of skilled (and lucky) gamblers. What parents can honestly want their kids to grow up and become pro poker players? Even Doyle has said he didn't want to teach Todd. Annie Duke has said she does not want her kids to become poker players. But most parents would love their children to become pro athletes.

If the poker boom had created a group of individuals that almost everyone could admire--Heroic Figures--then perhaps poker would have been viewed by lawmakers, and the population as a whole, as a real sport. As something mainstream and acceptable. Instead poker is still considered gambling--a game of chance--by the majority of the population. And thus we have UIGEA and the end of the poker boom.