{"id":2182,"date":"2019-07-15T09:35:32","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T09:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/?p=2182"},"modified":"2024-02-29T12:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:00:10","slug":"poker-legend-sailor-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"Poker Legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The poker world knows many legends, and some of them bear\ninteresting nicknames like \u2018Texas Dolly\u2019 or \u2018Amarillo.\u2019 Poker legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts<\/a>\ntraveled with both \u2018Texas Dolly\u2019 Brunson and \u2018Amarillo\u2019 Slim Preston as part of\nthe original Texas Road Gamblers, the legendary Texas trio who took the poker\nworld by storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early Years<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\""Sailor"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Born in San Angelo, Texas on March 7, 1931, Brian Roberts grew\nup in a small dusty town in Texas. The Great Depression was just ending when, at\nthe young age of 12, Brian got a job as a golf caddy to help the family makes\nends meet. While working on the golf courses, the caddies would often pass the\ntime shooting craps. The seeds of his future career as a professional gambler\nwere sown, and it was only a matter of time before he would embark on his\nlegendary poker run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roberts was also a high school football star, but decided to\njoin the Navy rather than attend college. It was the 1950s, and the Korean War\nwas in full effect. But long periods spent idle at sea saw the young sailors\npassing their time shooting craps or playing cards. Roberts became good at\ngambling, and by the time he left the Navy, he had acquired some serious\ngambling skills, a decent wad of cash, and the nickname \u2018Sailor.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Road<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Sailor<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When Sailor returned to his dusty Texas hometown after his\nstint in the Navy, it just wasn\u2019t the same. After his success at gambling and\nhis world travel experiences, his home town became a paltry pit stop at best.\nBeating underpaid golf caddies out of their low paychecks wasn\u2019t enough action\nfor Sailor, so he hit to road in search of bigger fish to fry. Craps wasn\u2019t a\nstable source of gambling income, so he starting seeking out games of poker\nalong the dusty trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailor traveled solo for a few years, hitting up small towns\nfor low-stakes poker games here and there. As his skill increased, so did his\nbankroll. He occasionally found action in some high-stakes poker games. Sailor\nkept running into some of the same players regularly on the lonely gambling\ntrail, most notably \u2018Texas Dolly\u2019 Doyle Brunson<\/a> and Thomas\n\u2018Amarillo Slim<\/a>\u2019\nPreston. Once when playing against each other, Slim busted both of his new\nfriends, relieving them of all their cash. But in a gentleman\u2019s gesture, Slim\ngave Doyle and Sailor some cash back to get them to their next game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Texas Road Gamblers<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Texas<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

During the dirty days of playing back-room poker games, highway robbery was commonplace. Sometimes a lucky gambler left a card room with his winnings, only to be beaten and robbed by thugs lying in wait. It paid to partner up, so Sailor Roberts, Doyle Brunson, and Amarillo Slim<\/a> began traveling together to poker games. As they were often on the road for months at a time, this partnership also meant sharing road expenses like gas and hotel rooms. They also pooled their bankroll, sharing their wins\u2014and losses\u2014among themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partners traveled the southern poker circuit for years. During\na six-year run of gambling together, the group also began supplementing their\nincome by taking side betting action on sports. They also heard about\nhigh-stakes poker games in the granddaddy of all gambling towns, Las Vegas. The\ntrio happily hit the trail to Vegas wearing their finest poker faces. Although things\ndid not go quite as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Run of Bad Luck<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When the brash young Texans hit Vegas in the late 50s, they\nwere feeling confident. Together, they had taken Texas and most of the South by\nstorm, and their legend was growing. However, Lady Luck was not on their side\nin Vegas, and after just a few days, the group had lost all of their money.\nWith this catastrophic loss came the end of their partnership. They decided to\nremain friends, but to go their separate ways in the gambling world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 60s, Doyle Brunson was diagnosed with a\ngolf-ball-sized lump in his throat, and was immediately hospitalized. Sailor\nRoberts dropped what he was doing and went to his friend\u2019s side, and stayed\nthere for two weeks. Brunson recovered, and the two friends went back to their\ngambling, until a change in gambling law spelled tragedy for Roberts. The\nFederal Wire Act of 1961 made it illegal to use the phone for anything relating\nto gambling. This law put a damper on such activities as bookmaking and sports\nbetting across state lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doyle and Amarillo Slim dropped sports betting like a hot\npotato, and continued playing poker instead. However, Sailor kept trying his\nluck in sports betting, and found himself in jail for bookmaking. After a year\nin a minimum-security prison, he was released, and decided to never bet on\nsports again\u2014unless it was legal, as it was in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Series of Poker<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"WSOP\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In the early days of the poker scene, it was very hard to\nfind a good place for high stakes poker. Long before the megaresort casinos of\nthe Las Vegas Strip were even an architect\u2019s dream, poker games began springing\nup in smaller downtown Vegas casinos with oily sawdust on the floor. These\ntypes of places did not attract too many high rollers, but for the Texas Road\nGamblers, it was downright homey. As the Vegas poker scene grew, so did the\nfame of the game. A small gambling den called Binion\u2019s Horseshoe saw most of\nthe poker action at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benny Binion created the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in\n1970 to highlight the best and the brightest poker players at the time\u2014and to\nrake in some big bucks at the same time. Though Vegas had once whipped the\nTexas Road Gamblers like red-headed stepchildren, the trio had since become\nregular winners on the Vegas circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first WSOP contest consisted of the seven best poker\nplayers at the time, each invited by Benny Binion. Those players were Johnny Moss,\nPuggy Pearson, Crandell Addington, Carl Cannon, and the Texas Road Gamblers:\nAmarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson, and Sailor Roberts. Johnny Moss was voted the\nbest poker player and took home a silver cup. In later WSOP events, higher cash\nprizes were awarded, along with the coveted WSOP golden bracelet, which was\npresented to the best all-around poker player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailor Roberts won his first WSOP bracelet at the 1974 WSOP\nin the $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event. He won his second and final WSOP\nbracelet in 1975. In addition, he raked in $210,000 in cash. His old Texan poker\npals were there at the tournament playing against him, but they smiled when Sailor\ntook the top prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poker Hall of Fame<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"Sailor<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

An even higher award awaits the very best poker players in\nthe world, the Poker\nHall of Fame<\/a>, created in 1979 by Benny Binion to honor the very best in the\ngame. To be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, a player must be at least 40,\nplayed high stakes against top competition, and must have earned the respect of\ntheir peers. Doyle Brunson was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1988,\nafter winning a whopping 10 WSOP bracelets. Amarillo Slim Preston was inducted\nin 1992, but their poker pal Sailor Roberts died before being inducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sailor Roberts won and lost vast amounts of money over his\nstoried career. His friends reported that he was rich many times, then was\nbroke by the end of the year. But Sailor loved the game and the camaraderie\nmore than just the bucks. He played hard and fast most of his life, and\neventually he died from cirrhosis at age 61 on June 23, 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the written request of several of his peers, most notably\nDoyle Brunson, Sailor Roberts was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of\nFame in 2012. His best friend Doyle\u2019s modest words summed up the legendary life\nof poker legend Brian \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts:\n\n\u201cI always considered Sailor to be as good, maybe\nbetter, than myself.  In fact, because he\nwas a few years older than me, I considered him as my mentor as well as my best\nfriend.\u201d \u2013 Doyle Brunson\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The poker world knows many legends, and some of them bear interesting nicknames like \u2018Texas Dolly\u2019 or \u2018Amarillo.\u2019 Poker legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts traveled with both \u2018Texas Dolly\u2019 Brunson and \u2018Amarillo\u2019 Slim Preston as part of the original Texas Road Gamblers, the legendary Texas trio who took the poker world by storm. Early Years Born in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"yoast_head":"\nPoker Legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts - Planet 7 Casino<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sailor Roberts was a member of the Texas Road Gamblers, which included poker legends Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim Preston.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poker Legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sailor Roberts was a member of the Texas Road Gamblers, which included poker legends Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim Preston.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planet 7 Casino\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-15T09:35:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-02-29T12:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Poker_Legend_Sailor_Roberts_Image_1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Janae Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@planet7_casino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@planet7_casino\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Janae Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/\",\"name\":\"Poker Legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts - Planet 7 Casino\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-15T09:35:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-02-29T12:00:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58329f51f4896ce7f501f2cb3ca075d0\"},\"description\":\"Sailor Roberts was a member of the Texas Road Gamblers, which included poker legends Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim Preston.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/fun-time\/poker-legend-sailor-roberts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poker Legend \u2018Sailor\u2019 Roberts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/\",\"name\":\"Planet 7 Casino\",\"description\":\"Planet 7 Casino\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58329f51f4896ce7f501f2cb3ca075d0\",\"name\":\"Janae Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.planet7casino.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3672a02f102614746e6fdc42c6aac62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e3672a02f102614746e6fdc42c6aac62?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Janae Johnson\"},\"description\":\"Janae Johnson is a staff writer who loves old movies, meeting new people, exploring the great outdoors, and learning with her hands. 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