Nick Dandolos, known throughout his life as Nick the Greek, was born in Greece in 1883 and emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen, where he became one of the most celebrated high stakes gamblers of the twentieth century. He was reputed to have won and lost more than 500 million dollars over his lifetime across poker, horse racing and other games of chance, moving between fortune and near ruin many times. His most famous exploit was a five month heads up poker marathon against Johnny Moss in Las Vegas in 1949, which Dandolos reportedly ended by telling Moss, Mr Moss, I have to let you go, after losing an estimated two to four million dollars. In 1979 he became a charter inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame, and he died in 1966 still playing modest stakes games in Gardena, California.
Facts
Career HighlightPlayed a five month heads up poker match against Johnny Moss in Las Vegas from January to May 1949 1 Classification
Competition Category FAQs
Did Nick the Greek's match against Johnny Moss lead to the World Series of Poker?
Popular accounts call the 1949 match the catalyst for the World Series of Poker, though its details are debated.
Popular accounts say it did. His marathon heads-up match against Johnny Moss in 1949 was organized by Benny Binion, and Moss reportedly won more than 2 million dollars. Debates continue about the exact details and the actual duration of the game, which is allegedly five months, but the duel is described as the catalyst for the creation of the World Series of Poker.
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Nationality
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Source Wikipedia: Nick DandolosLead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos (Greek: Νικόλαος Ανδρέας Δάνδολος [niˈkolaos anˈðɾeas ˈðanðolos]; April 27, 1883 – December 25, 1966), commonly known as Nick the Greek, was a Greek professional gambler and high roller.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Nick Dandolos
Introduction
Nikolaos Andreas Dandolos (Greek: Νικόλαος Ανδρέας Δάνδολος [niˈkolaos anˈðɾeas ˈðanðolos]; April 27, 1883 - December 25, 1966), commonly known as Nick the Greek, was a Greek professional gambler and high roller.
Poker and gambling section
From January 1949 to May 1949, Dandolos played a two-person "heads up" poker match against poker legend Johnny Moss where the two played virtually every variation of the game that existed at the time.
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