Bobby Hoff

Bobby Hoff, nicknamed The Wizard, was an American professional poker player based in Long Beach, California, born in Victoria, Texas, on 14 December 1939 and died on 25 August 2013. By his own account the nickname refers to his ability to make mountains of chips disappear. In 1958 he studied at the University of Texas on an athletics scholarship, where he played golf from a scratch handicap. He learned poker in Las Vegas, later played on a blackjack team for five years, and was eventually banned from most Las Vegas blackjack tables. In the 1979 World Series of Poker 10,000 dollar no limit hold'em main event he reached the heads-up stage against the amateur Hal Fowler in a match of more than ten hours, and lost. He finished in the money of that main event in 1990, 1993 and 1998.