World Poker Tour (WPT)

There are many ways to honor a successful person. The by far most prestigious one practiced today is the Nobel prize, an award usually bestowed on highly accomplished individuals in a variety of fields, including physics, physiology, literature as well as peace. The Nobel prize is intended to celebrate the unusual and honor the imaginative. Among Nobel prize laureates of the 20th century are such prominent people as Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian writer who authored the amazing 'Cairo Trilogy,' Maria Sklodowska Curie, the woman who discovered radioactivity, and Itzhak Rabin, a former Israeli Prime Minister who promoted peace between Jews and Arabs.

The world of professional poker has recently come up with a way to honor successful people as well. Only this time, we are talking about people who are especially successful in poker. Organizers of the World Poker Tour are the ones to be credited for such a great idea. Simply put, they created the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame. This brand new Walk of Fame is designed to honor poker players who have played the game exceptionally well along with those who have promoted the spread of poker through film, television, and literature.

In the beginning of 2004, the World Poker Tour's Walk of Fame inducted its very first members at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The ceremony was attended by top poker professionals and celebrities who traveled to Las Vegas in order to participate in the World Poker Tour Invitational Poker Tournament. The Commerce Casino, a prestigious gaming facility and full-service hotel complex, is the gaming world's largest card room, with over 200 poker tables offering all poker variations at all limits. The honored inductees were top poker pros Doyle Brunson, Gus Hansen and James Garner.

All the three inductees are indeed incredible personalities with an outstanding poker history. Doyle Brunson, nicknamed 'Texas Dolly,' is considered a legend among poker pros. Over his years-long poker career, Doyle Brunson has had as many as 29 money finishes and collected ten World Series of Poker bracelets. Brunson is considered to be among the founding fathers of professional poker in the United States. Today, Brunson endorses an online card room named after him and can frequently be spotted playing there. As off 2007, Brunson's total live tournament winnings stand at approximately $5,100,000.

Gus 'The Great Dane' Hansen first started playing poker at the Ocean View Card Room in Santa Cruz, California. He is widely popular for his highly loose, aggressive style of play at the tables. He boasts the reputation of a tremendous bluffer who tends to raise with virtually any two cards. Hansen is the only player to win three WPT open tournaments. The poker pro conquered the first WPT Bad Boys of Poker invitational event back at 2003. As off 2007, Hansen's total live tournament winnings stand at over $5,000,000.

79-year-old Hollywood actor James Garner is not a poker player. However, he had certainly portrayed one in the popular 1950's western-comedy series, 'Maverick.' Back then, Garner was widely known as Bret Maverick, the seasoned poker pro who used his wits to get him out of trouble, whether with the law or outlaws. Through his portrayal of Maverick, Garner certainly helped spread the game all over the U.S.

The Poker Walk of Fame is embedded in the entrance to Commerce Casino. At the induction ceremony, Brunson, Hansen and Garner placed their hands in concrete that surrounds a large depiction of a poker chip. Additionally, a unique depiction of each player's most celebrated poker hand is featured.

Surprisingly, since 2004, the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame has seen no new inductees.