Poker Heroes – Brian “Sailor” Roberts
Brian “Sailor” Roberts was born on 7th March 1931, and the poker God struck him down with sclerosis on June 23 1995. “Sailor” was one of the original rounders and was one of pokers good guys. He earned his nickname by serving in the US Navy during the Korean War.
During the 50’s when Sailor was a rounder, he played everywhere he could find a game. These games however were rifled with cheats and hijackers. Sailor took solace with Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson, and the trio travelled together and even played from the same bankroll. Even though they found life was more protected as a trio, they still managed to get held up four times together. It was lucky for them that they never took their full bankroll anywhere and always had a stash to build up another roll from when this happened. In Brunson’s Super System book he stated,
Sailor, Slim and I stuck together for six years or so and we had some mighty fine times. Once in a while we were down, but mostly we managed to hold our own better than most. Our partnership finally broke up after our first big trip to Las Vegas. We lost our entire bankroll (close to six figures) and, believe me. there’s nothing more cantankerous than three broke gamblers, but we have remained close friends to this day.
Sailor got himself locked up for running an illegal book, the 3 of them used to run it together, but Brunson and Slim dropped out after the Federal Wire Act was passed in `61. After Sailor was released he found that his true friend Doyle had developed a lump in his throat and had emergency surgery on it. When Doyle came out of hospital it was Doyles wife and Sailor that cared for him until Doyle fully recovered. When poker became legal in the states in the 60’s and 70’s the 3 of them hit the big games in Vegas and collectively owned the WSOP for a few years ……..all was good. Sailor won 2 WSOP bracelets, the main event in 1975 was the most prestigious, and the other was the year prior in the 2-7 draw. His last noticeable WSOP came in in 1982, where he finished 8th in the main event.
Related posts:
- Poker Heroes – “Amarillo Slim” Preston Thomas Austin Preston junior was born on new years eve...
- Poker Heroes – Crandell Addington Crandell Addington was born June 2nd 1938 in Graham Texas....
- Poker Heroes – Puggy Pearson Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson was born on Jan 29th 1929...
- Poker Heroes – Johnny Moss Johnny Moss (born in Marshall, Texas on May 14th 1907...
- Is Poker Turning A Corner This is just my personal opinion, but over the last...
Comments
One Response to “Poker Heroes – Brian “Sailor” Roberts”
Got something to say?
[...] and lifelong friend was Benny Binion, and Slim spent his rounders years alongside Doyle Brunson and Sailor Roberts travelling from game to game, until the three of them landed in [...]