10. HENDON MOB’S $1 MILLION SPONSORSHIP DEAL 2004

When the London-based Hendon Mob signed a sponsorship deal with Prima Poker worth $1 million, it sent shockwaves through the poker world. The deal saw the Mob bought into 88 tournaments. It was by far the biggest sponsorship deal at the time and made global stars of the UK’s best-known poker pros. The publicity and interest helped pave the way for the kind of big money sponsorship deals we now take as commonplace in poker.

9. TOM MCEVOY IS FIRST SATELLITE MAIN EVENT WINNER 1983

It may have been the most boring final table in the history of the WSOP, but it was arguably the most significant. This was the year when the first single-table satellite qualifiers were introduced and suddenly the door was open to all. And, as if to prove it was no longer the domain of the elite, Tom McEvoy won his seat in a satellite and went on to win the whole thing.

He defeated Rod Peate heads-up in an epic seven-hour battle that didn’t exactly set the world alight. In fact, the TV cameras failed to return for another four years. But, while McEvoy’s win may not have touched the hearts of ‘Joe Public’, it changed the way average poker players viewed the big events forever. Finally, the everyday player had a shot at the big time.

8. DOYLE BRUNSON’S SUPER/SYSTEM 1979

There are good poker books, great poker books and then there is Doyle Brunson’s Super/System. Published in 1979, it was a weighty tome stretching to over 600 pages with detailed strategy from a host of top pros. Super/System was remarkably prescient in the way that it advocated a loose-aggressive style of play. And the fact that it caused great consternation among other pros – who thought Brunson and his collaborators had given away all their trade secrets – should give you some idea how good, and epochal, it really was.

7. WORLD POKER TOUR FORMED/LIPSTICK CAM 2003

In 2003, the World Poker Tour burst onto television screens across the US, proving an instant hit. The show made its debut on the Travel Channel with a charismatic commentary team in Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton; and some prerequisite eye candy in the shape of Shana Hiatt. But the WPT’s trump card was undoubtedly its lipstick camera technology, which allowed viewers to see players’ ‘hole cards’.

This ploy was not entirely revolutionary (Late Night Poker first introduced under-table cameras), but the lipstick camera gave a more natural feel to the play. And the WPT’s slick editing and understanding of tournament poker added to the drama, helping to create intriguing stories that viewers could identify with.

6. STU UNGAR’S COMEBACK WIN 1997

Everything that is great about poker can be found in Stu Ungar’s comeback win in the 1997 WSOP. Following main event wins in 1980 and 1981, Ungar had descended into cocaine and gambling addictions that had left him broken and debt-ridden. He found salvation when Billy Baxter bought him into the 1997 main event, and despite a shaky start he soon found his groove and began playing some sublime poker.

He amassed a huge chip lead and cruised to the final table in his trademark domineering style. His heads-up victory against John Strzemp came in bizarre surroundings outside Binion’s Casino on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. It proved an emotional, redemptive moment, which was a tribute to the talents and perseverance of one of poker true greats. Let’s not dwell on the tragic end to this story, but rather leave with the image of Ungar triumphant under the blazing desert heat. A man lost, but found again at the poker table.