David Reese (March 28, 1951 – December 4, 2007), more commonly known as Chip Reese, was a professional poker player and gambler from Ohio. He is considered to have been one of the greatest cash game poker players in history.
Reese grew up in a small town and upper-middle class family in Ohio. When he was young he was confined to his home for nearly a year with rheumatic fever, during which time his mother taught him how to play cards. He attended Dartmouth College and majored in economics after turning down an offer from Harvard University. He played many card games, including bridge and poker, against students and some of his professors and his fraternity later named their card room, the "David E. Reese Memorial Card Room" and put up a plaque in his honor.
He was admitted to Stanford Law School and intended on becoming a lawyer. On his way up to see a friend in California, he stopped off in Vegas for a weekend in 1974. After turning $400 into tens of thousands of dollars playing poker, he gave up his plans for Stanford and stayed in Vegas to play poker professionally. Several days later he called his day job in Arizona to quit and hired someone to fly to Arizona to clean out his apartment and drive his car to Las Vegas. Reese is rumored to have won a couple of million dollars in his first few years in town. He later became the card room manager at the Dunes casino.
He won his first WSOP bracelet in 1978 in the $1,000 seven-card stud split event, won his second bracelet in the 1982 $5,000 limit 7 card stud event, and his third bracelet and $1.7 million in the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, beating Andy Bloch in a 7-hour heads-up battle in the highest-buy-in WSOP poker tournament ever. As a tribute to Reese, the "David 'Chip' Reese Memorial Trophy" was inaugurated in 2008 as an additional prize for the winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP. Starting in 2010, the trophy will be awarded to the winner of "The Poker Player's Championship", the replacement of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. It will have the same $50,000 buy-in, but will add no-limit hold 'em, pot-limit Omaha, and limit 2–7 triple draw to the five H.O.R.S.E. games.
Reese also played on the WPT, making a final table during season 2 at the World Poker Open, finishing in fourth place for $207,304. All of these tournament accomplishments are in addition to the fact that he was one of the most successful cash game players in history, frequently playing in The Big Game.
Reese collaborated on the seven-card stud section for Doyle Brunson's classic book Super/System.
Reese died on December 4, 2007, at his Las Vegas home. His house in Las Vegas was put up for sale in 2008 at a price of $5.7 million. Upon learning of Reese's death, Doyle Brunson stated, "He's certainly the best poker player that ever lived." After Reese's death, Fulltilt held a moment of silence where they put the games on hold for a minute in order to pay respect to the poker great. Reese's son Casey died in April, 2009 of a drug overdose, about 16 months after Chip's death.
Reese has 3 WSOP bracelets, 21 WSOP cashes, and total live tournament winnings exceeding $3,500,000. In 1991, he became the youngest living player to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Year | Event | Prize |
---|---|---|
1978 | $1,000 Limit 7 Card Stud Hi/L | $19,200 |
1982 | $5,000 Limit 7 Card Stud | $92,500 |
2006 | $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. | $1,716,000 |
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