William Walter Boyd (January 27, 1906 – November 21, 1997) was a professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player. Boyd was a

five-card stud Five-card stud is the earliest form of the card game stud poker, originating during the American Civil War, but is less commonly played today than many other more popular poker games. It is still a popular game in parts of the world, especially i ...

player; he won all four of his

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

bracelets in five-card stud. Boyd,

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

and

Loren Klein Loren is a given name, nickname and surname which may refer to: Given name Men * Loren Acton (born 1936), American physicist and astronaut * Loren C. Ball (born 1948), amateur astronomer who has discovered more than 100 asteroids * Loren M. Ber ...

are the only players in WSOP history to have won bracelets in four consecutive years. Additionally, Boyd is responsible for the spread of

Omaha hold 'em Omaha hold 'em (also known as Omaha holdem or simply Omaha) is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five ...

. In 1983, Robert "Chip Burner" Turner approached Boyd, who was then the director of operations at the Golden Nugget casino in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The game, being previously unnamed, was called ''Nugget hold 'em''. Sometime later, it was renamed to its current name of "Omaha". Boyd managed the

card room A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is used to describe a dedicated room in casinos that is dedicated to playing poker and in function is similar to a car ...

at the Golden Nugget from the day it opened in 1946 until its closing in 1988. As a tribute to his long career, he was dealt the first poker hand ever at the

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

. He was elected to the

Poker Hall of Fame The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States. Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest ...

in 1981. Boyd died in

on November 21, 1997, at the age of 91.

World Series of Poker Bracelets

References

External links

Hendon Mob tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Bill 1906 births 1997 deaths American poker players World Series of Poker bracelet winners People from Columbia County, Arkansas People from Las Vegas Poker Hall of Fame inductees