Crandell Addington (born June 2, 1938, in

Graham, Texas Graham is a city in north-central Texas. It is the county seat and largest city of Young County. History The site was first settled in 1871 by brothers Gustavus A. and Edwin S. Graham, primary shareholders in the Texas Emigration and Land Company ...

) is an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

and

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 who is best known as one of the founders of the

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 ...

, and is a member of 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 ...

Poker

Known as "Dandy" because he was always well-dressed, Addington was a regular player in the Texas poker circuit in the 1960s. In 1969, he won the Texas Gamblers Convention in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

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 ...

; it was there that the idea for the World Series of Poker was conceived. At the time, Addington was already a self-made millionaire who played poker primarily for fun; for him, the game was more about personal challenge. Addington participated in the first

in 1970 along with

Amarillo Slim Thomas Austin Preston Jr. (December 31, 1928 – April 29, 2012), known as Amarillo Slim, was an American professional gambler known for his poker skills and proposition bets. Preston won the 1972 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and was ...

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 ...

Sailor Roberts Bryan W. "Sailor" Roberts (March 7, 1931 – June 23, 1995) was an American professional poker player. Before becoming a poker professional, Roberts was a rounder and traveled the country looking for games with Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim.< ...

Puggy Pearson Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson (January 29, 1929 – April 12, 2006) was an American professional poker player. He is best known as the 1973 World Series of Poker Main Event winner. Early years Pearson was born and raised in Tennessee in a famil ...

, and Carl Cannon. Addington made the final table of the WSOP Main Event almost every year from 1972 to 1979, and still holds the record for most final table appearances (seven). He finished second on two occasions, losing to

Johnny Moss Johnny Moss (May 14, 1907 – December 16, 1995) was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

and

Bobby Baldwin Bobby Baldwin (born c. 1950)MGM Mirage's 2006 proxy statement, filed on April 30, 2006, recorded Baldwin's age as 55 is a professional poker player and casino executive. As a poker player, Baldwin is best known as the winner of the 1978 World S ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. However, since the WSOP Main Event was winner-take-all until 1978, most of these appearances were not in the money finishes. Although he is no longer an active player and has not had a tournament cash since 1990, fellow Hall of Famer

has described him as a "No Limit Hold'em Legend". In 2005, Addington took another shot at a WSOP win when he returned to Vegas to be inducted into the

, but did not fare as well as he had in the 1970s. As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceed $160,000.

Business

Addington graduated from

Southwestern University Southwestern University (Southwestern or SU) is a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas. Formed in 1873 from a revival of collegiate charters granted in 1840, Southwestern is the oldest college or university in Texas. Southwestern o ...

with majors in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

. He left his professional poker career in the 1980s to put his business degree to work. Over the course of his 40 years as an entrepreneur, he founded successful businesses ranging from chemical manufacturing to oil and gas exploration. He is the currently the CEO, Chairman, and Director of Phoenix Biotechnology, a company that focuses on cancer treatment research.

Notes

External links

Phoenix Biotechnology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Addington, Crandell 1938 births American poker players American casino industry businesspeople Businesspeople from San Antonio People from Graham, Texas Living people Poker Hall of Fame inductees