The Mayfair Club was a cardroom in New York City. Originally starting as a bridge and backgammon club, it eventually became "the most touted card club in New York" until its abrupt closing by authorities in 2000. [1] Unlike the other gamehalls in the city, the Mayfair Club kept a low profile in a basement. During the poker era, Mayfair games and tournaments were dealt by the players as opposed to professional dealers in a casino environment. Mayfair Club games were also noted for their high stakes and elite competition. [2]
The Mayfair Club developed a reputation as a training ground for poker players in the mid-eighties as a result of a small group of elite players who played at the club. In the 1987 World Series of Poker (WSOP), Mayfair Club regulars finished very high in the Main Event. Jay Heimowitz finished in 11th place, Mickey Appleman in 8th, Dan Harrington in 6th, and Howard Lederer in 5th. This strong showing was repeated in the 1988 WSOP when Jay Heimowitz finished in 15th place, and Erik Seidel in 2nd place. [3] Heimowitz had previously finished third in the 1980 WSOP Main Event and sixth in the 1981 rendition. As of January 2009, these five former Mayfair Club players have won a total of 22 WSOP bracelets, four World Poker Tour titles, and numerous other poker accolades. In 1995, Dan Harrington won the WSOP Main Event, and he went on to make the final table of the main event in 2003 and 2004, for a total of four WSOP Main Event final table appearances. They have also written numerous books and articles. The Mayfair was also home court for business executive Wendeen Eolis, the first woman to cash in the Main Event, namely the 1986 rendition. Other famous players such as Noli Francisco, Steve Zolotow, Stu Ungar, David Catapano, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Jason Lester and Paul Magriel became club regulars, too, further enhancing the club's reputation as the premier poker club in New York. Later, the Chesterfield Club in the film Rounders was modeled after the Mayfair Club. [4]
In October 2008, TV show Poker After Dark featured "Mayfair Week" with six prominent players who had their beginnings at the Mayfair Club.
As the state of New York considers poker to be a game of chance, it is legal to play, but illegal for the host to garner a profit. [2] In other words, one can legally play and win, but operating a poker club is illegal. [5] For years, the Mayfair Club and other established underground poker clubs, were an "open secret among law enforcement officials". [6] Prior to 2000, whenever a poker club was closed down by the police, it was due to criminal offenses (usually drugs or weapons). [2] In 2000, Mayor Rudy Giuliani's "Quality of Life" campaign led to the closure of the Mayfair Club and other game halls in New York. [2] [7]
Doyle Frank Brunson was an American poker player who played professionally for over 60 years. He was a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.
Anne LaBarr Duke is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 and used to be the leading money winner among women in WSOP history, and is still in the top five as of April 2023, despite being retired from poker, last cashing at a tournament 2010. Duke won the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2010. She has written a number of instructional books for poker players, including Decide to Play Great Poker and The Middle Zone, and she published her autobiography, How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker, in 2005. Duke also authored two books on decision-making, Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts, and How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices.
Howard Henry Lederer is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and holds two World Poker Tour titles. Lederer has also contributed to several books on poker strategy and has provided commentary for poker programming. He is known by poker fans and players as "The Professor" and is the older brother of professional poker player Annie Duke.
Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Dan Harrington is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tournament cashes in his poker career. He is also a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Erick A. Lindgren is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during his poker career. As of April 2020 he is 85th on the all-time money list of poker.
Steve Zolotow is an American businessman and professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He was one of the regulars at the famed Mayfair Club while he lived in New York City.
Jay B. Heimowitz is an American poker player from Bethel, New York. Heimowitz was one of the original players to help establish the Mayfair Club as a premier poker house.
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. The WSOP ToC has been played intermittently five times in the 21st Century with different formats. The four WSOP ToC events held from 2004-2010 did not count as official WSOP bracelets events, with the winners receiving instead a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo. In 2010, the WSOP Tournament of Champions returned with a new format more akin to a typical sports league All-Star Event format. 27 players vied for $1 million, with 20 of those players selected by the fans via online vote at the WSOP's website. Controversies over the inclusion of commercially sponsored players resulted in a hiatus in the WSOP ToC for over a decade. The WSOP ToC was reintroduced in 2022 as an official WSOP bracelet event.
Paul David Magriel Jr. was an American professional backgammon player, poker player, and author based in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mark "Mickey" Appleman is an American professional poker player, sports bettor, and sports handicapper now living in Fort Lee, New Jersey. His poker accomplishments include winning four WSOP bracelets, all in different variations of poker and four top 25 finishes in the WSOP Main Event.
The 1993 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe. Poker professionals Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest would both win three bracelets during the 1993 Series.
The 1986 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe.
Vincent Burgio is an American professional poker player and writer. A member of the Senior Poker Hall of Fame, he was a columnist for Card Player Magazine and is the author of Pizza, Pasta and Poker and Inside Poker: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He is based in West Hills, California.
Frank Henderson is an American professional poker player. He currently resides in Houston, Texas.
Russell Aaron Boyd, commonly known as Dutch Boyd, is an American professional poker player from Culver City, California.
Wendeen H. Eolis is an American entrepreneur, government advisor, and public servant, noted in The American Lawyer Legal Recruiter Directory as the "founder of EOLIS, the first search firm exclusively for attorneys, the "inventor of the legal search industry" and "founder of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants,".
This is an alphabetical list of poker topics.
In poker, the term Triple Crown is used in three ways:
Almedin "Ali" Imsirovic is a Bosnian-American professional poker player from Vancouver, Washington.
