As I continue to write about all the winners of the WSOP’s Main Event, from the beginning to present day, I learn about the next winner’s story and what their “claim to fame” in the poker world is. For Tom McEvoy, he was the first winner ever to earn his buy-in through a satellite tournament.
In 1982 McEvoy finished in 6th place in the WSOP $1,000 Razz event, but it was in 1983 that he won the Main Event bringing home $580,000. His heads-up matchup with Rod Peate was the longest heads-up battle in WSOP history before being surpassed during the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event in 2006 by Chip Reese and Andy Bloch.
Born and raised in Michigan, McEvoy was an accountant before he took up the game of poker. Steadfastly against smoking, in 2002 he convinced Becky Binion Behnen to make the WSOP Tournament a non-smoking event by agreeing to give her poker lessons. He proved that players would still play without their smokes by helping organize the first tournament where smoking was not allowed. After much reluctance, he managed to attract a large number of players and confirmed the viability of having non-smoking tournaments.
In March of 2006, Tom McEvoy won the third ever Professional Poker Tour event beating a field of pros-only at the Bay 101 casino. He defeated a final table that included fellow WSOP bracelet winners, Toto Leonidas and Hoyt Corkins.
Along with T.J. Cloutier, Brad Daugherty, Don Vines and a few others, McEvoy has co-authored over a dozen books on poker and he is a columnist for CardPlayer Magazine. He was the winner of the WSOP’s first ever Champions Invitational, outlasting 19 other former Main Event champions. First prize was a Classic 1970 Corvette and the inaugural Binion Cup which was presented by Jack Binion.
As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,900,000 and his 38 cashes at the WSOP account for almost $1,300,000 of those winnings.
McEvoy currently resides in Las Vegas and still travels around the world playing poker.
Great Players in Poker History 