Billy Baxter is in a unique position among poker players
The Sports Gambling Hall of Fame will hold its inaugural event on August 11 at the Circa Resort & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas and is the highlighted event of the 2023 Bet Bash. The induction ceremony will take place within the world’s largest sportsbook at Circa, honoring five in-memoriam and five living bookmakers and bettors who have changed the sports betting industry. It is also going to include an unexpected name – someone from the world of poker.
Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, Roxy Roxborough, and Billy Walters were named the first Sports Gambling Hall of Fame inductees nominated by a 16-member board. Seven other members were later announced as part of the inaugural class, including Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter.
Baxter is a seven-time bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006. The 82-year-old recently almost added another WSOP bracelet, finishing as runner-up in the $1,000 WSOP Seniors NLH Event. The Augusta, Georgia native started playing poker at 18, making his way to Las Vegas in the mid-seventies to win his first bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw in 1975.
Baxter is famous for staking Stu Ungar in the 1997 WSOP Main Event, which Ungar won for his record-tying third Main Event title. He’s also known by many as the Cal Hubbard of gambling. Hubbard is the only athlete to be voted into both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Baxter now becomes the only individual with enshrinement in the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame and Poker Hall of Fame.
Editor-in-Chief of the Big Blind, a prominent gambling industry publication, brings 30+ years of journalism experience to his role. His vision emphasizes clarity, accessibility, and responsible journalism, making the Big Blind a trusted source in the online gambling sector.
