21 cases • Real records • Clear explanations
Explore championship hands, negotiated blackjack conditions and casino history. Each recap separates the recorded event from our explanation, so you can see what happened and what it actually teaches.
Start with a classic hand
Documented hand · 1988
Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel, 1988: The Straight Behind the Check
Top pair and a made straight can tell very different stories on the same board.
Documented hand · 2003
Moneymaker vs. Farha, 2003: The Final Hand, Not the Famous Bluff
The championship ended with made hands, in a separate episode from the celebrated bluff.
Documented hand · 1997
Stu Ungar’s 1997 Final Hand: A–4, a Wheel and a Third Title
A starting-hand disadvantage is not the same thing as a final result.
Poker: hands, matches & tournament formats
Recorded hands show the available cards; event recaps explain the tournament or match without inventing missing action.
Documented hands · 1976–1977
Doyle Brunson’s 10–2: Two Championship Hands, One Famous Nickname
The starting hand became famous because of its place in poker history.
Documented hand · 1988
Johnny Chan vs. Erik Seidel, 1988: The Straight Behind the Check
Top pair and a made straight can tell very different stories on the same board.
Documented hand · 1997
Stu Ungar’s 1997 Final Hand: A–4, a Wheel and a Third Title
A starting-hand disadvantage is not the same thing as a final result.
Documented hand · 1989
Phil Hellmuth vs. Johnny Chan, 1989: The Nines That Ended the Streak
A pair of nines became part of a changing-of-the-guard story.
Event recap · 2024
Daniel Negreanu’s 2024 Championship: Winning Across Poker Formats
Mixed games reward knowing which rules are in force right now.
Documented hand · 2003
Moneymaker vs. Farha, 2003: The Final Hand, Not the Famous Bluff
The championship ended with made hands, in a separate episode from the celebrated bluff.
Documented hand · 2000
Ferguson vs. Cloutier, 2000: A River Nine and the Limits of Hindsight
The final card changed the winner; it did not reveal the reasoning available before it fell.
Event recap · 2014
Vanessa Selbst’s Mixed-Max Win: How Table Size Changes the Game
The tournament did not ask players to solve the same table configuration all the way through.
Format study · 2000
Jennifer Harman’s 2000 Lowball Title: When the Lowest Hand Wins
A familiar-looking set of cards can have a very different value under different rules.
Reported match · 2006
Phil Ivey vs. Andy Beal: The Match, the Team and the Capital
A heads-up contest can still sit inside a larger team-financing arrangement.
Blackjack: information, contracts & access
Five different ways to examine the game: card information, negotiated terms, access, selection and analytical skill.
Method study · Finite decks
Edward Thorp’s Card Counting: Why Shuffling Changes the Method
The key is not remembering a winning streak. It is whether previously dealt cards change what can come next.
Contract case · 2011
Don Johnson’s Blackjack Deal: How a Loss Rebate Changes the Numbers
The rebate clause deserves as much attention as the blackjack rules.
Court case · 1979–1982
Ken Uston vs. Resorts: Card Counting and the Right to Play
The dispute concerned who could exclude a player, rather than whether the player could predict every card.
Method study · Selective entry
Stanford Wong and Game Selection: Why Sitting Out Can Matter
Choosing which situations to play changes the sample of bets you actually make.
Event recap · 2004, 2007 & 2008
James Grosjean’s Three Wins: What the Blackjack Ball Tests
A celebrated skill contest tells us something specific about its winner.
History & disputes: the event behind the headline
Explore roulette history, bankroll swings and the adjacent field of sports betting, with each setting clearly labeled.
Court case · 2017 judgment
Phil Ivey’s Edge-Sorting Case: Baccarat, Procedure and the Court
This was a dispute about card identification and game procedure, not a poker bluff.
Historical account · 1891
Charles Wells at Monte Carlo: What “Breaking the Bank” Meant
A famous phrase describes a table’s reserve, not the disappearance of the house edge.
Historical method study · Wheel observation
Joseph Jagger’s Roulette Story: Physical Bias vs. Lucky Patterns
A genuinely uneven wheel and a short run of repeated numbers are different hypotheses.
Historical report · 1910
William Darnborough’s £64,000 Headline: Reading the Full Account
The finishing figure and the highest figure tell different parts of the story.
Reported historical case · The Run
Archie Karas and The Run: The Rise, the Loss and Drawdown Mathematics
The final losses belong in the same story as the celebrated wins.
Method study • Sports betting · Price comparison
Billy Walters’ Field: Why Betting Price and Probability Must Be Compared
Picking the more likely winner and finding a favorable bet are different tasks.
Follow the rules behind the recap
“Documented hand” means the cited record supplies the cards described. “Method study” uses labeled examples. Historical accounts are attributed rather than presented as our own play.