Tom McEvoy is a poker pioneer. Without his influence, the game as we enjoy it today wouldn't be the same.

Five decades ago, he moved his family of five across the country to replace his career in accounting with a career as a professional poker player, way before it was cool or even acceptable. His own parents kept their eldest son's new taboo line of work a secret for years.

At the time, Tom viewed poker differently than most. He didn't have a gambling bug; he had a poker passion.

His goal wasn't to become a riverboat gambler; it was to support his family doing what he loved. In 1979, that was a unique perspective.

And to virtually everyone he knew in his home state of Michigan, Tom was deranged. But he persisted.

In pursuing his goal, he discovered two things about poker that were relatively new and exciting―Texas Hold'em and poker tournaments―and he practiced and honed his skills in both like he was working on a master's degree. Except there was no poker university, no established curriculum.

So, he studied hard on the only felt-topped school of poker available―the tournaments of Las Vegas, Reno, Gardenia, and Atlantic City. Then, against the wishes of his peers, he shared the strategies and lessons he had learned in the graduate school of hard knocks: what the bruises of defeats and the elations of victories had taught him.

He literally wrote the first successful books on tournament poker and helped educate an entire generation. Over his 50-year poker adventure, Tom has won the WSOP Main Event, led the drive to end smoking in poker rooms, and earned over $3 million.

He has known and successfully competed with most of the top poker pros who, alongside him, have been enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame. Twenty-six years after becoming World Champion, he won the first and only Binion Cup, besting a field of the twenty living World Series of Poker Main Event winners.

It's often been noted that in the early days of tournament poker, the fields were smaller. The fields are always smaller when you are breaking new ground.

Wouldn't you like to know more about what those early days, the players, and the poker culture were like? Now you can. .