Discover Mississippi's Rich Poker Legacy and Events

Mississippi is arguably the most important location in early poker history. However, it’s the river, not the state.

In the early 19th Century the new card game was first started to be played in the New Orleans area. The oldest version of it was 5-Card Draw with a 20-card playing deck (10’s through Aces of the four suits). Passengers traveling from the Louisiana town up the Mississippi River on steamboats started playing it on the bar rooms of the ships. That is how the new card game spread across America.

When it comes to the history of gambling in Mississippi state, that too dates back hundreds of years with the Native American tribes living in the area. These tribes, among other smaller ones, included the Choctaw and the Chickasaw. They would wager money on “stick ball” (“ishtaboli”, in Indian languages), an ancient ball game. This activity was much akin to today’s sports betting – spectators could bet on which team would win the game.

Slot machines became widespread in hotels along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the 1950’s. However, some religious folks didn’t take too kindly to that. So, they started to pressure local law enforcement to shut these establishments down by force, citing a 1942 Mississippi law as justification. While they did not succeed in closing these hotels, they made enough of a noise to dissuade many people, especially locals, from visiting them.

As for modern casino gambling, it was legalized in the state in 1990. The Silver Star Casino was first to open in 1994 in Philadelphia, MS..

As of now, gambling is still legal in Mississippi, as long as it takes place in a licenced casino. Worldcasinodirectory.com lists 36 of these establishments in this state. According to the same site, 13 of them have poker rooms.

Also, here’s a fun tidbit in the end. A “Mississippi straddle” is when any player (apart from the blinds) can put up a straddle, which is an additional blind raise before the pre-flop action. In other games with “regular” straddle, only the UTG player can do so, then other players can re-straddle in order. Action always starts to the left of the straddle.

Famous Mississippian Poker Players

Timothy Burt has $1.284 million in live tournament earnings. He is from Grenada, MS.

In August 2016, Burt came in 3rd in the $5,250 No Limit Hold’em – SHRPO Championship event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Hollywood, FL. He won $310,000, which is the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date. He’s also cashed in the WSOP Main Event an impressive 4 times in 2014, 2015, 2016 (three times in a row!), and 2019.

Tyler Smith from Smithdale, MS has $1.209 million live cashes. In 2017, he won his first WSOP gold bracelet in the $565 Pot Limit Omaha event for $224,344. That is also his biggest live tournament score to date.

As for online poker, a player playing under the screen name “Slurpslurp” from Mississippi has cashed for just under $129,000 in online MTT’s on Americas Cardroom.