John Hardie Moss Junior was born in 1907. He is the first and only player to ever win a tournament based on election instead of play. It was his 1970 WSOP Championship. Before getting to that, Johnny Moss was born in Texas just a few short miles from Louisiana’s border. His father was a deputy sheriff only until a month after Johnny was born. He was not re-elected therefore losing his job. His mother and father packed up a wagon to head on out, but unfortunately the westward journey did not go well for his mother. She died from a burst appendix because the only doctor could not be reached until they made it to Fort Worth.
Moss’s father worked in Dallas as a telegraph linesman for only four years. An accident occurred, but insurance money helped the family start a grocery store. Moss made his money selling newspapers, but in his spare time he played at a domino parlour. It was at this parlour he met Benny Binion. Both became friends, but were also competitors since they were message runners for Western Union. At 12, Moss was able to read morse code by the ticker sound alone because he could not read or write. He was also heavily into dominoes, playing enough to win at a high level.
By 16, Moss was working at the Otter’s Club, which was for draw poker. He worked as a cheat catcher. Mr. Wade the owner taught Moss how to play, allowing him to play and work at the club. He also learned stud and lowball. It was not until he went to the Elk’s Club that he was able to learn Texas Hold’em. After learning the game he brought it to Otter’s along with many players. He was provided with a good salary for the time at $20. He also became the chief money maker for his family due to this.
Virgie Ann Mouser became his wife in 1926, but she didn’t want Moss gambling for life. He decided he didn’t want to choose working odd jobs, so stuck with gambling. Unfortunately, continuing work in gambling was not easy at first. He worked with Texaco as a roughnecker. It brought him to gambling again with the poker games played by the rich oil barons. With this he managed to gain a nice bankroll. He was still with Virgie. She at least didn’t leave him but just wanted him to choose one career or another. With his new found wealth he took Virgie on a holiday where he found a domino parlour. At this point he had a daughter.
Johnny Moss never gave up gambling, even when he was enlisted and then honourably discharged in the 40s. He always found games to get a nice stake going. Moss once again found Benny Binion when talk of the WSOP began. He was voted as the winner two years running because of the structure of the game. He also won a third, but this was after a main event was added.