- Aces & Eights, the death of "Wild Bill" Hickock.
This infamous moment was quite possibly one of the worst instances of negative advertising in history. Nothing was more synonymous with poker than 'shot in the back in a poker game, holding Aces and Eights' for over a century, giving the game its early misnomer as a game frequented by the dregs of society.
It took a long time for poker to pull itself out of smoky backrooms, and this moment in American history was a major driving force for the games tough reputation.
- The death of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar
This moment marked not only the loss of the most talented card player of all time, but the manner of his death gave poker another black eye. When Stuey didn't show up to defend his WSOP title his friends were worried. He was found dead in a seedy Las Vegas Hotel from a drug overdose.
- The poker explosion, post 2003
Many people will question how this moment can make a worst of list (especially since it's on my most important list), but I have my reasons. The 'boom' has led to this watered down version of poker we now play. Gone are the days when only five people in the entire poker room even knew the existence of poker books, or could name the WSOP champion. Now, there are 1,000 'experts' in every poker room, lining up to lose money. All trying to play the most difficult form of poker, No Limit. All spouting off something they read, or heard on TV, as poker gospel.
I miss the days when great poker players could thrive in anonymity. Instead we reward luck and mediocrity, where winning a single tournament turns someone into a celebrity. The top pros are all on sponsorship deals, and tournament tables look like some weird version of NASCAR, without the cars.
This was quite possibly the worst representation of poker we have ever seen. It was bad enough every 16 year old wanted to play poker professionally, after TILT they all thought professional poker was even more of a party than they had originally!
This series was so over the top to make it laughable to any real poker player. And, it didn't help professional player's reputations in the main stream: It was hard enough telling people you played poker for a living before this show turned every poker pro into a partier/con-man/cheater.
- The Absolute and Ultimate Bet scandals
I saved the worst for last. When news of this broke it sent shock-waves through the poker world. This was the moment every poker player feared, truth to the long held beliefs of online poker being rigged. While it was only two isolated incidents, it gave concrete proof for anti-poker groups to cite.
The scandal got even worse when it was determined a former WSOP champion, Russ Hamilton, was one of the major players.
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