Regional news

Poker legend "Big Al" Emerson has passed away at an advanced age. He was the inventor of the hybrid game "Archie" and Phil Hellmuth's first professional poker mentor. Hellmuth shared a heartfelt tribute to his dear friend on social media. The poker world received the sad news over the weekend—Wisconsin poker legend "Big Al" Emerson has passed away. His close friend, Phil Hellmuth, shared the news on social media. "Everyone, today I lost an old friend, and the poker world lost a good man, a cheerful man, and a lover of high and low chips," Hellmuth wrote. "Big Al invented 'Archie'—a game where high cards qualify with 9 and low cards with 8 or better—and he was a lifelong enthusiast of our game. Big Al was the first professional poker player I met in 1986. I met him in a $10–$20 limit Texas Hold'em game at Stardust Casino in Las Vegas. Al lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, while I lived in Madison." Archie is a popular hybrid game, a five-card, three-draw high-low pot poker game with dual eligibility requirements. The pot is split between the best high cards and the best low cards from A to 5, but players must meet certain minimum requirements to win either half of the pot. Hellmuth added, “Al was always the heart and soul of the party! He gave everyone a lot of action, and nobody minded losing money to him. When he walked in, the whole room would burst into laughter! He might get a little depressed when he lost too much, but he never showed any sign of it except for being unusually quiet. Big Al made a living playing poker for 35 years until he found a better place after he started doing some betting. He played poker every day for decades, and consistently played two to three times a week—for the last 25 years in Phoenix—until the very end.” Big Al played such a significant role in Hellmuth’s life that he is featured extensively in Hellmuth’s autobiography, *Poker Brat*. "With Big Al, I found a professional poker player I could hang out with, learn from, and observe." "Big Al is 6 feet 7 inches tall, weighs 320 pounds, has light brown hair and brown eyes, and a cheerful personality. He's very popular in poker games across the Midwest, even though he's often a big winner in those games. Big Al and I clicked instantly, and when we went back to our hometown, he introduced me to some of the biggest poker players and the biggest poker games in Wisconsin." Hellmuth shared examples of Big Al's wild ups and downs, and how Big Al influenced Hellmuth.