Billy Baxter: Biography, Career and Poker Results

October 20, 2026

Table of Contents

Billy Baxter is an American professional poker player and sports bettor from Augusta, Georgia, born on September 21, 1940. He won seven World Series of Poker bracelets, all of them in lowball games, between 1975 and 2002, and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006. ^[1][3][10] Away from the tables he is known for Baxter v. United States, the 1986 tax case that allowed professional players to treat their poker winnings as earned income. ^[5]

Billy Baxter at a World Poker Tour table — Photo: World Poker Tour, licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.

Billy Baxter: key facts

Full name	William E. Baxter Jr. ^[5]
Nickname	The Southern Gentleman ^[3]
Born	September 21, 1940, Augusta, Georgia, USA ^[5][10]
Nationality	United States ^[1]
Known for	Lowball draw games; the Baxter v. United States tax case; backing Stu Ungar; sports betting
Poker Hall of Fame	Inducted 2006 ^[4]
WSOP bracelets	7 (41 WSOP cashes, 18 final tables) ^[2]
Best WSOP Main Event finish	22nd, 1997 ^[3]
Other honours	Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, inaugural class, 2023 ^[8]
Live tournament earnings	$3,430,680 as of October 5, 2026 ^[1]

Early life in Augusta, Georgia

Baxter was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. ^[5] His competitive streak showed early: at age nine he was the marble champion of Augusta. ^[6] He started gambling at 14, hustling pool in local pool halls, and had saved more than $5,000 by the age of 16. ^[3][5] In the back rooms of Augusta he found poker. As he told Cigar Aficionado: “I found that the real money seemed to be around poker.” ^[3][6]

In his first year as a professional gambler, at 22, he earned more than $40,000. ^[5]

Las Vegas and the old guard

According to WSOP.com, Baxter only meant to stop in Las Vegas after a Hawaiian honeymoon, but he enjoyed the action so much that he stayed. He and his wife Julie spent their first nine months in town in the Cary Grant Suite at the Dunes Hotel, courtesy of Sid Wyman, one of the hotel’s owners. ^[3][5] He played, and won, against Doyle Brunson, Jack “Treetop” Straus, Sailor Roberts and Puggy Pearson. ^[3] Recalling those games, he told PokerNews: “It was a paradise. Sometimes the pots would go as high as a million dollars, and there were a lot of big hotel and casino owners who loved to play but couldn’t play very well… I won so much I got to feeling guilty about it.” ^[5]

One of those players was Major Riddle. Baxter told Cigar Aficionado about the last of those deuce-to-seven games: “The last game that ever was, Major Riddle lost so much money that Doyle and I, along with several others, lent him $1.25 million so he could cash everybody out.” ^[6]

Playing style

Baxter is a specialist in lowball, the family of games in which the lowest hand wins. Five of his seven bracelets came in Deuce to Seven Draw (see 2-7 Single Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw), one in Ace to Five Draw and one in Razz. ^[1][3] Stu Ungar called him “the best lowball poker player in the world”, as WSOP.com reported. ^[3]

Doyle Brunson described his table manner this way: “He gives you that country-bumpkin smile and that good old Georgia-boy accent and gets you laughing and having a good time, and you look up and he’s got your money.” ^[5]

Greatest achievements

WSOP bracelets

Year	Event	Prize	Source
1987	$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$153,000	[1]
1993	$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$130,500	[1]
1982	$10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$95,000	[1]
1978	$10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$90,000	[1]
2002	$1,500 Razz	$64,860	[1]
1982	$2,500 Ace to Five Draw	$48,750	[1]
1975	$1,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	$35,000	[1]

His WSOP.com profile lists 7 bracelets, 18 final tables, 41 cashes and $1,739,631 in WSOP earnings. ^[2] In the Main Event he finished 22nd in 1997, 37th in 2001 and 136th in 2007, ^[3] and he cashed again in 2021, finishing 733rd for $17,500. ^[2]

Other notable results

Year	Event	Result	Prize	Source
2023	WSOP $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship	2nd	$473,212	[2]
2010	WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic, No-Limit Hold’em Main Event	5th	$246,921	[10]
2017	WPT L.A. Poker Classic, $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em	3rd	$173,580	[10]
2008	Five-Star World Poker Classic, No-Limit Hold’em Event 6	1st	$149,755	[10]

The 2023 Seniors Championship brought him within one opponent of an eighth bracelet, and his first in No-Limit Hold’em. He reached heads-up against Lonnie Hallett, who won the title. ^[9] Hallett said afterwards: “It was just incredible to play with Billy Baxter and to end up heads up with him, what more could you want.” ^[9]

Baxter v. United States (1986)

The Internal Revenue Service contended that $1.2 million in gambling winnings Baxter earned between 1978 and 1981 was unearned income, taxable at the maximum rate of 70 percent. Baxter challenged this in court and won in 1986. The ruling allowed professional poker players to declare their winnings as earned income, deduct expenses and losses, and set up pension funds. ^[5] The case is reported as Baxter v. United States, 633 F. Supp. 912 (D. Nev. 1986). ^[7] According to WSOP.com, the court found that “money once bet would produce no income without Baxter’s skill”, and the case has since been cited in arguments that poker is a game of skill. ^[3]

Backing Stu Ungar

Baxter was the principal backer of Stu Ungar during the 1980s and 1990s, a relationship WSOP.com describes as complex and sometimes volatile. He bought Ungar into the 1997 WSOP Main Event, which Ungar won for his third Main Event title. ^[3] PokerNews reported that Baxter staked him when no other backers would, and that the win earned Baxter $500,000. ^[5]

Poker Hall of Fame, 2006

Baxter was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006, together with T.J. Cloutier. WSOP spokesperson Nolan Dalla said at the time that “Billy Baxter not only is a seven-time bracelet winner, but also helped make poker a profession by convincing the IRS to treat poker winnings differently from gambling winnings.” ^[4]

Sports betting and a second Hall of Fame

Alongside poker, Baxter became one of the most successful sports bettors in Las Vegas; for a time his betting profits exceeded what he could make playing poker, but he never stopped playing. ^[3] Halftime betting became his specialty: “I got real good at making halftime bets. It became my forte.” ^[6] In 2023 he was named to the inaugural class of the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, honoured at a ceremony at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on August 11, 2023. ^[8]

In his own words

“Naturally, you consider it an honor to be included among a group of people who are considered the best.” On the Poker Hall of Fame. ^[4]
“They were saying that gambling was just luck. It was like a person going up to a slot machine and dropping a dollar in.” On the IRS case, 2023. ^[7]
“The case is in the law books today. It’s right there for people to cite if they have some type of case like that today.” 2023. ^[7]
“I had quite a good run actually, but it was very draining… I kinda run out of gas a little bit at the end.” On the 2023 Seniors Championship. ^[7]
“If you won all the time, something wouldn’t be right. I’m playing today and I’ll be ready to play tomorrow. I enjoy it.” To Cigar Aficionado. ^[6]

Iconic hands and moments

The four-deuces bluff against Doyle Brunson

PokerNews retold a deuce-to-seven cash game hand in which Brunson held 3-4-5-6-8, a strong hand, and folded it to Baxter. Brunson asked him: “How the hell can you run me out of that hand with four deuces?” Baxter answered: “Well, I knew you didn’t have any.” ^[5]

2023 WSOP Seniors Championship: the penultimate day (PokerGO)

FAQ about Billy Baxter

How old is Billy Baxter?

Billy Baxter was born on September 21, 1940, which makes him 86 as of October 5, 2026. ^[10]

Where is Billy Baxter from?

He was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, in the United States, and later moved to Las Vegas. ^[3][5]

What is Billy Baxter’s real name?

William E. Baxter Jr., the name under which he brought his tax case against the United States. ^[5]

What is Billy Baxter’s net worth?

There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified is his live tournament record: $3,430,680 in earnings as of October 5, 2026, according to PokerNews. Much of his income has come from cash games and sports betting, whose results are not published. ^[1][3]

How many WSOP bracelets does Billy Baxter have?

Seven: five in Deuce to Seven Draw (1975, 1978, 1982, 1987 and 1993), one in Ace to Five Draw (1982) and one in Razz (2002). ^[2][3]

When was Billy Baxter inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame?

In 2006, together with T.J. Cloutier. ^[4]

What was the Baxter v. United States case?

A tax case Baxter won in 1986. The IRS had treated his poker winnings as unearned income taxed at up to 70 percent; the ruling let professional players declare their winnings as earned income. ^[5]

Did Billy Baxter back Stu Ungar?

Yes. He was Ungar’s principal backer in the 1980s and 1990s and put up his buy-in for the 1997 WSOP Main Event, which Ungar won. ^[3]

Who is Billy Baxter’s wife?

PokerNews names his wife as Julie; the couple lived at the Dunes Hotel during their first months in Las Vegas. ^[5]

Related Poker Legends

Read more about Stu Ungar, whom Baxter backed in 1997, his fellow 2006 Hall of Fame inductee T.J. Cloutier, and Doyle Brunson, one of his regular opponents in the Las Vegas games of the 1970s.