Tom McEvoy: Biography, Career and Poker Results

October 15, 2026

Table of Contents

Tom McEvoy is an American professional poker player, born in 1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1983. He was the first player to win the Main Event after earning his seat in a satellite, and he holds four WSOP bracelets. A former accountant, he also wrote a long series of strategy books and led the push to make the WSOP smoke free. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2013. ^[1][4]

Tom McEvoy at the 2010 World Series of Poker — “Tom McEvoy 2010” by LasVegasVegas.com, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped).

Tom McEvoy: key facts

Name	Tom McEvoy (listed as Thomas McEvoy on WSOP.com) ^[2]
Nickname	“Grand Rapids Tom” ^[8]
Country	United States ^[1]
Born	November 14, 1944, Grand Rapids, Michigan ^[3][4]
Lives in	Las Vegas, Nevada ^[3]
Known for	1983 WSOP Main Event title won from a satellite; strategy books; smoke-free tournaments
Poker Hall of Fame	Inducted 2013 ^[5]
WSOP bracelets	4 (60 WSOP cashes, 21 final tables) ^[2]
WSOP Main Event	Champion 1983 ^[2]
Live tournament earnings	$3,109,944 as of October 5, 2026 ^[1]

Early life: from accounting to the card room

McEvoy grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and learned poker as a small child from his grandmother, who played penny ante games with him. He studied accounting at Ferris State University and worked as an accountant after graduating, while playing in weekend home games. He was also a keen table tennis player, at one point ranked 60th in the United States. ^[6]

In 1977 he travelled to Las Vegas for the National Table Tennis Championships at Caesars Palace. His matches went badly, but he won $1,000 at the poker tables, at a time when he was earning $18,000 a year as an accountant. Soon afterwards he lost his job. He commuted between Grand Rapids and Las Vegas for a year, then moved his wife and three children to Las Vegas in 1979, where he played $10-$20 games at the Golden Nugget, Caesars Palace and the Stardust. ^[5][6]

Beginning in tournament poker

McEvoy’s first WSOP cash came in 1982, a sixth place in Razz. The same year he won the Amarillo Slim Super Bowl of Poker. ^[1][8] Over a career that Card Player described in 2013 as 34 years long, he worked as a prop player, a poker room manager, an author and an advocate for player rights. ^[6]

The 1983 World Series of Poker

At the 1983 WSOP, McEvoy won his first bracelet in the $1,000 Limit Hold’em event, beating 234 entries for $117,000. ^[2] He had sold part of his action for that event, and rather than pay the $10,000 Main Event buy-in from his winnings, he played a single-table satellite at Binion’s. Johnny Chan was listed for the same satellite and agreed to step aside at McEvoy’s request. When the satellite was three-handed, McEvoy sold 20 percent of his action to Chan for $1,000, and after other small trades he entered the Main Event owning 33 percent of himself. ^[6]

The Main Event drew 108 entries, only the second time it had passed 100. ^[1] The final table included Donnacha O’Dea, Doyle Brunson and Rod Peate, another satellite qualifier. Brunson went out in third place when his top pair ran into Peate’s set of nines, and Peate began heads-up play with a 3-2 chip lead, which grew to 4-1. McEvoy played tight and waited for big hands; the match lasted about seven hours and ran into a fifth day, a first for the Main Event. On the final hand, just before 2 a.m., McEvoy moved all in with pocket queens and Peate called with king-jack. The board ran 6-6-3-J-3. ^[7]

The winner’s prize was $540,000 and the runner-up prize $216,000, and the two players agreed a deal heads-up. ^[9] Because he had sold so much of his action, McEvoy’s own share came to nearly a quarter of a million dollars, while Chan, who held 20 percent of both finalists, also profited. ^[6] McEvoy has said the heads-up match lasted seven and a half hours, a record that stood for many years. ^[8][9]

Playing style

McEvoy’s 1983 win is closely linked to his patient, tight approach on a short stack. Card Player’s history of that year notes that Mike Sexton said afterwards that the strategy “set poker back at least 10 years”: four television networks had filmed the 1983 final, and none came back the following year. ^[7] McEvoy has joked about the same theme: “They call me the world’s greatest short-stack player because I’ve had so much practice with one.” ^[8] His four bracelets came in different games: Limit and No-Limit Hold’em, Razz and Limit Omaha. ^[2]

Greatest achievements

WSOP bracelets

Year	Event	Entries	Prize	Source
1983	$10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event	108	$540,000	[2]
1983	$1,000 Limit Hold’em	234	$117,000	[2]
1992	$1,500 Limit Omaha	132	$79,200	[2]
1986	$1,000 Limit Razz	131	$52,400	[2]

Other notable results

Year	Event	Result	Prize	Source
2005	Professional Poker Tour, Bay 101 Shooting Stars	1st	$225,000	[3]
1997	WSOP $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em	2nd	$102,000	[4]
2018	WSOP Main Event	430th	$29,625	[1]
1982	Amarillo Slim Super Bowl of Poker	1st	not published	[4]
2009	WSOP Champions Invitational	1st	1970 Corvette Stingray and the Binion Cup	[10]

The 2009 Champions Invitational was a one-off event for former Main Event winners. McEvoy came through a field of 20 former world champions and beat 2002 champion Robert Varkonyi heads-up. The prize was a 1970 Corvette Stingray and the first Binion Cup, presented by Jack Binion in honor of his father Benny Binion, the founder of the WSOP. ^[10] In 2017 PokerNews met him at the Main Event, which he said was his 34th. ^[8]

World Series of Poker record

His WSOP.com profile lists four bracelets, 60 cashes, 21 final tables and $1,400,266 in WSOP earnings. ^[2]

Smoke-free poker

In 1998 McEvoy organized the first poker tournament where smoking was not allowed. Four years later, in 2002, he convinced the WSOP to make its summer series non-smoking. ^[1] Card Player wrote that the change made the game more accessible to newcomers. ^[6]

Poker Hall of Fame, 2013

McEvoy and Scotty Nguyen were announced as the Poker Hall of Fame class of 2013 in October of that year. ^[4] They were inducted on November 3, 2013, during the WSOP Main Event final table, as the 45th and 46th members. Both had been nominated and passed over four times before, and at 68 McEvoy was the oldest of the ten finalists. ^[5]

Books

McEvoy’s first book, How to Win at Poker Tournaments, came after Mike Caro and Stanley Sludikoff persuaded him to write it. ^[6] With T.J. Cloutier he wrote the “Championship” series, starting with Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold’em in 1997 and followed by Championship Omaha, Championship Hold’em and Championship Tournament Practice Hands. ^[11] By 2013 he had written 14 books and also wrote columns for Card Player. ^[6]

In 2024 he self-published Poker Pioneer, a 512-page autobiography written with Brad Smith. PokerNews described it as his 15th book and his first that is not about strategy, and noted that he had been PokerStars’ first sponsored professional after the poker boom. ^[12]

In his own words

“I learned poker as a five year old while sitting on my grandmother’s knee.” Card Player, 2013. ^[6]
“They used to call Las Vegas the graveyard of home game poker champions.” On his move to Las Vegas. ^[6]
“I consider this the highest honor a poker player can receive next to winning the Main Event of the World Series of Poker.” On his Hall of Fame election, 2013. ^[4]
“This is truly the frosting on the cake of my poker career.” 2013. ^[4]
“There are always bad beats and poker stories. With me, they go in one ear and out the other.” PokerNews, 2017. ^[8]
“Even the best player in the world won’t make a dime if there are no games to play in.” On the next generation of players, 2013. ^[6]

FAQ about Tom McEvoy

How old is Tom McEvoy?

Tom McEvoy was born on November 14, 1944, so he was 81 years old as of October 5, 2026. ^[3]

Where is Tom McEvoy from?

He is American, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and lives in Las Vegas. ^[3][4]

What is Tom McEvoy’s net worth?

There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified is his live tournament record: $3,109,944 in earnings as of October 5, 2026, according to PokerNews, which uses data from The Hendon Mob. ^[1]

How many WSOP bracelets does Tom McEvoy have?

Four: two in 1983 ($1,000 Limit Hold’em and the Main Event), one in 1986 (Razz) and one in 1992 (Limit Omaha). ^[2]

How much did Tom McEvoy win in the 1983 Main Event?

The first prize was $540,000. ^[2] Because he had sold much of his action, his own share came to nearly a quarter of a million dollars. ^[6]

Who did Tom McEvoy beat to win the Main Event?

Rod Peate, another satellite qualifier, after a long heads-up match. Doyle Brunson finished third. ^[7]

Is Tom McEvoy in the Poker Hall of Fame?

Yes. He was inducted in 2013, together with Scotty Nguyen. ^[5]

What books has Tom McEvoy written?

His titles include How to Win at Poker Tournaments, the “Championship” series with T.J. Cloutier, starting with Championship No-Limit and Pot-Limit Hold’em (1997), and the autobiography Poker Pioneer (2024), his 15th book. ^[6][11][12]

Related Poker Legends

Read more about T.J. Cloutier, his co-author on the “Championship” books, Scotty Nguyen, who entered the Hall of Fame with him in 2013, and Johnny Chan, who stepped aside from McEvoy’s 1983 satellite and bought a share of his action.