In what is startling, yet saddening news, poker legend David 'Chip' Reese was pronounced dead in the late hours of last night. Reese was just 56.
Although we know that he passed away from pneumonia, details at this point in time are sketchy, so we can only offer our deepest condolences to Chip's friends and family and publish the blondepedia entry of one of, if not the game's greatest players:
When asked about the calibre of a rising star, David Chip Reese once replied, Ask me again in thirty years, the implication of those words being obvious yet inspirational to all.
Considered by many as the greatest player to play the game, Chip has been playing since the seventies and was regarded so highly by his peers that Doyle Brunson invited him to pen a chapter in the now legendary Super System. Although you wont be seeing him on High Stakes Poker, Chip has been cleaning up in the cash games for years, armed with an envious all-round game that was accentuated when he won the inaugural $50,000 H.O.R.S.E Event, an accomplishment that even Chip himself would probably describe as his proudest moment.
Resisting the world of poker celebrity and the potential crapshoot of a multi table comp, Chip is a rare presence on the tournament scene, but when he does compete, he is as dangerous as he is in ring games, accruing 3 WSOP bracelets, 5 WPT cashes and over 3 million dollars in prize winnings.
As the youngest ever player to be inducted into the poker Hall of Fame, Chip is undoubtedly a legend of the game.