Jack Binion

Jack Binion is a legend in the gaming business. He recently sold his Horseshoe properties to Harrah's Entertainment for a whopping $1.45 billion dollars! To those of us in the poker world, however, he is much more than a legend. He is a man who has always welcomed poker players with open arms, the son of Benny Binion (the founder of tournament poker), and the man who has done more for poker over the last 30 years than anyone in the industry.

Jack Binion hosted the World Series of Poker at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas for 25 years. He founded the Poker Hall of Fame. He then moved to Tunica, Mississippi, and created the Jack Binion World Poker Open, a poker tournament that's the jewel of the South.

No one treats poker players better than Jack Binion. The comps and food he offers players are second to none on the tournament trail. And players love his events. To prove it, the recent Jack Binion World Poker Open championship event had the most entrants and the largest prize pool ($3.45 million) in the history of the World Poker Tour!

If you want to talk about a successful, easy-to-talk-to, hands-on proprietor, Jack Binion is your man. He's been on the casino floor for 16 hours a day for years, so it's hard for us who know him to imagine that he's going to retire. Jack Binion and retirement? It's like oil and water, they just don't mix.

While in Mississippi for the recent World Poker Open, Jack invited me to lunch. He said, "Mike, do you want to eat at the best buffet in the world?" We then proceeded to the Horseshoe buffet, and he was right, it was by far the best buffet I've ever had.

Jack has more stories about gamblers than anyone I know. He's a guy who should write a book. (Think about it: Every businessman in the world would read it, as well as every gambler.) Allow me to share some of the things we talked about at lunch.

Mike Sexton: Jack, are you really going to retire, and if so, what will you do?

Jack Binion: Well, I'll take it one step at a time. I'll be involved as a consultant for Harrah's, as they have every right of me. As far as hobbies, I ski. I guess I'll have to find a few more hobbies, maybe fishing. I can tell you this, I don't want to sit around and get grumpy.

MS: What about the World Series of Poker? And will you continue to be a part of the World Poker Open?

JB: Harrah's has the rights to those tournaments. We'll see what they're going to do with them. I'll continue to host the Jack Binion World Poker Open if they wish.

MS: What would your father say if he could see the expansion of casino gaming around the country now, and how poker has grown?

JB: Many years ago, he told me, "Someday we'll see gambling everywhere." I thought he was crazy, but boy was he right. Look at all the states that have casinos now. I don't know if there is any large city in the country that isn't within 200 miles of a casino. And we see how poker is booming, and it's going to grow at an even more rapid rate in the next few years.

MS: Do you attribute that growth to the World Poker Tour?

JB: Certainly, a large part of the credit goes to them. They have organized poker to where it's an acceptable "sport" to the average guy on the street. They do a terrific job with their shows and all of their events are more than doubling in entrants from a year ago. Ours did.

MS: You know poker players and gamblers as well as anyone. Can you generalize some thoughts about them?

JB: Gambling generates emotion, and players, regardless of the stakes they play for, are pretty much the same. A player doesn't quit playing. He might quit playing with you, but he finds another game. It's like a guy who owes a bookmaker. He's not going to stop betting, he's just going to find another bookie.

MS: Is there a simple explanation for your success?

JB: Every day, you have to perform. You have to put your brand on the line and treat your customers well every day in this or any other business. My father always said this about the casino business: "If you give the customer good food and a fair gamble, they'll come – and come again." That's what I've always tried to do – and it's worked out pretty well.

The poker industry is going great guns right now, and we owe a great deal of that success to Jack Binion. On behalf of poker players around the world, let me say, "Thank you, Jack, for all you've done for poker. And I wish you all the best in retirement, or whatever you do."

Take care.

Mike Sexton is the host of PartyPoker.com and a commentator on the World Poker Tour (which can be seen every Wednesday at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel).