Waylon Jennings vs. Merle Haggard Poker Feud Remembered

Poker has a long Old West and cowboy history and that apparently includes some regular play among some of country music’s biggest names. WhiskeyRiff.com reflected recently on a game involving country legends Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings that left one of the card players feeling taken advantage of.

The game took place early in Jennings’ career in the 1960s when he went from club to club, hoping just to break even after his performances, and featured Haggard and his manager Fuzzy Owens.

Cleaned Out

Many musicians have been known to play some cards, from the Eagles to Kris Kristofferson to Darius Rucker and more. Willie Nelson regularly hosts games with celebrities featuring plenty of pot smoking and fun.

That Haggard-Jennings game, however, left the latter feeling a bit taken advantage of. In 1996’s Waylon: An Autobiography, Jennings recalled taking a loss of around $5,000 that night – quite a chunk of cash for an artist barely scraping by on the road.

He noted that his two opponents “cleaned me out … they won everything.” Was this just sour grapes or was there ill will? Considering the recent ordeal he’d been through with the death of a bandmate, Jennings felt he had been taken advantage of by friends.

“They were there to get my money. That was it,” Jennings noted. “I think Merle is a great singer and songwriter, and probably he was in as bad a shape as I was, but we’ve never been close since that night.”

Both artists would go on to massive success. Jennings became a leader in outlaw country, selling 40 million records worldwide and winning two Grammys and four Country Music Association awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999 and passed away in 2002.

Haggard went on to major success in the same genre with album sales of more than six million, winning three Grammys and numerous Academy of Country Music Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and died in 2016.

Most Viewed Articles