Tom McEvoy: 1983 WSOP Main Event Champion and Poker Hall of Famer
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 2013
Tom McEvoy is a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, the 1983 WSOP Main Event champion and a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. His career spans the early growth of tournament poker, the expansion of satellite qualifiers and the modern WSOP era.
McEvoy's influence extends beyond his results. He became the first player to win the WSOP Main Event after qualifying through a satellite, built a long career as a poker author and educator, and played an important role in efforts to remove smoking from tournament poker rooms.
As of September 2026, The Hendon Mob lists McEvoy with more than $3.11 million in live tournament earnings and a career-best score of $540,000. His recorded tournament results continued into July 2026, showing that he remains active in live poker.
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Who Is Tom McEvoy?
Tom McEvoy is an American professional poker player from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who later made Las Vegas his home. Born in 1944, he worked as an accountant before making poker his profession.
McEvoy moved to Las Vegas in 1979 after deciding to pursue tournament poker seriously. That decision placed him in the game during a period when organized poker tournaments were still relatively small and the World Series of Poker had not yet developed into the international festival it would become decades later.
His early career quickly produced significant results. McEvoy won an event at Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker in 1982 before breaking through at the WSOP the following year.
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Tom McEvoy's 1983 WSOP Breakthrough
The 1983 World Series of Poker changed McEvoy's career permanently.
He first won the $1,000 Limit Hold'em event for his first WSOP bracelet. The victory was notable in its own right because Limit Hold'em was being offered as a WSOP bracelet event for the first time.
Six days later, McEvoy won poker's world championship.
He entered the $10,000 WSOP Main Event through a satellite rather than paying the full entry fee directly. After navigating a field of 108 players, McEvoy defeated Rod Peate heads-up to win the championship and $540,000.
The victory made McEvoy the first satellite qualifier to win the WSOP Main Event.
That achievement became increasingly significant as satellites developed into one of poker's primary paths into major tournaments. Players who could not or did not want to pay a championship buy-in directly could instead qualify through lower-cost events, a format that eventually became central to the growth of the WSOP Main Event.
McEvoy's championship arrived two decades before Chris Moneymaker's satellite-driven victory helped accelerate poker's global expansion in 2003.
For readers learning the game that made McEvoy a world champion, Angry Aces Poker's guide to Texas Hold'em rules and gameplay explains how the game's betting rounds, community cards and hand construction work.
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How Many WSOP Bracelets Does Tom McEvoy Have?
Tom McEvoy has four World Series of Poker bracelets.
The World Series of Poker lists him with four bracelet victories and no WSOP Circuit rings.
His bracelet wins came in several different poker variants:
1983 — $1,000 Limit Hold'em
1983 — $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event
1986 — $1,000 Razz
1992 — $1,500 Limit Omaha
The range of games represented by those victories is an important part of McEvoy's tournament record. He did not build his WSOP résumé solely through no-limit hold'em. His championships also came in limit hold'em, razz and Omaha, reflecting the mixed-game environment that defined much of professional tournament poker during his prime years.
His 1992 Limit Omaha title became his fourth bracelet and remains his most recent WSOP bracelet victory.
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The 1983 WSOP Main Event Championship
McEvoy's Main Event victory remains the defining competitive achievement of his career.
The 1983 championship attracted 108 entries, only the second WSOP Main Event to surpass 100 players. McEvoy's $540,000 first prize remains the largest recorded live tournament cash of his career.
His heads-up opponent was Rod Peate, another player who had qualified for the Main Event through a lower-cost satellite route. Their heads-up match lasted for hours before McEvoy secured the championship.
The result helped demonstrate that satellite qualifiers could compete successfully against established professionals in poker's most important tournament.
That idea eventually became fundamental to the identity of the Main Event. Satellite tournaments expanded access to poker's world championship and helped create a larger, more diverse field of qualifiers during later decades.
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Success Beyond the Main Event
McEvoy continued producing tournament results long after his 1983 championship.
His third WSOP bracelet came in the $1,000 Razz event at the 1986 World Series of Poker, where he earned $52,400. Six years later, he won the $1,500 Limit Omaha event at the 1992 WSOP for $79,200.
He also came close to another bracelet immediately before that Omaha victory, finishing second in a $1,500 Seven-Card Stud tournament at the 1992 WSOP.
Outside the bracelet events, McEvoy added other notable titles. PokerNews records a $225,000 victory on the Professional Poker Tour in 2006.
Another distinctive achievement came during the 2009 World Series of Poker, when McEvoy won the inaugural Champions Invitational. The special event brought together former WSOP Main Event champions as part of the series' 40th-anniversary celebration.
McEvoy defeated 2002 world champion Robert Varkonyi heads-up. The tournament did not award a standard WSOP bracelet; McEvoy instead won the Jack Binion Cup and a restored 1970 Chevrolet Corvette.
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Tom McEvoy's Live Tournament Earnings
As of September 1, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Tom McEvoy with more than $3.11 million in recorded live tournament earnings.
His $540,000 victory in the 1983 WSOP Main Event remains his largest live score.
Career earnings totals should be treated as changing statistics because tournament databases continue to add new results. McEvoy's Hendon Mob record includes hundreds of live cashes accumulated across several decades.
The longevity of that record is especially notable. His tournament career began before the modern poker boom, continued through the rapid expansion of the game during the 2000s and remains active well into the 2020s.
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Is Tom McEvoy Still Playing Poker?
Yes. Available tournament records show McEvoy continuing to compete in live events.
The WSOP records tournament cashes for McEvoy in recent series, including the 2023, 2024 and 2025 World Series of Poker. In 2025, he cashed in the $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold'em event.
The Hendon Mob lists additional tournament cashes during 2026, including multiple results at The Orleans in Las Vegas. His recorded results include cashes in the Orleans Summer Open and recurring tournaments through July 2026.
Those results make it inaccurate to describe McEvoy as retired. While his biggest championships came decades earlier, he has continued to participate in live tournament poker.
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Poker Hall of Fame Induction
Tom McEvoy entered the Poker Hall of Fame in 2013 alongside fellow WSOP Main Event champion Scotty Nguyen.
The honor recognized more than his tournament victories. McEvoy's candidacy also reflected his longevity, poker writing, role as an ambassador for tournament poker and contributions to improving playing conditions.
His Hall of Fame résumé included four WSOP bracelets, a world championship, decades of tournament results and a body of educational work that helped explain poker strategy to generations of players.
The WSOP's coverage of the 2013 Poker Hall of Fame ceremony confirms McEvoy and Nguyen as the Class of 2013.
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Tom McEvoy as a Poker Author
McEvoy developed a second major poker career through writing and education.
He authored and co-authored numerous poker books, including strategy titles produced with fellow tournament professional T.J. Cloutier. His writing covered tournament poker and several specific variants at a time when detailed poker instruction was far less widely available than it is today.
PokerNews reported in 2025 that McEvoy had published his 15th book, Poker Pioneer, the previous year. Unlike his earlier strategy-focused work, Poker Pioneer is an autobiography covering his life and decades in the poker industry.
His work as an author matters because McEvoy belonged to a generation of professionals who helped move poker knowledge beyond private conversations between experienced players. Books provided recreational and aspiring professionals with access to strategic ideas that previously circulated mainly inside poker rooms.
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McEvoy's Role in Smoke-Free Poker
McEvoy also became closely associated with the campaign to eliminate smoking at poker tables.
During an era when smoking was common inside casinos and poker rooms, McEvoy pushed for tournaments where players would not be exposed continuously to cigarette smoke.
PokerNews credits him with organizing an early non-smoking poker tournament in Las Vegas and later helping push the World Series of Poker toward a smoke-free tournament environment.
The issue became part of his wider contribution to professional poker. His influence was not limited to decisions made with cards and chips; he advocated for changes to the physical conditions in which tournament players competed.
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Tom McEvoy's Place in Poker History
McEvoy occupies a distinctive position between different generations of tournament poker.
He became a professional before the poker boom, won the Main Event when the field contained only 108 players and remained involved as the championship grew into a tournament attracting thousands.
His status as the first satellite qualifier to become world champion is particularly enduring. Satellites eventually became one of the defining mechanisms for expanding tournament fields and allowing players to reach events beyond their normal bankroll.
His four bracelets also demonstrate success across multiple disciplines. Limit hold'em, no-limit hold'em, razz and Omaha all appear on his championship résumé.
Beyond competition, his poker books, educational work and campaign for smoke-free tournaments expanded his influence beyond his own results.
More than four decades after his Main Event victory, McEvoy remains connected to live tournament poker, giving his career unusual continuity across the history of the modern WSOP.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did Tom McEvoy win the WSOP Main Event?
Yes. Tom McEvoy won the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. He defeated a field of 108 players and earned $540,000.
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How many WSOP bracelets does Tom McEvoy have?
Tom McEvoy has four WSOP bracelets. He won two in 1983, one in 1986 and one in 1992.
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Was Tom McEvoy the first satellite qualifier to win the WSOP Main Event?
Yes. McEvoy became the first player to qualify for the WSOP Main Event through a satellite and then win the championship when he captured the 1983 title.
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Is Tom McEvoy in the Poker Hall of Fame?
Yes. Tom McEvoy was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2013 alongside Scotty Nguyen.
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How much has Tom McEvoy won in live poker tournaments?
As of September 1, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Tom McEvoy with more than $3.11 million in live tournament earnings. His largest recorded cash is the $540,000 he earned for winning the 1983 WSOP Main Event.
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Does Tom McEvoy have any WSOP Circuit rings?
No. The WSOP currently lists McEvoy with four bracelets and zero Circuit rings.
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Is Tom McEvoy still active in poker?
Yes. Tournament databases list McEvoy with live cashes during 2026, including results in Las Vegas at The Orleans.
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What poker books has Tom McEvoy written?
McEvoy has written or co-written numerous poker strategy books during his career, including works with T.J. Cloutier. In 2024, he published Poker Pioneer, an autobiography covering his life and career in poker.
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Why is Tom McEvoy important to poker history?
McEvoy's significance combines tournament success and broader influence. He won four WSOP bracelets, became the first satellite qualifier to win the Main Event, entered the Poker Hall of Fame, wrote extensively about poker strategy and helped campaign for smoke-free tournament environments.