Las Vegas Poker Pro Sam Grizzle Passes at Age 67

The Las Vegas poker scene has lost one of its most colorful poker characters with the passing of Sam Grizzle at age 67. Grizzle, a native of South Carolina but a long-time resident of Las Vegas, suffered a massive stroke and cerebral aneurysm on Monday. After lapsing into a deep coma and with doctors advising there was no hope of recovery, Grizzle’s family chose to remove him from life support on Tuesday.

Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, a frequent foe of Grizzle at the tables, was perhaps the first to alert the poker world via social media of Grizzle’s health crisis, tweeting:

Other Vegas poker veterans such as Todd Brunson soon confirmed the news, which was also brought to Twitter by Grizzle’s daughter.

Grizzle was a sharp-witted character at the tables who was skilled at needling his opponents, occasionally tilting them, which enraged some players while endearing him to others. One famed tale involving Grizzle involved he and poker legend Phil Hellmuth getting into a brief fistfight following confusion over a table seat being held; most reports say Grizzle got the better of Hellmuth but neither player was seriously hurt.

Though best known as a cash-game veteran, Grizzle played occasional tournaments as well, and amassed more than $1.35 million in recorded tourney winnings stretching all the way back to the 1980s. Grizzle remained competitive at high levels, and he surprised many casual onlookers by placing third in an event in the recently completed 2020 World Series of Poker Online. Grizzle’s $77,725 payday in Event #10, $600 No-Limit Hold’em, represented the largest tourney cash of his career, though Grizzle won at least 11 titles spanning numerous poker variants.

Numerous poker pros shared anecdotes about their time with Grizzle at the tables following the news of his passing. But perhaps Hall of Famer Todd Brunson summed it up best, tweeting simply and elegantly:

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