What would you say if I told you that poker may have played a major role in winning World War 2?
Aha, I can see the smirk. You don't believe me. That's understandable, but I am about to present the evidence to prove my theory.
The two U.S. generals who led America's fighting forces to victory in the second world war, were Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Patton Jr. Eisenhower...
...who went by the nickname of Ike, while Patton was called Bandito or Old Blood and Guts.
Eisenhower grew up in Kansas, the son of a railroad mechanic. Patton, a native of San Gabriel, CA., was born into a privileged family of wealth.
A natural born athlete, Ike took up hunting, fishing, boxing and football in his early years. At age eight, he met an outdoorsman named Bob Davis who lived along a river in Abilene, KS.
Davis liked Little Ike as he called him and took him under his wing. He taught him three things -- how to hunt and fish and how to play poker.
Although he was basically illiterate, Davis knew the odds in poker and drilled them into Eisenhower's head. He was a philosopher and Ike considered him his hero.
When Ike enrolled at West Point in 1911, he took his knowledge of poker along with him. As a plebe, he was unbeatable at the game and was able to defeat the upperclassmen at poker.
He admitted he would 'rather play poker than dance'.
When he and his fellow cadets were playing in their rooms, they would post a lookout at the door.
After graduating from West Point, Ike was assigned to Camp Meade, MD. where another officer named George Patton Jr. was in charge of two tank corps. Eisenhower was given command of one of the units.
Ike stuck strictly to the odds and never let emotion creep into his game. Patton, who also played poker, was super aggressive!
Both were very competitive players and they enjoyed comparing their skills, whether the game was poker or war.
Patton, who believed in reincarnation, though he was born to be a soldier. He believed nobody ever defended anything successfully and the only way to win at poker or war was to attack, attack, attack.
His theory about tank warfare, which he discussed often with Eisenhower while they were playing poker or talking about military tactics, was to advance constantly and grab the enemy by the balls.
During their training maneuvers, they nearly were decapitated when a cable pulling a stalled tank snapped and missed their heads by inches...
...while live bullets flew overhead. Both later admitted they were scared to death by the incident.
Eisenhower boosted his salary with his poker winnings. He won so much he was able to buy an expensive jewelry box for his future wife, Mamie, who was unaware of his poker playing.
Ike realized the other officers knew little or nothing about percentages. He was a constant winner at the game and managed to hold his own against Patton.
During their time together at Camp Meade, the two discussed tank warfare and drew charts and diagrams on what they would do in combat. Ike's logical mind-melded with Patton's passion for war and they became great comrades.
During World War 2, they worked well together as a team while maintaining their competitive spirit in poker. Ike eventually stopped playing poker when he realized he was winning too much money from the soldiers under his command.
He switched to bridge and became a brilliant player, winning the nickname 'The Bridge Wizard of Manilla.'
Patton used the aggressive military tactics he had discussed with Eisenhower against the German tanks and was successful at destroying the Nazi war machine. Even the German high command gave grudging respect to his military tactics.
As the war drew to a close, Eisenhower, who was in charge of the Allied forces, utilized his poker tactics which included bluffing to baffle the Nazi war effort.
WHO was the better poker player of the two? That's your guess as well as mine.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
