Chip Reese was born in Dayton, Ohio on March 28th, 1951, under the name David Edward Reese. Even as a child he used to have a great talent for card games, and so Chip Reese played with the other kids in the neighborhood for stakes of chewing gums or baseball cards.
As a child, when he was in elementary school, Chip Reese suffered from rheumatic fever and had to stay home for nearly a year. During his time at home, his mother taught him to play various board games and card games. Later in his life Chip Reese described himself as a "product of that year". When he was only six years old he already beat fifth-graders in poker games.
In high school Chip Reese joined both the football and the debate teams, and with the latter he won the Ohio state championship and made it to the National Finals. After graduation Chip Reese refused an offer from Harvard University and enrolled into Dartmouth College for a degree in economics. There he became a fraternity member of the Beta Theta Pi. He also played a little football and joined the university's debate team. However, the passion for poker never left Chip Reese, and he used to play – and win most of the time – with his fellow students and some of his professors. In addition he taught his friends in the fraternity to play other card games such as bridge. Years later the fraternity named their card room after him: "David E. Reese Memorial Card Room".
Chip Reese was admitted to Stanford Law School, but after winning $60,000 in a Las Vegas poker tournament he decided to go pro instead. It took him an entire year to tell that to his parents, though.
The first live professional poker tournament Chip Reese won cash was in 1978, at the 9th WSOP $1000 7 Card Stud Split tournament, in which he won the 1st place along with $19,200 – a relatively grand prize for a new major-league player. Ever since then Chip Reese knew he was where he belonged – in the scene of professional poker. He continued playing more and more tournaments, attended many WSOP events and later on, when the WPT events were founded, he didn't forget to participate in their tournaments as well. In 1991 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame at age 40, and became the youngest inductee ever.
Chip Reese won dozens of tournaments throughout his career, but his greatest winning was in the 37th Annual WSOP, at the WSOP No Limit H.O.R.S.E, on July 14th, 2006. After winning two WSOP bracelets, in 1978 and in 1982, Chip Reese went for a third one, nearly two decades later. And indeed he won his third bracelet, along with $1,784,640.
Once Chip Reese was asked about the estimated ending of his poker career, and said "I'll stop playing at my funeral, and only God knows what I'll do after that." Everything seemed to go well for Chip Reese and lady luck granted him with her smiles and affection.
But lady luck can be a treacherous one. On December 4th, 2007, a year and a half after his greatest achievement, after proving that he only gets better over the years, Chip Reese was found dead in his apartment in Las Vegas, when he was only 56. Some say he died from a heart attack combined with pneumonia, others claim his death was due to an earlier gastric bypass that caused a blood clot.
After learning about the death of Chip Reese, many people in the professional poker scene stated that he was one of the best, if not the best poker player who ever lived, the greatest cash-game player who ever lived and even a WSOP legend.
Upon his death, Chip Reese left behind his ex-wife, daughter and stepdaughter.
Chip Reese Quick Facts
Cashes: 55
Total Winnings: $3,552,658
First Place Finishes: 8
WSOP Bracelets: 3