As poker players or simply fans of the game, we are very fortunate - and perhaps even a bit spoiled - to live in an age in which poker has become such a widespread and totally accepted part of society. Never before has the game of poker been so widely televised, featuring such a broad cast of characters and made available to even the rankest of amateurs on the Internet and in casinos all over the country.

It was not always like this. Back into the wild old days, poker players had to live on the margins of society, traveling from town the town seeking out big money games and trying not to get burned too bad. Many consider this bygone era to be an age of giants, in which the game was far riskier and required even greater levels of skill than you are apt to see displayed at the 2006 World Series of poker.

Whether that perspective is accurate or simply the nostalgic musings of those old enough to remember is a largely irrelevant question. But any review of the World Series of Poker from previous eras will certainly have to include a hefty mentioned of Brian "Sailor" Roberts. He was truly an original and though now gone, will never be forgotten.

Before becoming a professional poker player, Roberts, like other greats including Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim, made his living as a rounder. And, when he found himself in a situation where no good money games were to be found, he was not afraid to put his skills as a contract bridge player to use. That's how it was back then. You had to play whatever game was available and always keep your eye open for a good opportunity.

But it was in 1975 that "Sailor" Roberts achieved the ultimate in poker respectability when he won the main event at the World Series of Poker. In doing so, he garnered his second WSOP bracelet (the first had been the year before in the $5,000 deuce to seven draw event) and also went home $210,000 richer for his crafty efforts. Sadly, even a man as wily and cunning as Roberts cannot win every showdown and he eventually succumbed to a case of sclerosis brought on by lingering hepatitis.

Nonetheless, his shadow still looms large over the poker tables of Las Vegas - and anywhere else the game is played in this country - and there's no indication that true lovers of the game will stop recalling his glory days anytime soon.