Poker legend Sam Grizzle passes away

The old school icon, well known for his altercations with Phil Hellmuth, has passed away following a stroke.

One of the most colourful characters of the old school era of poker, Sam Grizzle, passed away on Monday night.

He died of a stroke and brain aneurysm after slipping into a coma, he was 67 years old. 

Grizzle was a precursor to the Mike Matusow and Tony G characters we see in poker, known for getting under his opponent's skin and putting them on tilt. 

Most famously he had a rivalry with Phil Hellmuth. While many people wonder how the Poker Brat gets away with his rants without being punched, Grizzle famously thumped Hellmuth in a parking lot giving him a black eye and a bloody nose. 

RIP Sam Grizzle. In an interview w @ChadAHolloway, I gave Chad my favorite Sam story (I’ll tweet it out). Whenever you played poker w Sam, you were laughing. He was one of the cleverest guys in poker and will be missed #RIPSamGrizzle https://t.co/YlTGSYI0iU

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) October 21, 2020

Grizzle had $1,354,877 in live tournament cashes which included wins in the Jack Binion World Poker Open and the LA Poker Classic.