More Fun With Poker Fatties: A Wake-Up Call

READ MORE: Fatties, Gastric Bypass, Linda Johnson, Poker

Well, a late wake-up call, at best. An Oddjack reader alerted us to this 2002 Card Player column by the first lady of poker Linda Johnson who wrote about her experience with the gastric bypass procedure. And as an added bonus, she listed some of her friends who’ve had the surgery:

Many of our friends have had the surgery in the past year. The list includes poker players Rich Korbin, Howard Lederer, Dick Stevens, Don Barton, Dan Lumello, and Robert Williamson. I don’t want to give the impression that the surgery is without problems. Some of us had temporary complications, but others had virtually no problems. There is no norm and everyone recovers at his or her own pace; however, we all had faith that within a few months after the surgery, we would be in very healthy states. We each have lost at least 100 pounds and are thrilled with our decisions to have the bypass surgery. I wrote this column in November, and at that time, Howard Lederer was our role model, having lost about 140 pounds (he works out in the gym every day, as does Don Barton). Those who had diabetes no longer have the disease. Traveling is so much easier. People always are asking, “Is that really you?” We are having fun wearing new clothes and experiencing our new lifestyles. In short, if we had the decision to make again, we all would do it again in a heartbeat.

Man, it seems everybody was once a porker. In fact, the photo to the top left is actually a picture of none other than poker playing legend Johnny Chan before gastric bypass surgery.

Warning: No Poker Content! [CardPlayer]