Professional poker player ‘Chicago Sam’ Petrillo dies

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

When "Chicago Sam" Petrillo came to Las Vegas in the late 1960s, he had aspirations of making it as a professional gambler, but first had to pay his dues.

Petrillo worked several years as a blackjack dealer at the Fremont, Sands and Stardust hotels and played poker during his off-hours until he built a stake that allowed him the freedom to quit dealing and play poker full time.

In 1979 and 1981, Petrillo made final tables of the World Series of Poker's premier event, the $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas Hold 'em championship -- each time featuring three men who had won or would win the coveted world title.

Petrillo, a professional gambler who helped build the popularity of the World Series of Poker during its formative years at Binion's Horseshoe, died Friday at his Las Vegas home. He was 68.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 38 years were to be at 2 p.m. today at Palm Mortuary-Eastern.

Petrillo was born Aug. 17, 1936, in Chicago.

In 1963, while working for Sears, Petrillo began playing poker with friends in Chicago barroom games. But the lure of graduating to high-stakes betting brought him to Las Vegas four years later.

"You got to have people with big money, otherwise, you don't have a challenging game," Petrillo was quoted as saying in a biography published in the 1978 World Series of Poker media guide.

At the 1979 World Series, Petrillo made a final table that included 1978 World Champion Bobby Baldwin, three-time World Champ and Hall of Famer Johnny Moss and Hal Fowler, who that year became the first non-professional player to win the no-limit title. Petrillo finished sixth out of a field of 54 entrants.

Two years later, Petrillo was at the no-limit final table that featured Baldwin, defending champion Stu Ungar and Bill Smith, who in 1986 would win the world championship event. Ungar won his second consecutive title in 1981 and Petrillo finished ninth out of 75 players.

Petrillo was a member of the Italian American Club of Las Vegas.

He is survived by three sons, Steve Petrillo of Overland Park, Kansas, Tony Petrillo of Las Vegas and Michael Petrillo of Brookfield, Ill.; a daughter, Laura Slussar of Joliet, Ill.; a sister Mary Ann DeMarie of Las Vegas; and nine grandchildren.

The family said donations can be made in Sam Petrillo's memory to Families for Effective Autism Treatment of Southern Nevada.