Event 19: Brotherly Love

$350 + $50 HOSE

Tom and Will Noyes

In the poker dominated world of No Limit Texas Hold'em, there's a small niche of loyal mixed game players and two of the more visible ones are the Noyes brothers.

Will and Tom are back at Borgata playing in the HOSE event and looking to continue their early 2010 success. The brothers went back-to-back in a recent series in Connecticut, with Tom winning the Omaha 8, followed by Will's win in HOSE the following day.

"I was proud of how I played," says Tom, "but of course he has to scoop me and win the next day."

"The thrill for me was seeing my brother get some recognition," says Will, "especially at his age. We've won before, but never on consecutive days."

The brotherly love is obvious as they joke with each other in the Borgata Poker Room. They recently celebrated birthdays, Tom (82) and Will (77), and in this tournament they start at the same table, where Will lets everyone know that his big bro is two seats to his left.

While on break, another player says to Tom that not many players are disciplined enough to fold a straight when there's a potential flush on the board. That's when Will pipes in, "I know that's not true, I've lived with him long enough and he's never folded a straight in his life."

"Watch it," says Tom, "or I'll knock you out of that chair," as they both laugh.

Will is better known as Dr. Will, a retired heart surgeon from Thompson, PA, but medicine is always in his blood. "Over the years, I've probably picked six or seven players off the ground," he says, recounting the numerous times he's assisted heart attack victims while playing cards.

"When I have a tough decision in poker, I think about removing the clamps on an aorta," he says. "Everything else is easy."

Tom is known in the poker world as "Mark Em Down," for his days in the auto industry when he gave his customers a mark down on used cars. But Tom rarely gives a discount at the poker table, making sure to get the max value from his winning hands.

As for the Doc, he uses his steady hands to surgically remove chips from his opponents and specializes in pot limit omaha (PLO). He has several career poker wins and a lot of success in major tournaments across the country, including his three final table finishes at the WSOP.

Tom doesn't have as many career cashes as Will, but takes poker more seriously after Will got him hooked on 7 card stud in the 1990s. "He's a good man," says Tom, who lives outside of Scranton, in Clarks Summitt, PA "he's done a lot of good in the world for a lot of people."

One mission that was near and dear to the doctor's heart is when he was a volunteer surgeon for 6 weeks in 1999 to help the victims of the Kosovo War. "It was the best experience of my professional career, he says. "It was medicine at it's basic simplicity. I always say I got more out of it than what I gave. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it's true."

Dr. Will made three subsequent trips to the war torn country, most recently in 2005, to deliver supplies with funds he raised while traveling the poker circuit. "You can't beat the generosity of poker players, most of the donations I got were at tournaments."

And poker has given back to the brothers as well. Both have a myriad of health problems, but Will says, "poker keeps us mentally strong."

Unfortunately the Noyes brothers are both eliminated midway through the HOSE event, with neither one earning bragging rights. But despite neither one making the money, Will is quick to point out that he lasted longer than his big brother.

Oh Brother, the Same Table