Larry Flynt, who owned and operated two major Los Angeles area poker rooms, passed away at his home at age 78. The cause of death isn't publicly known at this point as the family isn't disclosing that information.
Flynt was more known worldwide for his role in the adult entertainment industry. He was also a controversial figure who briefly ran for president in 1984, although he never picked up much steam and wasn't a threat to President Ronald Reagan's re-election campaign.
As a successful businessman, he created the Hustler magazine empire, which along with Playboy, became one of the most popular adult magazines in the world.
He began his business career by opening strip clubs around Ohio in the 1970s. Later on, he opened the Larry Flynt Hustler Club, which has long been one of the more popular strip clubs in Las Vegas.
But in 1978, he ran into some legal troubles and then even worse, serious health problems due to being shot while walking down the street outside a courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia. A white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin, who later admitted to the story, shot him because he was offended that Flynt allowed an interracial couple into his Hustler magazine.
Flynt was severely injured, but survived. However, he would spend the rest of his life paralyzed from the waste down.
Los Angeles poker icon
Larry Flynt wasn't just an iconic figure in the adult entertainment industry. He was also well known within the poker community, mostly for his two Los Angeles area card rooms — Larry Flynt's Lucky Lady Casino and Hustler Casino.
He opened Hustler Casino in 2000, and the poker room now has 50 card tables, making it one of the largest in the western part of the United States. The room attracts some of the highest-stakes games in Southern California, and of course plenty of low-stakes grinders.
Hustler Casino is one of the top places to play poker in California. The casino recently reopened outdoors, per state guidelines, for the first time in nearly three months following Governor Gavin Newsom's shut down of all non-essential indoor businesses due to the increased COVID-19 spread in the state.
Flynt, who spent much of his life in a wheelchair following the 1978 shooting, had a passion for poker, especially seven card stud. Many outside the poker community only knew of him as a nudie mag and strip club owner. But he also had a love for poker.
In the 1990s, before he opened his casinos, Flynt hosted the largest stud games in the world in California. Players would come from all around the world just to get a seat in the juicy games. The pros would clean house in those games and go home even wealthier.
Flynt dealt with health issues beyond being paralyzed from the waste down for much of his life. In recent years, his health had deteriorated to a point where he could barely get out of bed on some days. He passed away Wednesday at his Hollywood Hills home, not far from his legendary poker room.
Featured image source: Flickr
