The WSOP Main Event Winners of the 1980s

The 1980’s moved the game of poker on in more ways than one — while the WSOP winners of the 1970s were certainly mega-players in their own right, that doesn’t mean the 1980s offer any less.

From Stu Ungar through Johnny Chan to Phil Hellmuth, the 1980s was dominated by big personalities and a level of growth that would have a long-term effect on the growth of the game.

The Kid Takes Over

In 1980, the world of poker and in particular the World Series of Poker Main Event was given a new hero to root for. A rummy player, drug addict, and gambler, Stu Ungar was known in Las Vegas as ‘The Kid’ In 1980, with 73 entries to the Main Event, it was Ungar who finished top of the pile, winning $365,000 after he defeated legendary player Doyle Brunson heads up.

Brunson cashed for $146,000 in the event and was joined at the final table by Jay Heimowitz (3^rd for $109,500), Johnny Moss (4^th for $73,000), and Charles Dunwoody (5^th for $36,500), with Gabe Kaplan reaching the final six but failing to cash, bubbling the money in 6^th place.

In 1981, Stu Ungar became only the third player in WSOP history to win back-to-back Main Events, something only four men have done. At the first final table where every player received a cash prize, Ungar won $375,000 by outlasting the 75-player field (I mean, have you ever seen The Stu Ungar Story?).

This time, Heimowitz crawled into the money in 6^th place, winning a min-cash of $30,000. Bill Smith (5^th for $37,500), Ken Smith (4^th for $37,500), and Gene Fisher (3^rd for $75,000) all fell under Ungar’s spell, while it was Perry Green who was beaten heads-up, winning $150,000 but missing out on history.

Treetops and Grand Rapids

After Stu Ungar’s heroics, Vegas saw an influx to Sin City for the WSOP Main Event that was over 100 players. The first time this happened was in 1982, the winner of the Main Event was Jack ‘Treetop’ Straus, a heads-up specialist who won ‘The Main’ in the most unique way.

Moving what he thought was all of his chips into the middle and losing the hand, Straus believed himself to be out of the event. But he discovered that he had negated to move one chip forward, and as he had never declared himself to be all-in, kept hold of that chip. As the saying goes, ‘All you need is a chip and a chair’ and that phrase dates back to 1982 because Straus, against all the odds, worked his way back into contention and went on to win the Main Event for a record $520,000 score.

Along the way, Dewey Tonko (2^nd for $208,0000 and Doyle Brunson (4^th for $52,000) both cashed. The 1982 WSOP was also symbolic for replacing the ‘feminine’ wristwear of bracelets with wristwatches as winner’s prizes. The move proved unpopular and bracelets were back in place by 1983.

1983 was unique in many ways. Tom ‘Grand Rapids’ McEvoy won the Main Event from a satellite costing just $100 and scooped $540,000 when he took the bracelet. Heads up, the epic battle for supremacy was the longest in history, with a record seven-hour slog that would be the longest battle for over two decades.

Nine players cashed in the 1983 Main Event as 108 entrants played, with Doyle Brunson falling just short yet again, coming third for $108,000. It would be the final time the ‘Godfather of Poker’ made the final table.

Johnny Chan and the Look to the Sky

With the successes of Jack Keller in 1984, Bill Smith in 1985 and Berry Johnston in 1986, perhaps the most significant stories of those years were in the consistencies that the WSOP was able to establish. Across the three years where Jesse Alto made all three final tables, entrants ranged between 132 and 141 as the initial WSOP Main Event excitement plateaued, but in 1987, everything was going to ramp up all over again.

Johnny ‘The Orient Express’ Chan’s success as 1987 and 1988 WSOP Main Event champion was the stuff of legend. Not only was a truly gifted player crowned champion in back-to-back years for the final time, but Chan’s success truly put the ‘world’ in the WSOP. Chan’s oriental origin was a story of inspiration to millions, especially in Asia.

Chan beat 151 opponents to the title in 1987 for $625,000 and in 1988, the field was even bigger. With 167 players ponying up the $10,000 entry, the final table saw one of the most epic encounters in heads up history of the game.

Chan’s victory over Erik Seidel, who would go on to become even more of a success than his legendary opponent, formed a key part of the 1998 movie Rounders, in which Chan’s ‘look to the sky’ when betting with the best hand saw Seidel call and Chan seal history in the Main Event victory worth $700,000.

You know what Chan says — “If there’s going to be bluffing going on, I’m going to be the one doing it.”

The Poker Brat Spoils the Party

The year 1989 is perhaps remembered as one of the most exciting if not the most exciting WSOP Main Event heads-up in history.

After his heroics of the two previous years, Johnny Chan was looking to win his third title in a row. Having knocked out a 23-year-old kid called Phil Hellmuth in 1988 on his way to the Main Event victory, Chan would have hoped to get the better off Hellmuth when the two met heads up.

A year on from defeat, however, the 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth was (and still is) known as ‘The Poker Brat’ and had learned how to win major events. Becoming the youngest man ever to win the WSOP Main Event in a record that would stand 20 years — the longest any such record has stood to date – Hellmuth became a legend.

The win, worth $755,000 to Hellmuth, with Chan winning just $302,000 by comparison, sent a message to poker players everywhere that math was vital and youth perhaps even more so. Today, the lessons of 1989 are still felt as the game has developed in this way more and more.

Next week, we’ll look back at the 1990’s as the first European Main Event winners join the party and as the fun gets started, ‘it’s all over, baby’ too.

WSOP Main Event Winners 1980-1989