WSOP Top 10 Tuesday - from the World's Greatest Unknown WSOP Historian
Stellar contribution, thanks for all your research and effort to make this post, an asset to the community.
Worst Bad Beat, Greg Raymer 2005 WSOP Main Event.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Sorry, I was already late and grabbed the first thing I thought I could finish quickly. (Hopefully, it'll be my worst list until I post my first David Letterman-style Top Ten ;-)
I promise that next week's (which took longer to research than I expected) will be worth the wait. It's significant enough that I'll follow the list with two supplemental posts.
I promise that next week's (which took longer to research than I expected) will be worth the wait. It's significant enough that I'll follow the list with two supplemental posts.
Nice. I'll suggest to your HM list oh he of the back-to-back kings vs. aces from last year's Day 1A: Idan The One.
Also, this one reminds me of a story:
In baseball, sometimes you have what's known as a "Bullpen Day," when instead of having a single starting pitcher, you'll have a committee of pitchers – usually relievers – throw an inning or two each. Since it's common to list the expected starters for upcoming games in media notes, the nickname for this is "Johnny Allstaff."
Thus, the media notes might look like this:
Sunday - Mike Cuellar
Monday - Jim Palmer
Tuesday - Dave McNally
Wednesday - Pat Dobson
Thursday - Johnny Allstaff
One time, we played a team whose starting rotation was unsure. The PR guy replied with the Friday and Saturday names, but for Sunday he simply put "Johnny Allstaff." My co-worker received this information and looked high and low trying to figure out the identity of the Sunday starter. "There's no Johnny Allstaff on the roster, I have no idea who this is."
My guess is my old co-worker would look at poker chip counts and think, "Wow, this Did Not Report guy plays a lot of events."
Also, this one reminds me of a story:
In baseball, sometimes you have what's known as a "Bullpen Day," when instead of having a single starting pitcher, you'll have a committee of pitchers – usually relievers – throw an inning or two each. Since it's common to list the expected starters for upcoming games in media notes, the nickname for this is "Johnny Allstaff."
Thus, the media notes might look like this:
Sunday - Mike Cuellar
Monday - Jim Palmer
Tuesday - Dave McNally
Wednesday - Pat Dobson
Thursday - Johnny Allstaff
One time, we played a team whose starting rotation was unsure. The PR guy replied with the Friday and Saturday names, but for Sunday he simply put "Johnny Allstaff." My co-worker received this information and looked high and low trying to figure out the identity of the Sunday starter. "There's no Johnny Allstaff on the roster, I have no idea who this is."
My guess is my old co-worker would look at poker chip counts and think, "Wow, this Did Not Report guy plays a lot of events."
He's clearly #1 on the Top Ten Numbered WSOP Players:
- 10. Andrey Ten
- 9. Matthew Niner
- 8. Bradley Speight
- 7. Erdal Gulseven
- 6. Alexander, James, & Michael Six
- 5. Luke Fiveash
- 4. Cedric Four
- 3. Charles Threet
- 2. Anthony Tu et al. & Tu Huynh et al.
- 1. Idan The One (a.k.a. Idan One & Idan Theone)
"Did Not Report" has caused me many hours of misery. But nowhere near as many as "Unknown" and "Unknown Player" (many of these are because of the GDPR and couldn't be helped).
Worst Bad Beat, Greg Raymer 2005 WSOP Main Event.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Worst Bad Beat, Greg Raymer 2005 WSOP Main Event.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Greg with a huge stack makes the call with KK against Aaron Kanter who also had a big stack and pushed it all in on the turn with a QJ flush draw. Aaron makes his flush on the river and leaves Greg short and he busts in 25th.
Why is this such a bad beat? The year is 2005 and endorsement money is flowing hard from online sites. He wins that pot and could easily make that final table with a healthy stack and guaranteeing himself millions in sponsorship and god knows what if he won it again.
Best WSOP Myths, Busted
Etymology of "A Chip and a Chair"
Poker tournaments basically didn't exist before the 1971 WSOP, but the phrase, "a chip and a chair" was already popular enough by early 1965 that Aviation Week, Volume 83, page 99 used it. The difference is that the full phrase back then was "all you need is a chip and a chair to enter the game" (i.e., to play not to win).
The first reference I've seen in poker literature occurs much later and has the same meaning despite coming almost two years after Jack Straus's comeback. In the January 9, 1984 Poker Player newspaper, page 9, the article, "Brunson Picks Reese as Top Pro", includes in its list of top poker players, "4. Johnny Chan. A young player who took a chip and a chair and has shown his versatility regularly."
The first documented usage in the comeback sense was a full three years after Straus but already considers it a well-worn phrase. On page 5 of the July 22, 1985 Poker Player newspaper, an article titled "It’s Time to Live It Up at the Union Plaza" says, "Over at the Stardust, a visitor from Indianapolis, Indiana, once again demonstrated the significance of what tournament coordinator Bob Thompson insisted is the old adage: 'If you have a chip and a chair, you still have a prayer.'" Tex Sheahan then mentions Straus: "With one exception, I have never seen a player win a tournament with only one chip left. That one exception was Jack Straus when he won the World Series of Poker a few years ago."
Certainly, earlier references for both senses of the phrase must exist. Anyone?
- 10. 1989 Main Event Last Woman Standing
MYTH: Carmen Valenti was the Last Woman Standing in the 1989 Main Event, finishing 13th for $12,500. This was reported in the annual WSOP pre-Main Event press release in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
REALITY: No women cashed in the 1989 Main Event. Carmen Valenti was a male pro poker player from New York. {I reported this error to the WSOP on March 9, 2016, but they never fixed it (2018 was their final annual media guide but oddly the only one that's no longer online).}
- 9. 1971 Main Event Runner-Up
MYTH: Puggy Pearson was the runner-up in the 1971 Main Event, losing to Johnny Moss heads up. This is reported by credible sources such as PokerNews and the Hendon Mob.
REALITY: Jack Straus was the runner-up. The December 15, 1971 Amarillo Globe Times says on page 2, "Straus has come in second in the World Series of poker {the Ace-to-Five Draw and the Main Event}, held in Las Vegas, losing both times to Johnny Moss of Lubbock, Tex., and Las Vegas. Straus, who thinks of himself as a money player, commented: 'Moss won the trophy (a plaque), but I won most of the money." Amarillo Slim Preston's "Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People" confirms this on page 158: "Well that day apparently the Lord didn't want me to hold on to mine [money], because that giant [Straus] busted me, and there were no prizes for third place. Too bad for Treetop that there weren't any for second either, because Johnny busted him to become the 1971 World Series of Poker champion and took home all $30,000." Another point in favor of Straus over Pearson is that when Puggy won the 1974 Main Event, nobody said anything about what would have been a remarkable 2nd-2nd-1st streak.
- 8. 1970 Second Vote
MYTH: Johnny Moss won the 1970 WSOP championship on the second vote, after everyone had voted for themselves the first time.
REALITY: Moss dominated the cash games and was the obvious choice for "World's Champion Poker Player". The vote may not have been unanimous, but several of the players were single-game specialists while more than a few others finished the games in the red, so this story is undoubtedly apocryphal.
- 7. First Married Couple With WSOP Bracelets
MYTH 1: Sandy and Bob Stupak were the first married couple to both win bracelets. Bob Stupak's Wikipedia page and his own web site both make this claim.
REALITY 1: Although Bob did win a legitimate bracelet in the 1989 Deuce-to-Seven Draw, Sandy's victory in the 1984 Special Casino Operators tournament wasn't considered a bracelet at the time, as she won $14,000 and a trophy. Of the major results sites, only WSOP.com's tournament page deems this a bracelet. They wouldn't have been the first couple anyway (see below).
MYTH 2: Max and Maria Stern became the first married couple with bracelets when Maria won the 1997 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud. Her husband Max had already won the 1995 $1,500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better. E.g., Shulmans are Third Married Couple to Win World Series of Poker Bracelets and Day 4 Highlights.
REALITY 2: The Sterns were the first to both win open bracelets, but Donna and Jim Doman won the 1983 $800 Mixed Doubles tournament together to become the first couple with bracelets.
- 6. Only Two 1972 Bracelet Winners are Known
MYTH: Hendon, the Global Poker Index, and CardPlayer.com only acknowledge two WSOP tournaments in 1972 (Five-Card Stud and the Main Event), while WSOP.com says that the Five-Card Stud was Event #2 and the Main Event was Event #5 but has no information on the other three events.
REALITY: By historical chance, less is known about the 1972 WSOP than the 1971 WSOP, but the same five games were probably played, with Ace-to-Five Draw, Seven-Card Stud, and Razz completing the set. Unfortunately, two of these three winners are still unknown, but Puggy Pearson won in Seven-Card Stud. In an article titled "Amarillo Slim Paid $31,000", page 3 of the November 30, 1972 Big Spring Herald says, "Slim won the so-called world series of poker here earlier this year. His partners apparently were no slouches in that contest. Pearson won top honors as the best seven-card stud player, and Boyd took top honors in five-card stud." {See followup post.}
- 5. Three Consecutive Bracelets for Hellmuth and Forrest
MYTH: Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest each won three consecutive events during the 1993 WSOP. Hellmuth won events 7, 8, and 9, then Forrest matched him in events 11, 12, and 13.
REALITY: Forrest actually won his third bracelet of the year first, but his victories were in events 5, 6, and 17, while Hellmuth's were in events 7, 18, and 19. Hellmuth discusses his feat with the correct dates in his book "Poker Brat" on pages 169-170. (See next list item.)
- 4. WSOP Tournament Chronology, 1976 to 1993
MYTH: WSOP.com, the Hendon Mob, the Global Poker Index, and CardPlayer.com all agree on the order of the WSOP tournaments from 1976 to 1993, so they must be right.
REALITY: There was a site called PokerPages.com that posted historical WSOP tournament results in April 2000. I don't know where they got their data from, so it might not be their fault, BUT they listed most of the early years' results alphabetically by the winner's last name. WSOP, Hendon, et al., all copied this incorrect order! Even more bizarrely, 1991 to 1993 are in reverse alphabetical order. 1990 is actually correct somehow, while 1986 is about half correct. 1975 was the one year when alphabetical order would have been correct, but they moved Johnny Moss's win from #4 to #1! The dates of the tournaments are then incorrectly guestimated by working backward from the Main Event, which is correctly listed last at least.
- 3. Chris Moneymaker's Satellite Buyin
MYTH: In 2003, Chris Moneymaker qualified for the WSOP Main Event via a $39 online satellite. Even his 2005 autobiography, "Moneymaker", touts a rounded version of this in its front cover subtitle, "How an amateur poker player turned $40 into $2.5 million at the World Series of Poker".
REALITY: A few years later PokerStars unearthed the correction that the satellite had an $86 entry fee. And that only won him entry into a second satellite, which got him his Main Event ticket.
- 2. Dandolos-Moss Match
MYTH: Benny Binion was inspired to create the World Series of Poker by a marathon multi-month Nick Dandolos-Johnny Moss cash session in front of his casino two decades earlier. This story was first told in depth in Jon Bradshaw's 1975 book, "Fast Company", starting on page 148 (in the chapter on Johnny Moss), including Dandolos's famous quote after losing a million dollars or so over five months, "Well, I guess I got to let you go, Mr. Moss." Al Alvarez further popularized the story in his 1983 book, "The Biggest Game in Town".
REALITY: Most of the details of this match have been exaggerated beyond recognition. It either occurred in 1949, as Alvarez claims, or in 1951, as Bradshaw states (both authors place the game at the Horseshoe, which opened in 1951). The event merited no press coverage in either year. In actuality, the World Series of Poker was inherited from Tom Moore and his 1969 Texas Gambler's Reunion in Reno, which featured a similar setup (and a similar result according to Johnny Moss, who claims to have been declared the champion). When Mary Ellen Glass asked Binion, "How did you start that [the World Series of Poker]?", he gave full credit to the Texas Gambler's Reunion in his 1973 University of Nevada Oral History interview.
- 1. Jack Straus's Chip and a Chair
MYTH: Jack Straus came back to win the 1982 Main Event after being down to "a chip and a chair".
REALITY: Jack Straus made a great comeback to win the Main Event, but at his lowest point he had at least two chips (and possibly six or more). The May 25, 1982 Las Vegas Sun says on page 6, "At one time in this championship go-round, he was down to his last $525." This got rounded down to 500 just one day later in the WSOP's handwritten player notes, which said, "at one point he was down to one hidden chip." The May 26, 1982 UPI article (e.g., Brownsville Herald, page 9) echoed this: "Strauss [sic], down to a single $500 chip on the first night of the four-day no limit Hold 'em event, beat out 103 of the world's best poker players." The December 1982 issue of "Hustler" magazine, page 38, then made up the part about the chip being "stuck between the rail and the table" when his opponent carefully bet an amount equal to the visible chips (FWIW, Straus then called the bet, so he wasn't bluffing), while more recent retellings say the rogue chip was under a napkin under his drink or "between a napkin and the bumper" as Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback's claim on pages 100-101 of "All In".
Etymology of "A Chip and a Chair"
Poker tournaments basically didn't exist before the 1971 WSOP, but the phrase, "a chip and a chair" was already popular enough by early 1965 that Aviation Week, Volume 83, page 99 used it. The difference is that the full phrase back then was "all you need is a chip and a chair to enter the game" (i.e., to play not to win).
The first reference I've seen in poker literature occurs much later and has the same meaning despite coming almost two years after Jack Straus's comeback. In the January 9, 1984 Poker Player newspaper, page 9, the article, "Brunson Picks Reese as Top Pro", includes in its list of top poker players, "4. Johnny Chan. A young player who took a chip and a chair and has shown his versatility regularly."
The first documented usage in the comeback sense was a full three years after Straus but already considers it a well-worn phrase. On page 5 of the July 22, 1985 Poker Player newspaper, an article titled "It’s Time to Live It Up at the Union Plaza" says, "Over at the Stardust, a visitor from Indianapolis, Indiana, once again demonstrated the significance of what tournament coordinator Bob Thompson insisted is the old adage: 'If you have a chip and a chair, you still have a prayer.'" Tex Sheahan then mentions Straus: "With one exception, I have never seen a player win a tournament with only one chip left. That one exception was Jack Straus when he won the World Series of Poker a few years ago."
Certainly, earlier references for both senses of the phrase must exist. Anyone?
Best WSOP Myths, Busted
- 6. Only Two 1972 Bracelet Winners are Known
MYTH: Hendon, the Global Poker Index, and CardPlayer.com only acknowledge two WSOP tournaments in 1972 (Five-Card Stud and the Main Event), while WSOP.com says that the Five-Card Stud was Event #2 and the Main Event was Event #5 but has no information on the other three events.
REALITY: By historical chance, less is known about the 1972 WSOP than the 1971 WSOP, but the same five games were probably played, with Ace-to-Five Draw, Seven-Card Stud, and Razz completing the set. Unfortunately, two of these three winners are still unknown, but Puggy Pearson won in Seven-Card Stud. In an article titled "Amarillo Slim Paid $31,000", page 3 of the November 30, 1972 Big Spring Herald says, "Slim won the so-called world series of poker here earlier this year. His partners apparently were no slouches in that contest. Pearson won top honors as the best seven-card stud player, and Boyd took top honors in five-card stud." {See followup post.}
Given the above, we now know three of the five 1972 bracelet winners.
1972 Summary:
- Ace-to-Five Draw: unknown
- Seven-Card Stud: Puggy Pearson -- not currently acknowledged
- Razz: unknown
- Five-Card Stud: Bill Boyd
- Texas Hold 'Em (Main Event): Amarillo Slim Preston (counted as one bracelet, not two)
We know all five of the winners in 1971.
1971 Summary:
- Ace-to-Five Draw: Johnny Moss
- Seven-Card Stud: Puggy Pearson
- Razz: Jimmy Casella
- Five-Card Stud: Bill Boyd
- Texas Hold 'Em (Main Event): Johnny Moss (counted as one bracelet, not two)
I'd argue that as long as Moss's 1970 best player award counts as a bracelet, then so should the other poker awards given that year. Moss merits consideration for a second bracelet in 1970 because he didn't win the overall award solely because of his Hold 'Em prowess, while I wouldn't give him an extra one in 1971 (nor Preston in 1972).
1970 Summary:
- Ace-to-Five Draw: Joe Bernstein -- not currently acknowledged
- Seven-Card Stud: Puggy Pearson -- not currently acknowledged
- Razz: Jimmy Casella -- not currently acknowledged
- Five-Card Stud: George Barnes -- not currently acknowledged
- Texas Hold 'Em & World's Champion Poker Player: Johnny Moss (two awards but counted as one bracelet, not two)
Updated Bracelet Counts
Proposed career bracelet increases:
- Johnny Moss: 9 to 10 to join Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Erik Seidel in double digits
- Puggy Pearson 4 to 6 (tied for 10th most)
- Jimmy Casella 3 to 4
- Joe Bernstein 1 to 2
- George Barnes 0 to 1.
Source for 1970 awards: April 19, 1970 Las Vegas Sun, page 41 (Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder's column): "The results from The World Series of Poker, were [close] to what we predicted. / John Moss was the winner of the Best All Around. He also won the 'Hold-em.' / George Barnes was the king in the 'Stud.' / Joe Bernstein won the 'Ace to the Five Draw,' even after Moss beat him head up. / Puggy got the 'Seven Card High.' / Jimmy Cassala {sic} the winner in 'Razz.' / Jack Strauss {sic} the 'Most Congenial.' Nate Linnett 'The Best Loser.' Bill Boyd "The Best Sport.' Trophy to Titanic [Thompson] 'As the Living Legend.' Texan Curtis Skinner the winner of the 'Non Pro' award. / And Texas Doyle was 'The Forgotten Man.' All In all it was a lot of fun and everybody had a good time except the losers. The Horseshoe will make it bigger and better every year."
Lightning does strike twice (or more).
- In 1996, Huck Seed is the last of the 295 entrants to register for the Main Event as he has to beg to be allowed to play as he's technically too late. He wins the championship. The very next year, Stu Ungar is the last of the 312 entrants to register for the Main Event as he has to beg Bill Baxter for a buyin. He wins the championship.
- In 1995, Dan Harrington wins the final hand of the Main Event with the Nine and Eight of diamonds. The next year, Huck Seed wins the final hand of the Main Event with the Nine and Eight of diamonds. Both champs are behind preflop and win with Two Pairs against a Pair. {This would have made the list if not for Brunson's more amazing pair of hands.}
8. Party Crashers: In 1996, Huck Seed is the last of the 295 entrants to register for the Main Event as he has to beg to be allowed to play as he's technically too late. He wins the championship. The very next year, Stu Ungar is the last of the 312 entrants to register for the Main Event as he has to beg Bill Baxter for a buyin. He wins the championship.
Interesting and informative WSOP trivia, rjen47!
Horst Koch filmed 4 days for Spiegel in Germany [35 minutes].
But, no, I don’t know why ESPN skipped that year.
MYTH 2: Max and Maria Stern became the first married couple with bracelets when Maria won the 1997 $1,500 Seven-Card Stud. Her husband Max had already won the 1995 $1,500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better. E.g., Shulmans are Third Married Couple to Win World Series of Poker Bracelets and Day 4 Highlights.
REALITY 2: The Sterns were the first to both win open bracelets, but Donna and Jim Doman won the 1983 $800 Mixed Doubles tournament together to become the first couple with bracelets.
REALITY 2: The Sterns were the first to both win open bracelets, but Donna and Jim Doman won the 1983 $800 Mixed Doubles tournament together to become the first couple with bracelets.
There was considerable controversy over Maria Stern's bracelet. It came out that once the action was heads-up, Stern and the identified second-place finisher, Adam Roberts, cut a deal to give Roberts the bulk of the remaining prize pool in exchange for Stern getting the bracelet. They played the hands out after the deal was made, and Roberts made a number of sketchy plays, in effect dumping chips to Stern.
This is great stuff. You really know your WSOP! Maybe you should write the definitive book!
To me that is closer to a bracelet for hold 'em / main event, and also "player of the year" title, not a second bracelet.
Great stuff. The Storms Reback/Jonathan Grotenstein book was one of the first non-strategy books I bought after I started following poker in 2004. I often wonder how many of the stories are apocryphal, although looking at it, they did sort of build that likelihood into the full title: All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker.
rjen, in your opinion, how accurate is the James McManus book Cowboys Full, or at least the WSOP portion of it? Obviously, we can't ever know for certain, as is so often the case of history on any subject – there are still always assumptions and grains of salt involved.
rjen, in your opinion, how accurate is the James McManus book Cowboys Full, or at least the WSOP portion of it? Obviously, we can't ever know for certain, as is so often the case of history on any subject – there are still always assumptions and grains of salt involved.
Best Chip and a Chair Comebacks
Nobody will be surprised by what's number one on this list of WSOP bracelet event comebacks, but if you missed my myths post, there's still a surprise there.
Honorable Mention (chronological):
Busted, Rebought, Won (in chronological order)
{Undoubtedly many missing from this list.}
Special Honorable Mention: Six Main Event Champions Who Started the Final Table With Less Than Ten Percent of the Chips
(Note: I usually use "Final Table" to mean the last nine players, but I have chip counts for a couple of six-player final tables here):
Nobody will be surprised by what's number one on this list of WSOP bracelet event comebacks, but if you missed my myths post, there's still a surprise there.
- 10. 1997 $1,500 Razz: Linda Johnson says she was down to two chips after losing with the second best possible hand (6432A) on Day One of the two day event. The CardPlayer founder and owner donated part of her $96,000 first prize to endow a "Students Dealing With Adversity" scholarship at UNLV. Source: June 26, 2013 Card Player magazine, page 55, "Going for the Gold" article. {This would have ranked better except for not knowing how big the two chips were relative to the blinds and the fact that the story was told 16 years later.}
- 9. 2012 $1,500 No-Limit Hold 'Em: Henry Lu came back from just over two big blinds with eleven players left on the third and final day of the event. Source: July 16, 2012 special WSOP supplement of PokerPlayer newspaper, page WSOP1.
- 8. 2024 $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship 6-Max : Phil Ivey was down to 1 big bet 3 handed before recovering to win his historic 11th bracelet. Source: WPT article.
- 7. 1996 $2,500 Seven-Card Stud Split: Frank Thompson was down to seven chips (under 2 antes) at a dinner break. Source: David Spanier's 2000 book, "The Hand I Played", page 44,
- 6. 1987 $5,000 Seven-Card Stud: Artie Cobb won his second bracelet (and $142,000) after a remarkable comeback from down 354,500 to 500 heads up against Don Williams. Reduced to "one single gray chip", which was the ante, he survived eleven straight all ins (1 in 2,048 chance). Source: March 7, 1997 CardPlayer magazine, pages 46 and 48. Would be closer to #1 except that it wasn't mentioned at the time and may have gotten exaggerated during the ensuing decade.
- 5. 2012 $10,000 Main Event: On Day 5 of the Main Event, Greg Merson was down to two big blinds after losing an all-in pot to a player he barely had covered. He soon doubled up twice, worked his way back to an average stack, and was on his way to victory after a two and a half month November Nine break. Source: WSOP Updates.
- 4. 2017 $1,500 Razz: Jason Gola was down to 100,000 chips heads up with blinds at 60,000/120,000, while David 'ODB' Baker had 3 million chips. Source: WSOP Updates.
- 3. 2019 $600 DeepStack No-Limit Hold 'Em/Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max: Aristeidis Moschonas, a 37 year-old Greek pro, was down to half a big blind after level 4 before doubling up four times. Source: PokerNews.
- 2. 2016 $565 Colossus: Benjamin Keeline recovered from a single ante chip worth 500 on Day 1 to win the 2016 WSOP Colossus for $1,000,000. Source: PokerNews.
- 1. 1982 $10,000 Main Event: Jack Straus's comeback is credited with popularizing the phrase "a chip and a chair", so it pretty much has to be number one. However, he was actually only down to two chips and a chair (and maybe more). The May 25, 1982 Las Vegas Sun says on page 6, "At one time in this championship go-round, he was down to his last $525." This got rounded down to 500 just one day later in the WSOP's handwritten player notes, which say, "at one point he was down to one hidden chip." The May 26, 1982 UPI article (e.g., Brownsville Herald, page 9) echoed this: "Strauss [sic], down to a single $500 chip on the first night of the four-day no limit Hold 'em event, beat out 10S [sic] of the world's best poker players." The December 1982 issue of "Hustler" magazine, page 38 then made up the part about the chip being "stuck between the rail and the table", while more recent retellings say it was under a napkin under his drink or "between a napkin and the bumper" on pages 100-101 of Jonathan Grotenstein and Storms Reback's "All In".
Honorable Mention (chronological):
- 1972 $10,000 Main Event: Amarillo Slim Preston was down to 1,500 chips (1.9% of the chips in play) on Day 2 with four players remaining before doubling up with trip fives and going on to win the title. Source: May 30, 2012 CardPlayer magazine. {This didn't make the list because the title may have been negotiated. Some sources say Doyle Brunson got $20,000 for defaulting in third place, while others say both Brunson and Puggy Pearson got more money than Preston ($32,500 to $15,000).}
- 2009 $10,000 Main Event: The November 11, 2009 Las Vegas Sun says, "At his lowest point at the final table, [Joe] Cada held just 1 percent of the chips in play." {I couldn't confirm this in the WSOP updates, but he was definitely very short.}
- 2019 $600 DeepStack Pot-Limit Omaha: Down to three big blinds on Day 1, Andrew Donabedian survived five consecutive all ins. He posted this on social media later, but it was not reported at the time.
- 2022 $1,500 Million Maker No-Limit Hold 'Em: An instant myth! In their live updates wrapup, CardPlayer claimed that Yuliyan Kolev (of KFC buckethead fame) won after being down to a single 25,000 chip with blinds at 250,000/500,000 (just one-twentieth of a big blind after losing a preflop all-in coin flip with Ace-King to Raul Martinez's pair of Sevens). In reality, he was only down to 12 big blinds (6,000,000 chips according to the WSOP updates, Day 4, page 2).
- 2022 $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold 'Em Freezeout: Michigan pro Dash Dudley was down to 3 big blinds with 20 players left to start Day 2 with blinds at 10,000/25,000. Source: PokerNews.
- 2024 $1,500 Shootout No-Limit Hold 'Em: Dan Sepiol came back from 17-to-1 down heads up to Robert Natividad to win the bracelet and $305,849.
Busted, Rebought, Won (in chronological order)
{Undoubtedly many missing from this list.}
- 2000 $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha: Phil Ivey busted and considered not re-entering but became one of the event's 96 rebuys. The 23-year old denied Amarillo Slim Preston his 5th bracelet after Preston had never lost heads up. Jim McManus says Ivey was down 5-1 heads up but hit multiple 5th street miracles. This was going to be "a chip and a chair" regardless of who won as Preston was down to 350 chips early on. He mistakenly thought that it was a hi/lo event when he lost a huge pot with a low hand. Source: CardPlayer magazine, November 10, 2000, page 96.
- 2005 $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em: Jon Heneghan busted, rebought, and then went on to win. He was actually below the average number of rebuys as the 894 starters rebought 1,584 times. Source: CardPlayer live updates.
- 2022 $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold 'Em: Katie Kopp was the first player to bust in the entire 2022 WSOP. But of course she rebought and went on to win her first bracelet (and $65,168). Source: CardPlayer.
Special Honorable Mention: Six Main Event Champions Who Started the Final Table With Less Than Ten Percent of the Chips
(Note: I usually use "Final Table" to mean the last nine players, but I have chip counts for a couple of six-player final tables here):
- 1994: Russ Hamilton, 8.6% (231,000 chips), 3rd of 6 players.
- 2014: Martin Jacobson, 7.4% (14,900,000 chips), 8th of 9 players.
- 1981: Stu Ungar, 7.1% (53,200 chips), 8th of 9 players.
- 1991: Brad Daugherty, 7.0% (150,000 chips), 5th of 6 players.
- 2009: Joe Cada, 6.8% (13,215,000 chips), 5th of 9 players. He later got down to 1% (see above).
- 2007: Jerry Yang, 6.6% (8,459,000 chips), 8th of 9 players.
Thanks. I would, but it would be far too long. I’m not good at editing things down, much preferring completeness.
Agreed. His official 1970 bracelet is definitely better as a POY award!
Great stuff. The Storms Reback/Jonathan Grotenstein book was one of the first non-strategy books I bought after I started following poker in 2004. I often wonder how many of the stories are apocryphal, although looking at it, they did sort of build that likelihood into the full title: All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker.
rjen, in your opinion, how accurate is the James McManus book Cowboys Full, or at least the WSOP portion of it? Obviously, we can't ever know for certain, as is so often the case of history on any subject – there are still always assumptions and grains of salt involved.
rjen, in your opinion, how accurate is the James McManus book Cowboys Full, or at least the WSOP portion of it? Obviously, we can't ever know for certain, as is so often the case of history on any subject – there are still always assumptions and grains of salt involved.
Great entry, as usual. This struck me:
At first, I thought this was a typo – that is, you meant Johnny World Hennigan. But no, there is in fact another guy with the same name (at least, homophonically): https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=4671
I wonder how many similar pairings there are of bracelet winners, either with identical names or identical sounding ones. The obvious example is the pair of David Bakers but I assume there must be others. Men Nguyen and Minh Nguyen is also pretty close. Sort of tough to tell, as WSOP seems to create different player pages depending on how the name is listed (e.g. Greg Raymer vs. Gregory Raymer).
2005 $1,000 No-Limit Hold 'Em: Jon Heneghan busted, rebought, and then went on to win. He was actually below the average number of rebuys as the 894 starters rebought 1,584 times. Source: CardPlayer live updates.
I wonder how many similar pairings there are of bracelet winners, either with identical names or identical sounding ones. The obvious example is the pair of David Bakers but I assume there must be others. Men Nguyen and Minh Nguyen is also pretty close. Sort of tough to tell, as WSOP seems to create different player pages depending on how the name is listed (e.g. Greg Raymer vs. Gregory Raymer).
Great entry, as usual. This struck me:
At first, I thought this was a typo – that is, you meant Johnny World Hennigan. But no, there is in fact another guy with the same name (at least, homophonically): https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=4671
I wonder how many similar pairings there are of bracelet winners, either with identical names or identical sounding ones. The obvious example is the pair of David Bakers but I assume there must be others. Men Nguyen and Minh Nguyen is also pretty close. Sort of tough to tell, as WSOP seems to create different player pages depending on how the name is listed (e.g. Greg Raymer vs. Gregory Raymer).
At first, I thought this was a typo – that is, you meant Johnny World Hennigan. But no, there is in fact another guy with the same name (at least, homophonically): https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=4671
I wonder how many similar pairings there are of bracelet winners, either with identical names or identical sounding ones. The obvious example is the pair of David Bakers but I assume there must be others. Men Nguyen and Minh Nguyen is also pretty close. Sort of tough to tell, as WSOP seems to create different player pages depending on how the name is listed (e.g. Greg Raymer vs. Gregory Raymer).
Thousands of people have multiple WSOP player pages, and I’ve wasted a ridiculous number of hours trying to reconcile them. Hendon has the opposite problem, merging different people into one player page.
fun thread thank you
I’ll have to look for you, at least for exact name matches, when I get home next week (currently at WSOP proving why I usually write about poker instead of playing it).
Thousands of people have multiple WSOP player pages, and I’ve wasted a ridiculous number of hours trying to reconcile them. Hendon has the opposite problem, merging different people into one player page.
Thousands of people have multiple WSOP player pages, and I’ve wasted a ridiculous number of hours trying to reconcile them. Hendon has the opposite problem, merging different people into one player page.
Anyway, nothing much of interest. The two David Bakers are the most notable, as expected. I thought there would be a Lee, a Le and a Li with the same first name but I don't see any instances. But there are two Minh Nguyens – one from Bell Gardens, the other from Jersey, who are clearly not the same person.
To be honest, I had more fun looking through some oddities in general. There are two Christs, but no Jesuses, for example. Would have bet the opposite any day. I found what could have been a little nugget of convo in the days of the 2+2 PokerCast: more players named Schwartz (Noah, Luke, Ylon, Ralph and Richard) have won bracelets than players named Johnson (Marco, Linda, Travis) or Chan (Johnny, Terrence, Daniel, Lok).
The Johnsons made me think of how many U.S. President names have won bracelets. Obviously, there no Bidens, Trumps or Obamas, to no surprise as those are unusual names already. But there are also no Washingtons, Jefferson, Madisons, Lincolns, Roosevelts, Monroes or Hayeses, all of which are reasonably common surnames.
But there are multiple instances of Johnson, Adams, Taylor, Kennedy and – oh yes – Polk. That's right, poker is a world in which "what's up guys" and "this just in, bbbbbbbreaking news" has defeated "four score and seven years ago" – at least, in this one odd area.
Finally, the last thing I noticed was that there are 97 names on that list for whom a bracelet remains their only WSOP/WSOPC cash. Of course, some may be a matter of a separate account, which means the number is likely quite a bit lower. Still, it reveals a few cool little moments, like Alexander "Hasan" Anter, who binked $777,928 from a $1,500 NLHE event in 2011. Not only is it his lone WSOP cash but it's one of just five on his Hendon entry. From what I see in the tourney recaps, Hasan Anter came to the WSOP from his native Sweden with one goal: to play and cash in the Main. But while in town, he added Event 56 to his trip itinerary, then proceeded to best a field of 3,389 runners.
Great thread, lots of cool info here -- Viktor Blom getting 3rd in both the $50k and $100k this year is definitely one for the ages
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