Thursday, 28 August 2008


1979 World Series of Poker

A summary of 1979 world series of poker.


The year 1979 had marked a lot of changes not only in the history of the world, but in the history of poker as well. It treated poker enthusiasts around the world to a true underdog story during the World Series of Poker event. It was the first time that a non-professional player won the WSOP championship in the history of the tournament. Indeed, the result of the year's prestigious poker tournament was a shocker -- perhaps, even an eye-opener--- to everybody. But most of all, it served as a ray of hope for every aspiring poker player that even the most novice of them could beat the likes of Doyle Brunson and Walter Pearson and snatch a big-time title to boot.

Held in Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada, the 1979 World Series of Poker commenced with fifty-four players who all aspire to be the World Champion. As usual, the poker event was flocked over by professional players from across all continents including the first woman player, Barbara Freer, the ten-time WSOP champion Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson, the eccentric Ken Smith, Benny Binion's best buddy, Thomas Amarillo "Slim" Preston, and the 1978 WSOP champion, Bobby Baldwin. The tournament went on from May 22 to 24.

A prestigious event, a player needs a combination of luck and skills to overcome an arena of adept poker professionals and emerge as the WSOP winner. The first day of the tournament immediately saw the fall of twenty players including some of the best in the game. Some of the poker legends eliminated on the first day were Jack Straus, Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Brian "Sailor" Roberts, and Barbara Freer.

The elimination of poker pros did not stop on the first day. As the second day of the tournament progressed, more poker players were bumped off from the WSOP championship running. Two of these fallen players include Walter "Puggy" Pearson and Ken Smith. As the number of players dwindled, the anticipation on who's going to be held the next WSOP champion grew.

The third day saw the defeat of three more poker professionals: Bobby Baldwin, Sam Petrillo, and Chip Reese. This left only five players to compete for the WSOP championship. The five remaining players were Johnny Moss, George Huber, Sam Moon, Hal Fowler, and Bobby Hoff.

The final battle among the five players was a tough but exciting one. Even though the five contenders were all good, there should only be one winner. At around 7:45 in the evening, the first to face his defeat was Johnny Moss. Two hours after, he was followed by Sam Moon who exited past 9pm. A quarter to ten and George Huber was blotted out from the tourney, leaving Hal Fowler and Bobby Hoff to face off.

The pot prize was $540,000 and Hal Fowler and Bobby Hoff battled each other to win it. During the last remaining minutes to the game, Hoff went for an all-in, which amounts to $43,000. When Fowler saw Hoff's bet, he decided to call him. This proved an excellent decision on Fowler's part since he was holding a 7 of spade and a 6 of diamond, which beat Hoff's ace of hearts and ace of clubs against a board of 5 of hearts, Jack of spades, 4 and 3 of clubs, and 10 of diamonds. With this move, Hal Fowler became the first non-professional to become a WSOP champion.