50 years of WSOP, the most unforgettable moments on screen
It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly half a century since 30 or so gamblers crowded into a small alcove of Binion’s Horseshoe casino to decide the outcome of the first ever World Series of Poker tournament, crowning the first ever world champion. At the time there were less than 50 poker tables in Las Vegas (and none at all in the host casino!).
It didn’t take long for sports broadcasters to spot the dramatic potential of the world’s best poker players gathering together not only for huge potential winnings, but also the chance to be crowned best in the world. In 1973 CBS Sport televised the World Series for the very first time and a long tradition of poker broadcasting began. The coverage has come a long way since then, with Poker Central and ESPN the latest to collaborate and bring the event to the world since they took on the license in 2016. Technology and greater investment has allowed broadcasters to present the event in ever more dramatic and insightful ways, but the tension of watching players at the peak of their powers compete for massive stakes is still at the heart of it.
With the 2019 World Series of Poker well underway, let’s take a look back at some of the greatest moments in the WSOP since it began blazing across our screens.
1976 – 1977: The Doyle Brunson hand
The World Series of Poker has hosted some incredible moments, but few can be as unlikely as the way in which Doyle Brunson won two championships running, with the same incredibly lucky hand! Doyle ‘Texas Dolly’ Brunson is one of the few old time greats of poker still living. He’s won 10 WSOP bracelets in his time and his book, Super/System, was the poker instruction manual for a generation of players, but few moments in any player’s career can match that charmed period from ’76 – ’77.
In the main event of 1976, Texas Dolly was up against a talented amateur player called Jesse Alto. Alto had A-J and bet out and Brunson called with 10-2 suited. It came out A-J-10, landing Alto with two pair. Brunson, with a weaker hand, went all in. Alto, naturally, called. In one of the most dramatic and unlikely bad beats ever to grace the Main Event, Brunson found himself with runner-runner 2s on the turn and river and BOOM! Full house!
The following year Texas Dolly was defending his title heads up against Gary Berland when, incredibly, he won again on the same hand and took the championship back home with him. Thus the Doyle Brunson hand was born.
1988: The ‘Rounders’ hand
In 1988 Johnny Chan defended his WSOP title in a hand so dramatic it was immortalised in the climax of ‘Rounders’, the film that turned a generation of players onto poker.
On the final table Chan found himself heads-up against Erik Seidel. Chan had resolved to use Seidal’s confidence against him and planned to lay a trap. With J-9 suited Chan flopped a straight. Seidel was sitting on a weak hand with top pair and a weak kicker. Still, when Chan bet Seidel raised. Chan decided to sit on his hand and (seemingly reluctantly) called. The turn card was blank and they both checked, Seidal still feeling his false sense of security. The river card also came up blank. Seidal went all in. Chan snap-called. The rest… well, you’ve seen ‘Rounders’!
1989: The Rise of Phil Hellmuth
Somewhere out there is a parallel universe where the story of the 1989 WSOP is the story of Phi Chan powering back for his third straight title, but here in our universe it’s the story of the rise of Phil Hellmuth and his aggressive style.
Hellmuth had knocked out two other players in a single hand and was now heads-up with Johnny Chan, the sitting champion with around twice as many chips. That situation didn’t last. With pocket 9s, Hellmuth made a sudden outsized bet and went all-in pre-flop. Chan didn’t flinch, calling the young challenger but found himself outmatched with a 7. It was a stunning victory, and one that didn’t surprise the brash Hellmuth.
Hellmuth, then 24, became the youngest ever player to become the world poker champion. Such was his confidence that before the tournament he’d changed his answering machine message to say “you’re talking to the 1989 world champion of poker.” Nicknamed ‘the Poker Brat’, Hellmuth is known for his aggressive playing style and his ability to bluff his way to victory, just as he’s known for his outbursts when he’s hit by a bad beat. It’s a style that’s taken him to a record 14 bracelets.
1997: Stu Ungar’s record third WSOP championship
Many poker fans would describe Stu Ungar as the best natural poker player of all time, and he helped cement that reputation at the final table of the WSOP championship in 1997. It helped that, for the first and only time, the table was set in the middle of Fremont Street for onlookers to crowd round – a hell of a spectacle for a poker game.
Despite huge wins across his career, Ungar was penniless when the 1997 WSOP rolled round. Another player gave him a last minute $10k buy-in. He got off to a shaky start, but from day 2 onward he put on a masterful show of poker strategy. It was the final table, however, when he utterly dominated the table to clear the competition and stomp John Strzemp off the table for a victory.
It was a hell of a comeback that has gone down in history as one of the all-time great games.
