WSOP 1977 – Second Title for Doyle Brunson

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A year had passed since Doyle Brunson won the Main Event of the 1976 WSOP series. Brunson managed to beat Jesse Alto, having T-2 in the final hand against the opponent’s A-J.

Although the finalists didn’t take photos with the winning hand back then, Brunson’s victory with T-2 went down in history. And once again, it’s hot outside, and we’re back in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1977. The WSOP series started on April 28. This time, the organizers rescheduled the start of the series to accommodate a record number of tournaments. This year, the halls of Binion’s Horseshoe were filled with poker enthusiasts.

The previous year, the series included only 8 tournaments; this time, there were 13 tournaments on the schedule. A special mention goes to the first women’s tournament in history with a $100 buy-in. To the organizers’ surprise, this tournament was destined to set WSOP records.

The Overview of WSOP 1977 Tournaments

The play began on April 28 with a $500 Limit Ace to 5 Draw Lowball tournament. A total of 36 players gathered for the tournament, and the prize was divided into 3 places, with $10,800 going to Billy Allen from California. This was his only cash in the history of WSOP.

The next day, Bobby Baldwin won Event #2 for $10,000 in No-Limit 2-7 Lowball, defeating Billy Baxter in the decisive heads-up. A year earlier, Baxter had won a similar $5,000 tournament, earning $35,000, and now he received $30,000 for second place. Winner Bobby Baldwin cashed for the first time and immediately took $80,000 and a bracelet.

Bobby Baldwin didn’t stop there. On April 30, he won Event #3 for $5,000 in Limit 7-Card Stud with rebuys. There were only 11 participants in the tournament, but Baldwin took another $44,000 and his second WSOP bracelet.

Looking ahead, we can say that Baldwin will win 4 bracelets and more than $2 million in prize money over his career. Interestingly, he made it to WSOP final tables almost every year until 1994, and after a 15-year break, he returned to the WSOP and won $1,408,000, taking 7th place in the $1,000,000 buy-in The Big One for One Drop tournament in 2012. In 1998, Baldwin became President of the Bellagio hotel and casino, and in 2003 he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Event #4 for Limit Razz was held on May 1 with a $500 buy-in. There were 21 participants in the tournament, and the main prize went to Gary Berland. He would go on to win 5 WSOP bracelets and even make the final table of the 1986 Main Event.

Speaking of Event #4 WSOP 1977, it’s necessary to mention the player who lost in the decisive heads-up. It was David ‘Chip’ Reese – a big poker star of his generation. For Chip Reese, this tournament was his first WSOP cash and the beginning of a great professional career.

And speaking of Gary Berland, it’s worth noting that he moved to Las Vegas at the age of 18 and dropped out of college to become a professional player. At that time, poker was not very popular, the number of games was limited, and Gary had to find an additional job. He worked as a dealer while playing himself. This allowed him to build a bankroll and develop as a talented player. Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 37 from a rare blood disease, but his achievements remained in WSOP history.

Event #5 for Limit 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo was held on May 2. There were only 7 participants, but the decisive heads-up was worthy of making history. Two poker legends, Doyle Brunson and David Sklansky, competed for the gold bracelet. In this battle of titans, Doyle won, earning his third WSOP bracelet and $52,500 in prize money.

Event #6 was held for Limit Ace to 5 Draw Lowball with a $5,000 buy-in. There were only 2 participants, and the winner was Perry Green, who flew to Las Vegas from Anchorage. It was one of the easiest bracelets in WSOP history.

Event #7 for No-Limit Hold’em with a $1,000 buy-in gathered 55 players, which was an outstanding result for WSOP at that time. The winner was George Huber from Corpus Christi, Texas. For first place, he took $33,000 in prize money. Later, George would make it to the final table of the Main Event twice.

The next day, a similar No-Limit Hold’em tournament with a $1,500 buy-in (Event #8) was held with 38 participants. The winner was another player from Texas, Louis Hunsaker, who took home $34,200.

And now we come to Event #9, which was held on Friday, May 6, 1977. This was a $100 buy-in tournament called “Ladies Seven Card Stud” – the first-ever special WSOP tournament for women.

Besides its historical significance, this tournament set a record for the number of participants in WSOP history – 93 players. The first WSOP women’s champion was Jackie McDaniel, who took home a prize of $5,580.

On May 7, a $1,000 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo tournament was held. The winner was Fats Morgan, who took $10,800, and this was his only WSOP cash.

Event #11 for Limit 7-Card Stud was held with a $500 buy-in. The tournament gathered 38 players, despite the fact that top professionals took a break to prepare for the Main Event. The winner was Jeff Sandow from Nevada.

Jeff became the youngest tournament winner in series history. At the time of his victory, he was 23 years old. Previously, this record belonged to Bobby Baldwin, who won a tournament in the same series at the age of 27.

The last tournament before the Main Event gathered only 5 players. It was a $5,000 Limit Razz tournament held on May 9. The prize pool was $25,000, and the entire prize went to Richard Schwartz.

WSOP 1977 Results

Date	Event	Entries	Winner	Prize	Runner-up
April 28	Event #1: $500 Limit A-5 Draw Lowball	36	Billy Allen	$10,800	Vic Resnick
April 29	Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball	11	Bobby Baldwin	$80,000	Billy Baxter
April 30	Event #3: $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud (Rebuy)	11	Bobby Baldwin	$44,000	Ralph Levitt
May 01	Event #4: $500 Limit Razz	21	Gary Berland	$6,300	David ‘Chip’ Reese
May 02	Event #5: $10,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo	7	Doyle Brunson	$52,500	David Sklansky
May 03	Event #6: $5,000 Limit A-5 Draw Lowball	2	Perry Green	$10,000
May 04	Event #7: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em	55	George Huber	$33,000	Milton Butts
May 05	Event #8: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em	38	Louis Hunsaker	$34,200	Wayne Bingham
May 06	Event #9: $100 Ladies Seven Card Stud	93	Jackie McDaniel	$5,580	Linda Davis
May 07	Event #10: $1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo	18	Fats Morgan	$10,800	Dave Levine
May 08	Event #11: $500 Limit Seven Card Stud	38	Jeff Sandow	$11,400	Roger Moore
May 09	Event #12: $5,000 Limit Razz	5	Richard Schwartz	$25,000

WSOP 1977 Main Event

And now we come to the Main Event of the series, which traditionally had a $10,000 buy-in. A total of 34 participants registered for the tournament, resulting in a record series prize of $340,000, which would go to the winner.

Doyle Brunson started the game as the reigning champion, full of hopes to retain the title. Previously, this had been achieved by Johnny Moss in 1970 and 1971, but Moss won the first title through voting, as the organizers had not yet established a tournament format. No one had yet won two Main Events in a row.

On the third day of the tournament, Brunson won a large pot using suited connectors. Chips moved to Doyle from Buck Buchanan and Ed Whited, who were eliminated from the tournament.

The heads-up of the tournament formed after Gary Berland, already a bracelet winner at WSOP 1977, knocked Milo Robertson out of the tournament.

At the table remained the reigning champion Doyle Brunson and Gary Berland.

In various sources, you may find information that Doyle Brunson’s opponent was Milo Robertson or another player. The fact is that only the winner received a prize, and official information recorded only the prize positions. However, we confidently state that Gary Berland was the heads-up participant.

Gary Berland began the heads-up as the chip leader. Brunson quickly seized the initiative and took the lead, using a slow-play strategy with pocket queens, which improved to a full house, doubling his stack.

In the decisive hand, Brunson had a significant chip advantage. Once again, he had off-suit T-2. Gary Berland had 8-5. The players declined to bet pre-flop. The dealer opened T-8-5, and both players hit the board. Brunson was behind with top pair, while Berland had two pairs. According to PokerListings Odds Calculator, Doyle Brunson had a 25% chance of winning against Berland’s 74%. Everything pointed to the young contender for the championship title doubling his stack and regaining the lead.

He decided not to rush with aggression and checked. Brunson, with a weak kicker on a dangerous board, also checked. On the turn, the dealer opened a 2, which seemed like a card that changed nothing. But it actually changed everything. Brunson got two top pairs, and his chances of winning increased to 90%. Berland checked, Brunson bet, and Berland went all-in. His check-raise all-in looked like a well-thought-out trap for his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Brunson called the bet.

Gary’s chances were not too high, but the intrigue remained. The dealer opened a ten on the river, giving Doyle Brunson his second consecutive victory in the WSOP Main Event. Moreover, Doyle did it with the same cards – T-2, which both times improved to a full house. This hand combination would be called “Texas Dolly” in his honor.

WSOP 1977 Main Event Results

Place	Player	Prize
1st	Doyle Brunson	$340,000
2nd	Gary Berland	$0
3rd	Milo Jacobson	$0
4th	Andy Moore	$0
5th	Bob Hooks	$0
6th	unknown	$0

Winner – Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson became a poker legend. He went down in history as the winner of the 1976 WSOP Main Event, then became the first to win two Main Events (1976 and 1977) and solidified his status by winning 10 bracelets in his career.

Books have been rightly written about Doyle. His amazing biography includes chances to play in the NBA, success in amateur poker, and transitioning to the professional level. Doyle even managed to open his own online poker room called “Doyle’s Room” in 2004.

His room operated on the Tribeca network (later becoming part of iPoker), then moved to Microgaming, Cake, and ended its history on the Yatahay network in 2011. After accusations of violating gambling laws, Doyle severed his ties with the room in 2011, and players who stayed with the room throughout this journey transitioned to the emerging WPN network.

Doyle lived for 89 years until 2023. He was a successful player, an excellent author, and a star of poker shows. We recommend all poker enthusiasts read the cult book “Doyle Brunson’s Super System,” which was published in 1979 under the title “How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker.”

Interesting Facts

• The First Women’s Poker Tournament in WSOP History
• Record Number of Tournaments in the Series (13)
• Record Number of Players in One Tournament (93)
• Record Win ($340,000)
• Winning Two Main Events Tournaments in a Row (Doyle Brunson)
• Winning Two Tournaments With the Same Hand Combination T-2 (Doyle Brunson)
• Youngest Tournament Winner (Jeff Sandow, 23)

WSOP History

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