WSOP 1979 – Hal Fowler Becomes the New Champion

WSOP 1979 – A Bit of Backstory

The series kicked off with a $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball tournament, where reigning champion Bobby Baldwin, nicknamed “The Owl” for his sharp play and keen instincts, took first place.

Baldwin was playing at a high level despite his young age and was a favorite in any tournament he entered. He won $90,000 in this Lowball event, defeating Byron Wolford in the final heads-up. Wolford would go on to make headlines again in 1984 when he reached the final table of the WSOP Main Event. In 1979, however, he was better known as a rodeo cowboy who had set a world record for calf roping at Madison Square Garden.

Moving away from the WSOP for a moment, it’s worth noting that Byron Wolford won two tournaments that same year at the Super Bowl of Poker, a parallel series organized by Amarillo Slim. The buy-ins for these tournaments ranged from $1,000 to $10,000, and the participant list featured many of the same experienced professionals.

In 1979, Wolford defeated Johnny Moss in both a $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw and a $10,000 2-7 Lowball tournament, highlighting his high level of play at the time.

But let’s return to WSOP 1979.

The Overview of WSOP 1979 Tournaments

Event #2, a $500 Seven Card Stud tournament, and Event #3, a $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, were both won by Gary Berland, whom we’ve already met. This success allowed Gary to equal Doyle Brunson’s record of five WSOP bracelets, though his joy was short-lived.

Doyle Brunson claimed his sixth bracelet in the very next tournament, Event #4, a $600 Mixed Doubles event. This was the first mixed doubles event in WSOP history, and Doyle won it alongside Starla Brodie.

Each player received $4,500 in prize money. At that time, Starla was only 24 years old and had been playing poker for just two years. She would go on to win her second WSOP bracelet 16 years later, becoming the first woman to win two WSOP bracelets. Starla Brodie was an options trader in Philadelphia and had earned over $400,000 in a single year, frequently traveling to Las Vegas with her husband.

The next tournament, Event #5, a $400 Ladies’ Seven Card Stud event, saw Barbara Freer take home the victory and $12,700 in prize money.

In Event #6, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Perry Green from Alaska emerged as the winner, claiming $76,500 in prize money and his third WSOP bracelet. While this event was reportedly a “Non-Pro” tournament, it’s hard to classify Perry Green as an amateur given his two WSOP bracelets.

The following two tournaments, Event #7, a $1,000 Ace to Five Draw, and Event #8, a $2,000 Draw High, were both won by Lakewood Louie. Over his career, Louie won four WSOP bracelets (1978, 1979, 1979, 1980), and his total prize money exceeded $100,000.

Event #9, a $1,000 Razz tournament, was won by Stamatis “Sam” Mastrogiannis. He would go on to win another bracelet in 1986, as well as a tournament at the Super Bowl of Poker in 1982. Stamatis invested his winnings into his own business — a shoe company under the “Mastroni” brand, which was later acquired by Nordstrom.

WSOP 1979 – Bracelet Count

Throughout this series, you witnessed the rivalry between Gary Berland (5 WSOP bracelets) and Doyle Brunson (6 WSOP bracelets) for the second spot on the all-time WSOP leaderboard. But you haven’t forgotten who was in first place, have you?

Johnny Moss won Event #10, a $5,000 Seven-Card Stud tournament, earning $48,000 in prize money. More importantly, this victory brought him his seventh WSOP bracelet, making him the best player of the decade.

The last tournament before the start of the Main Event was Event #11, a $1,000 No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament. Ninety-seven players registered, making it the largest event of the series. Dewey Tomko won $48,000 and his first bracelet in this event.

WSOP 1979 Results

WSOP 1979 Main Event

Before the Main Event began, Benny Binion inaugurated The Poker Hall of Fame, which we’ll discuss later.

What’s more important is that the $10,000 Main Event attracted 54 participants, including both seasoned professionals (whom we’ve followed through ten articles) and talented young players. CBS Sports host asked Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Dandolos who he thought was the tournament favorite, and here’s what the experienced cash game player had to say:

“People like Baldwin, Crandell Addington, and Doyle have to be the favorites, but when you have 54 players with a $10,000 buy-in, anybody can get knocked out on one hand.”

And he was absolutely right. Doyle Brunson, Brian ‘Sailor’ Roberts, and Amarillo ‘Slim’ Preston were all eliminated on the first day. Interestingly, Amarillo Preston arrived at the casino on horseback, setting an example for Phil Hellmuth’s dramatic entrances decades later.

On the second day, Walter ‘Puggy’ Pearson was knocked out, and on the third day, Bobby Baldwin was eliminated. This left Johnny Moss as the only previous WSOP champion in the field. However, the final table featured familiar names like Crandell Addington and David ‘Chip’ Reese. David ‘Chip’ Reese was the bubble boy, finishing sixth and just missing out on the final table.

Next to be eliminated was Johnny Moss. His Ah Qs fell to Bobby Hoff’s Ad Ts when the dealer dealt a Th on the river. Johnny took home $27,000 for his fifth-place finish.

Fourth place and $54,000 went to Sam Moon. George Huber finished third, earning $81,000.

In the final heads-up, two amateur players faced off, which was a sensation in the poker world in 1979.

Bobby ‘The Wizard’ Hoff, a player from Long Beach, California, was one of the finalists. He earned his nickname ‘The Wizard’ for his unique ability to turn large stacks of chips into nothing. By 1979, he was 40 years old.

Bobby was a graduate of the University of Texas and played golf. He learned to play poker three years after graduating, moved to Las Vegas, and worked as a dealer. In his free time, Bobby played blackjack and became a strong player, winning a significant amount of money.

Unfortunately, Hoff got drunk and lost all his winnings. As a result, he had to join a blackjack team and travel from casino to casino. Eventually, he was banned from playing blackjack in all Vegas casinos, so Bobby switched to poker. It was during this time that Bryan ‘Sailor’ Roberts noticed him and became his backer for the WSOP series.

On his way to the final heads-up, Bobby Hoff went from having a minimal stack of 1,730 chips on the first day to 225,700 at the final table. He was the one who knocked Johnny Moss and Chip Reese out of the tournament.

Bobby’s opponent was amateur player Hal Fowler, whom he had eliminated during Day 1 of the 1978 WSOP Main Event. Hal Fowler was 52 years old at the time. He was born in Rutland, Vermont, but had long lived in Tulare, California, where he worked in advertising.

Fowler entered the tournament thanks to money loaned to him by casino owner Benny Binion. He had no previous poker victories.

Without a doubt, Bobby Hoff was the favorite in this heads-up, which lasted 11 hours. But the story unfolded differently.

Bobby Hoff started the heads-up with 280,000 chips against Hal Fowler’s 260,000.

During their 12th hand, with a flop of A 10 K , Fowler played aggressively, and Hoff called. On the turn, a J appeared, and Fowler made a large all-in overbet, forcing Hoff out of the hand. Fowler then revealed his 5 2 .

Later, Hoff revealed that he had held A-T and could have won the championship at that moment.

“This guy ain’t going to be nearly as easy as I’d thought he’d be,” said Hoff.

In another key hand, Fowler managed to avoid elimination. Both players went all-in, and with a turn of Q-5-2-J, Hal was behind with his K-J against his opponent’s Q-7. But the dealer dealt another J on the river, completing Fowler’s trips.

Hours later, Fowler went all-in again with pocket jacks and faced off against Hoff’s pocket queens. Once again, the dealer saved Hal on the river, dealing him a set. Four hands later, Fowler won a massive pot of 398,000 chips with A 8 against Hoff’s K 6 on a board of 9 J 7 2 Q .

Now it was Hoff who had to fight back from a short stack, and he managed to do so.

Two hours later, on approximately the 160th hand, the game came to an end. On a flop of 5 3 J , Hoff bet 40,000 chips, which was about half his stack. He was committed to the hand and unlikely to fold. The turn brought a 4s, and Hoff went all-in, receiving an immediate call from Fowler.

Bobby Hoff held pocket aces A A against Fowler’s 7 6 . According to our Poker Odds Calculator, Bobby had no chance of winning.

In 1979, players did not reveal their cards during an all-in. The dealer dealt a 10 on the river, and then the players revealed their hands. Hal Fowler, the newly crowned WSOP 1979 champion, remained motionless for a few seconds before standing up and shaking Bobby Hoff’s hand.

The Winner – Hal Fowler

Hal Fowler became the first amateur to win the WSOP Main Event, shocking the professional poker world. After his victory, he remarked that while the pros were much more experienced, his persistence and “poker sense” were what ultimately won him the championship.

Fowler also attributed much of his success to Doyle Brunson’s book “Super/System,” which he called the best investment of his life. He even made a $5,000 bet with Brunson that he could sell 10,000 copies of the book and ended up winning that bet.

Although Fowler had plans to travel and promote poker as a game, he wasn’t interested in becoming a professional player. He participated in several major tournaments after his victory but avoided the life of a pro, considering it too unpredictable and risky.

Fowler continued to play poker, participating in high-stakes games in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with occasional trips to Hong Kong. However, his interest in poker waned by the mid-80s, and he gradually faded from the scene.

Fowler passed away in 2000 at a Haywood Regional Medical Center.

The Poker Hall of Fame 1979

In 1979, Horseshoe Casino owner Benny Binion created the Poker Hall of Fame. Benny’s idea was not only to immortalize the names of professionals who shaped poker’s history but also to attract more tourists to his casino. The Poker Hall of Fame was closely tied to the WSOP brand, which would later, in 2004, be acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the WSOP series itself.

The criteria for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame are:

• A gambler must have played poker against acknowledged top competition,
• Played for high stakes,
• Played consistently well, gained the respect of peers,
• And stood the test of time.
• Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

In the early stages, there were no age restrictions for candidates, but in 2011, organizers introduced the so-called “Chip Reese Rule,” setting the minimum age for candidates at 40.

Until 2004, the award for inductees was created by R.S. Owens & Company from Chicago, Illinois. This company also produced awards for the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards (Oscars).

In 1979, seven players were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame:

WSOP History

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