WSOP 1981: Stu Ungar’s Back-to-Back Triumph

The Ladies Event

And now we’ve reached the fifth special tournament of the series — the $400 Ladies Limit Seven Card Stud. The tournament saw 88 participants, and the winner was Ruth Godfrey, taking home $17,600 in prize money. In the heads-up, she defeated Jackie Jean, who would take second place in the same tournament in 1982 and third place in 1983.

Veteran Triumphs

At the final table of Event #6, the $1,000 Limit Razz, the “old guard” was represented by the 1971 WSOP champion, Puggy Pearson. By this time, Puggy had won all four of his bracelets, and his results were increasingly distant from championship titles. In 1979, Puggy took second place twice; in 1981, he appeared at two final tables (Event #4, Event #6), but his last WSOP final table would be in 1982. In this tournament, Puggy finished fourth, and the winner was Bruce Hershenson from Missouri. For his victory, Bruce received $34,500 in prize money.

And while Puggy Pearson’s career was declining, Johnny Moss, the best player of his era, wasn’t planning to slow down despite his age. In Event #7, the $1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, the legendary Moss won his eighth WSOP bracelet, simultaneously becoming the oldest champion at that time. Johnny was 73 years old, and he celebrated his 74th birthday the next day. Don’t worry about Johnny; he would spend over 10 more years teaching the youth how to play poker and dominating WSOP tournaments.

Along with his eighth WSOP bracelet, Moss received $33,500 in prize money.

Eric Drache in Game

We move on to the small eighth tournament of the series — the $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud. The tournament with an increased buy-in attracted 27 players, and the first prize of $67,500 was won by A.J. Myers, already known to us thanks to his victory in the Mixed Doubles tournament in 1980. On his way to the second bracelet, A.J. defeated Eric Drache, who is known for inventing tournament satellites. Drache was the room manager at the Golden Nugget and Mirage casinos; he came up with the ante betting structure, dealer training, and tournament table reassignments. As a player, Drache had four second-place finishes and one third-place finish in WSOP Seven Card Stud tournaments. He never won a bracelet.

Chip Reese’s Moment

The next tournament, Event #9, the $2,500 No Limit A-5 Draw Lowball, attracted 37 players and turned out to be quite challenging. David ‘Chip’ Reese finished third, Jack Straus took second place, and the winner was Michael Perry from Rancho Cucamonga, California. For his victory, Michael received $46,250 in prize money. Consider the difficulty of this win — along the way, he defeated the 1981 WSOP MVP and a future Main Event winner.

Chip Reese appeared at the final table of the next tournament, Event #10 No Limit Hold’em $1,000. The most accessible tournament of the series registered 162 players, and the top prize was $81,000. The tournament was close to breaking the participation record set a year earlier in the $500 Seven Card Stud tournament, which had 176 participants. David Reese finished fifth in the tournament, and the winner was Dody Roach, adding another WSOP bracelet to Texas.

If you thought Chip Reese would stop there, prepare to be surprised! In the next tournament, he again finished fifth. This was Event #11, the $1,000 Limit A-5 Lowball Draw. This tournament marked Reese’s third consecutive cash finish. The winner was Glen Rodgers from Nevada, who won $44,000.

And now the penultimate tournament of the series, Event #12, the $10,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball. It was a warm-up before the start of the Main Event, where, with a similar buy-in, players could test their skills in a tournament with 19 participants.

I think you won’t be surprised that David Reese finished fifth in this tournament as well, extending his series of final tables and cash finishes to four tournaments.

Stu Ungar vs Bobby Baldwin

In the decisive heads-up of Event #12, battling for a solid $95,000 prize, were two young and talented players — the reigning ME champion Stu Ungar and the 1978 ME champion Bobby Baldwin. The winner of the duel was Stu Ungar, claiming his second WSOP bracelet in his short but bright history. Baldwin took second place and received $38,000 in prize money. The high-stakes room “Bobby’s Room” in the Bellagio casino hadn’t opened yet.

Veterans’ hopes that Stu Ungar would be absent from this year’s series were not fulfilled. Ungar came and had already won.

WSOP 1981 Results

Check video of WSOP 1981:

Final Table

The final table was formed on the fourth day, with Bobby Baldwin as the chip leader.

The prize zone was opened by Sam Petrillo, who ran his A-K into Bobby Baldwin’s pocket queens.

Just a few minutes later, Baldwin again received pocket queens and knocked out Andy Moore with A-T.

The next elimination took 30 minutes, and it was Bobby Baldwin himself who left the table. He went all-in with pocket nines against Perry Green’s pocket queens and hit a set on the flop of 9-4-3. According to our Poker Odds Calculator, Baldwin had a 91% chance of winning, but the dealer dealt a queen on the river, and Baldwin was left with a minimal stack. It’s worth noting that Baldwin decided to slow-play his set and ultimately paid for it. However, with an overpair, Green might have gone all the way even against Bobby’s aggression.

A few hands later, Bobby pushed his remaining chips with pocket kings and got a call from Gene Fisher, who, believe it or not, had pocket queens. The dealer dealt Q on the river, and Bobby exited the tournament.

His chips, which had been on the table in front of Perry Green, gradually flowed to his recent opponent, Stu Ungar, who remained in the game and doubled his stack at Perry Green’s expense.

Next to leave the final table after Bobby was Jay Heimowitz, who fell victim to a set of jacks in the hands of Stu Ungar, who was gradually taking control of the game. No one was surprised that Jay was eliminated from the tournament holding pocket queens. In this hand, Ungar had pocket jacks but completed his set on the flop.

“It’s very tough to win it,” said Ungar. “I tried to [play] until I got on a good streak and then hang onto it.”

The fifth and fourth places went to Bill Smith and Kenny ‘Top Hat’ Smith; both had come to Las Vegas from Dallas, Texas. Both returned to Texas with $37,500 in prize money.

Third in the tournament was another player from Texas, Gene Fisher from El Paso. Gene went all-in with trip kings, but Perry Green completed a flush on the river, advancing the game to the decisive heads-up stage.

Heads-Up

While awaiting the start of the game, casino owner and WSOP founder Benny Binion told journalists:

“To know that you’re the best player in poker, you really have to beat the other players.”

The finalists of the 1981 Main Event were the reigning champion Stu Ungar and Perry Green from Anchorage, Alaska. While Ungar was a professional player and a man prone to incredible risk, Green worked as a fur buyer and played poker for fun. Undoubtedly, Ungar was the favorite, demonstrating an incredible level of play. But in poker, Green had more experience. While Ungar first tried his hand at the WSOP in 1980, Perry Green already had 3 WSOP bracelets, which he won in 1976, 1977, and 1979.

Johnny Moss, who was watching the final, commented:

“I reckon Stuey’s got it made… he may not look like no Buffalo Bill, but he’s one tough poker player. That boy’s got alligator blood in his veins.”

Ungar was aggressive and skillfully played his draws. A notable hand from this stage was when Perry Green held 10 2 on a flop of J 9 8 — a straight draw and a flush draw. But even with such a good draw, Green had only a 20% chance of winning against A J in his opponent’s hand. This hand made Stu the chip leader.

In the heads-up, Ungar confidently outplayed his opponent and approached the decisive hand with a fourfold chip advantage.

On the flop of 7 8 4 , Perry Green went all-in with a straight draw holding 10 9 , and in response, he received a quick call from Ungar, who had a nut flush draw and overcards with A Q .

According to the Poker Odds Calculator, Stu Ungar already had a 71% chance of winning thanks to his superior draw and overcards.

The turn of 4 reduced Perry Green’s chances to 22%.

The river Q gave Stu Ungar top pair, and he became the back-to-back champion of the WSOP Main Event!

The Winner – Stu Ungar

This was the second consecutive victory for the brilliant Stu ‘The Kid’ Ungar. Spectators were thrilled by his play, journalists couldn’t take photos fast enough, and Stu basked in the spotlight. The moment promised a great future for this player, but his subsequent fate turned out dramatically.

Learn more about the incredible story of Stu Ungar in our video:

Spoiler: Nine years later, Stu Ungar would again play at the WSOP ME final table!

WSOP 1981 Main Event Results