WSOP 1985: Bill Smith – The Forgotten Champion

Start of the Series

On May 4th, Event #1: $2,500 No-Limit A-5 Draw Lowball started with only 40 players. The main prize was taken by Dick Carson from Mansfield, Massachusetts. In WSOP Lowball tournaments, Dick reached the final tables like clockwork from 1980 to 1992. In his career, he has 2 bracelets and 24 money finishes. He witnessed the rise of WSOP from small tournaments to a large-scale series, as in 2024, Dick Carson placed in the WSOP Super Seniors tournament, finishing 426th – meaning the prize pool became ten times larger than the number of participants when it all began.

New Record and Johnny Chan’s First Bracelet

Event #2: $1,000 Limit Hold’em took place the next day and immediately set a new record for the number of players. The tournament had 342 participants, and the winner was a newcomer who had only previously made the money once in the series. The young man (he was only 28 years old) was named Johnny Chan. In 1983, Johnny placed fourth in the tournament for $2,500, and his success in 1985 earned him a substantial prize of $171,000. At that time, no one could say what success awaited the player from the small town of Cerritos, California. But soon, very soon, he would become the main star of poker.

Continuation of the Series

On May 6th, Event #3: $1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo took place, gathering 149 players. The winner was John Lukas from Nevada, who took $74,500. Steve Zolotow, then 40 years old, finished fifth in the tournament. This was Steve’s first money finish in the WSOP series, but by this time he was already living in the USA and playing poker professionally. Want to know an interesting fact about this player? Take our quiz titled “Poker Personalities.”

Event #4: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball with 19 players was won by Tommy Fischer, who outplayed David ‘Chip’ Reese and Dick Carson in a 3-max.

The next day, the large-scale Event #5: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em took place with 304 players. The winner of the mass tournament was Rick Hamil, who played at the final table of WSOP ME in 1984. At the final table was Lyle Berman, who had previously lost in heads-up against Johnny Chan. This was the second final table for the businessman from Minnesota. At that moment, Berman was still involved in the leather business, but many years later he would become the chairman of the board of the World Poker Tour and enter the Poker Hall of Fame.

On May 9th, Event #6: $1,000 Limit A-5 Lowball Draw with 127 players took place. The champion became Mark Mitchell from Washington. This is his only bracelet in his career. Out of the 8 players who finished in the money in this tournament, only Paul Fontaine, who finished second, and Robert ‘Chipburner’ Turner, who finished seventh, would receive a bracelet in their subsequent careers. The other players are hardly noted in WSOP history. This indicates that already in 1985, the tournaments were filled with amateurs who did not set winning WSOP as a significant goal.

Women’s Tournament

In the traditional women’s tournament, Event #7: $500 Ladies Limit Seven Card Stud had 74 participants. The winner was Rose Pifer, who had previously finished third in the pair tournament in 1979 (which was won by Doyle Brunson paired with Starla Brodie).

Mid-Series

On May 11th, in Event #8: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuy), the “old guard” struck again. It was a challenging tournament where 22 participants made 12 additional rebuys. The prize pool included 4 places, and Berry Johnston finished fourth in the tournament, still walking around with championship bracelets but not yet reaching the peak of his playing career (although he had already won his first bracelet in 1983 and finished third in WSOP ME in 1982). Seymour Leibowitz left the third tournament, whom we did not write about, but will in subsequent posts. For Seymour, this was already the fifth final table, but still without bracelets. Second place went to David ‘Chip’ Reese, again second place for one of the best players of the generation. By this time, David already had 2 WSOP bracelets, which he won over 9 final tables. The tournament was won by Amarillo Slim Preston from Arkansas. This was Amarillo Slim’s third, but not last bracelet. He played little in WSOP in the previous 10 years but actively developed his own Super Bowl of Poker series, which competed in popularity with WSOP. Amarillo Slim was the WSOP 1972 champion – the series in which Doyle Brunson and Puggy Pearson did not want to win, and instead of fighting, they made a deal resulting in Brunson leaving the 3-max for “medical reasons.” Pearson decided to fight heads-up after the deal, but Amarillo Slim emerged as the winner.

The next day, another rebuy Omaha – Event #9: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuy). In a low buy-in tournament, already 112 players gathered, and the victory went to Zorn Venture. The highlight of this tournament was the prize pool of 9 players. Among them were familiar names from the historical 3-max final of WSOP ME 1984: Byron Wolford (9th place), Jack Keller (7th place), Jesse Alto (6th place). It would be interesting to know how important it was for Jesse Alto to finish above his recent opponents?

Event #10: $1,000 Limit Omaha gathered 111 players and was Steve Zolotow’s second money finish in the series. The holder of the gold bracelet was decided in a heads-up between two players from Washington – Tony Thang emerged as the winner, and Bill Bennett was the runner-up.

Final Part of the Series

Event #11: $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud with 49 players gathered representatives of the “old guard.” Johnny Moss from Texas finished third, Artie Cobb from Nevada second. The winner was Harry Thomas Jr. from Hamilton, Ohio. This bracelet became his only one, but in his further career, he finished in the money of WSOP 49 more times, playing in series tournaments until 2021.

Event #12: $1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud now had 171 players. Again, the WSOP gold bracelet went to Ohio. The winner was Don Williams, who had already won a similar tournament in 1982.

Tournament Event #13: $1,000 Limit Razz was filled with newcomers who had hardly made money in the series before. The winner was Edwin Wyde, prize – $63,500.

On May 16th, the penultimate tournament for casino employees took place. Only 10 players competed, and Ted Binion won the $10,000 prize. This victory brought Ted his second and last WSOP bracelet. You can learn more about the son of casino owner Benny Binion from our analysis of the 1983 series.

WSOP 1985 Results

In the Money

The prize pool of the tournament was distributed among 9 places. Among previous years’ champions, only the legendary Johnny Moss made it to the final table and secured a profit. Unfortunately, Moss was eliminated in seventh place, receiving only $42,000. By this time, Moss already had 8 WSOP bracelets and, to be fair, he did not stop there. The $42,000 prize was the fifth largest in the career of the 3-time WSOP champion (1970, 1971, 1974).

Final Table

Next, Jesse Alto, who finished sixth, was eliminated from the tournament. Alto was a finalist in the previous 1984 year, finished sixth in 1985, and would again make the WSOP ME final table in 1986. This is just part of his series of final tables in the Main Event, but he never won a WSOP bracelet.

The fifth place was taken by Iranian Hamid Dastmalchi, living then in San Diego, California. Hamid would go on to become a WSOP champion, but in 1985 he was fifth.

Fourth place was taken by Scott Mayfield from Grant Pass, Oregon. This was his first of 21 money finishes in WSOP.

The 3-max this year was less dramatic but historically significant. The trio included Berry Johnston – one of the most successful players of the eighties, T.J. Cloutier, and Bill Smith. Let’s look at subsequent results and compare the players’ successes. From 1982 to 1990, Johnston had 13 WSOP final tables, winning 3 bracelets. Among these 13 final tables were 4 WSOP ME.

T.J. Cloutier made his first WSOP money finish and immediately the final table of the Main Event. From 1985 to 1990, he would have 7 final tables and 1 championship bracelet.

Bill Smith had only 3 money finishes in WSOP tournaments throughout his history. All three times Bill finished in the money of the Main Event, meaning he played at the final table in 1981, 1985, and 1986.

Comparing further results, it can be assumed that Berry Johnston could have been the table favorite. He was experienced, it was not his first WSOP ME final table, and he was in excellent form. Opposing him was a former football player from U.C. Berkeley, now a touring poker player, and Bill Smith, who was clearly playing at the final table while being intoxicated.

And then what so often happens at a poker table with a small number of hands – the strongest Berry Johnston was eliminated in third place. On the flop K-J-x, players went all-in, and A-K Berry was ahead of A-J Cloutier. Berry had 89% according to Poker Odds Calculator to win on the flop, but a J on the turn flipped the situation – 95% for T.J. Cloutier. River – blank. Berry Johnston leaves the table.

In heads-up, already familiar with each other, T.J. Cloutier and Bill Smith face off. Neither had been a successful WSOP player before.

Heads-Up

T.J. Cloutier began the decisive heads-up as the chip leader.

Bill Smith maintained a fine balance of slight alcohol intoxication. After serving in the US Army, he took up poker and never had any other job. T.J. Cloutier followed a path familiar to Doyle Brunson – an athlete who ended his career due to injury, tried his hand in a traditional business, and discovered poker, where he quickly achieved success. They were complete opposites of each other.

What united them was poker tournaments. Bill Smith was ready to play any tournaments, including inexpensive regular events for $20. T.J. Cloutier was also a tournament regular.

Cloutier went all-in against his opponent with a pocket pair of nines, while Smith showed kings and doubled his stack, becoming the chip leader.

Bill later recalled this tournament as follows. He started playing completely sober, then decided to enjoy Budweiser. He drank one bottle after another, and along with the alcohol, his level of play improved. He amassed a large chip stack and soon found himself at the final table. He continued drinking and was already drunk, but his stack was large, and luck was on his side.

Cloutier had 350,000 chips. He looked at his first card and saw – A . This was enough to go all-in despite the second card. Bill Smith had to make a decision. He drank. Thought. Called with a pocket pair of threes 3 3 . The second card in T.J. Cloutier’s hand was 3 .

The dealer revealed 5 5 9 5 K , and it was all over.

According to some sources, the final cards of the tournament were 4-5-T-5-J, which did not affect the players’ hands.

Bill Smith wins the 1985 WSOP ME and takes the $700,000 prize! This record prize stood until 1989 when it was broken by a young player who would become the best in WSOP history.

According to Mike Sexton’s memories, after his victory, Bill Smith chartered a flight back to his native Dallas because “Every poker player should experience this one time – becoming world champion and taking a private jet back home.”

By May 1986, he lost everything. Before the 1986 series, he was sitting in a casino without funds and looking for someone to lend him the missing $4,000 for the Main Event buy-in. In this tournament, Bill Smith would make his last appearance at the final table of the year’s main tournament.

The Winner – Bill Smith

Bill Smith, the winner of the 1985 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, remains one of the forgotten figures in today’s poker world. He was born on March 14, 1934, in the well-known city of Roswell, New Mexico.

He was introduced to poker during his service in the US Navy, where he distinguished himself during the Korean War. Upon returning from service, Bill decided to dedicate himself to poker. He traveled to cities across the American South in search of games. At that time, poker was not yet popular in Las Vegas, so other professional players, whose names have become more recognized among modern poker enthusiasts, toured in a similar manner. Among them were Doyle Brunson and T.J. Cloutier. Naturally, Bill Smith was acquainted with them, and together they conquered Vegas after the emergence of the WSOP series.

“Bill was a truly great player,” recalls T.J. Cloutier. However, he also talks about Bill’s main problem, which affected both his poker career and his life after the army. This problem was alcohol. “Bill had such great timing on his hands when he was younger and wasn’t drunk, he was out of this world. But when he got past that halfway mark, he was the worst player I’d ever played with.”

After his 1985 victory, Bill continued to participate in tournaments but did not achieve significant results. He often played in evening games in Las Vegas, trying to maintain his form, and worked as a host in a poker room. Smith made the final table of the WSOP Main Event three times, securing 5th place in both 1981 and 1986, in addition to his championship win in 1985. Despite these consistent performances, he never managed to capture another title that could elevate his standing in the poker community.

When a journalist asked Bill what he did, Smith honestly replied that he drank and played poker. His ongoing battle with alcoholism not only hindered his ability to compete at his best but also led to financial instability. By May 1986, just a year after his major victory, Bill found himself struggling to afford buy-ins, holding only $6,000 and relying on backers to participate in tournaments.

Bill Smith passed away on February 8, 1996, at the age of 61 at Nellis Federal Hospital in Las Vegas. He is survived by his wife Christy, two sons, and a daughter. His early death and the absence of victories beyond the 1985 WSOP contributed to his name being overshadowed by his friends and rivals who were alongside him in the eighties.

Photographs of Smith are rarely seen. In the Amazon Hall, where WSOP tournaments were held, there were photographs of all champions, but Smith’s 1985 year was skipped. On one hand, Smith himself was shy about taking photos. On the other hand, after his death, his family prohibited the use of photographs to keep his life private.

Despite his limited recognition, Smith’s legacy is remembered by fellow players who believe he deserves a place in the Poker Hall of Fame. In 2021, his banner was finally placed in the Amazon Hall of the Rio Casino, honoring his 1985 Main Event victory. However, he remains the only Main Event winner from the ’80s who has not yet been inducted into the Hall of Fame, a distinction his peers like Johnny Chen, Phil Hellmuth, and others have already received.

WSOP 1985 Main Event Results