WSOP 1986: Year of Berry Johnston

Start of the Series

According to official data, the game began on May 10. Event #1: $1,000 Limit Omaha attracted 121 players, and the winner was James Allen from North Carolina. In the final heads-up, he defeated the 1984 WSOP champion Jack Keller.

The next day, the first rebuy tournament took place: Event #2: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuy). Out of 67 participants, 60 rebuys were made, and the total prize was $317,700. The tournament was won by David Baxter from Texas, who took home $127,000. This was Baxter’s second and last bracelet, as well as the largest prize of his WSOP career. The tournament’s prizes included Doyle Brunson in fourth place, Steve Zolotow fifth, Roger Moore sixth, and Lyle Berman seventh.

Event #3: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em was close to breaking the participant record. In this event, 302 players registered, but the actual record was set a year earlier with 342 participants in the tournament won by Johnny Chan. In this same event, Hamid Dastmalchi from Iran became the winner. By this time, Hamid was already living in California but competed under the Iranian flag, becoming the first foreigner to win a WSOP tournament. It is worth noting that, like Johnny Chan, our current hero Hamid Dastmalchi would become a WSOP Main Event winner, but that was yet to come.

Women’s Tournament

The traditional women’s tournament in 1986 was scheduled as Event #4: $500 Ladies Limit Seven Card Stud. The tournament had 82 participants, and the victory went to Barbara Enright. It should be noted that Barbara is one of the most successful women in poker history and undoubtedly holds great authority among players. She won her first bracelet in 1986, with two more bracelets to come, including one in an open tournament in 1996. It is equally important to note the final table of the WSOP Main Event, which was still ahead.

Barbara Enright became the first woman to win a bracelet in an open tournament, the first woman to win two bracelets, the first woman to win three bracelets, and the first woman to reach the final table of the WSOP Main Event. In 2007, she was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame alongside Phil Hellmuth. In 2008, Enright was inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, becoming the only person to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and Senior Poker Hall of Fame simultaneously.

At the final table of the 1986 tournament, Barbara met Linda Johnson. That year, Linda took third place. Later, Linda also entered the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011. Linda Johnson was the publisher of CardPlayer Magazine and then set up the Tournament Directors Association (TDA).

Mid-Series

On May 14, Event #5: $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (Rebuy) gathered 31 players who made 40 rebuys. Ronald Graham from Riverside, California, became the champion. The tournament prizes included Aubrey Day in second place, Mickey Appleman third, Dick Carson fourth, Johnny Moss fifth, Billy Baxter sixth, Bobby Baldwin seventh, and Gabe Kaplan eighth. This final table was filled with WSOP champions, bracelet holders, Main Event regulars, and a separate TV star.
Event #6: $1,500 Limit Hold’em gathered 320 players the next day. In this large tournament, the first Costa Rican prize winner was Jose Rosenkrantz (26th place). The winner was Jay Heimowitz, who won his first bracelet back in 1975 and had twice reached the final table of the WSOP Main Event (1980 and 1981).

Event #7: $1,000 Limit Razz was won by the 1983 WSOP champion Tom McEvoy. Tom was the first person to win the Main Event after entering the tournament through a satellite. In the heads-up of Event #7, he won his third WSOP bracelet by defeating Alma McClelland, who became the first woman to take second place in an open tournament. Alma was the wife of WSOP Tournament Director Jack McClelland and eventually won a bracelet in 1989.

On May 17, Event #8: $1,000 Limit A-5 Draw Lowball took place with 173 players. The winner, J.B. Randall from Nevada, took home $69,200. This was his only cash in WSOP history.

Tommy Fischer won Event #9: $1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, receiving $73,600. By this time, Tommy had one bracelet won a year earlier, but he ended his career with two bracelets. The tournament prizes included Jack Keller in seventh place and Tom McEvoy in eighth place.

Final Part, Success of Sam Mastrogiannis

Event #10: $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud was won by Sam Mastrogiannis from California out of 40 players, earning $80,000. This tournament also saw Stu Ungar in eighth place, David ‘Chip’ Reese in fourth, and Gene Fisher in third.

Event #11: $5,000 No-Limit A-5 Draw with Joker (Rebuy) was won by Mike Cox, who defeated Jack Keller in the final heads-up. Once again, the final table lineup cannot be ignored. Dewey Tomko finished fifth, Bobby Baldwin sixth, Stu Ungar seventh, and Billy Baxter eighth. This was an elite lineup for a poker tournament of that time. It seems Cox used all his luck to win this event, as in the next 19 years of WSOP participation, he could not win a bracelet or a larger prize.

The last pre-final tournament, Event #12: $1,000 Seven Card Stud, was again won by Sam Mastrogiannis. This time, he took $78,400 by defeating David Chew. Jack Keller was again in the prizes, finishing fifth.

WSOP 1986 Results

In the Money

The WSOP Main Event prize pool in 1986 became the largest in Main Event history. Out of 141 participants, 36 prize spots were available. Thanks to this change, Wendeen Eolis from New York became the first woman in WSOP history to cash in the Main Event. Wendeen finished in 25th place, earning $10,000, which matched the tournament’s buy-in.

In 2008, Wendeen Eolis became Chairman of the World Poker Association but soon left the position to become a legal advisor for U.S. presidential elections. Later, she joined the Players Advisory Council of the World Series of Poker and, in 2016, became a member of the Seniors Poker Hall of Fame.

The tournament prizes also included popular actor Gabe Kaplan, who finished in 21st place and received the same $10,000. Like Wendeen, he was from New York but became famous not as a lawyer but as an actor thanks to the sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter.” Kaplan had been playing WSOP since 1978 and cashed in tournaments twice (1983 and 1986). Thanks to the expanded prize pool of the Main Event in 1986, it became Gabe’s debut in cashing. Later, he became a beloved host of the poker show High Stakes Poker.

Previous champions also cashed in the tournament: Johnny Moss finished 26th, Bobby Baldwin 16th, and the reigning champion Bill Smith reached the final table.

Final Table

Officially, the final table was set for 6 players. Roger Moore from Severna Park, Maryland; the reigning champion Bill Smith; WSOP record holder Jesse Alto, who had reached the Main Event final table for the seventh time (but never won a bracelet); Gary ‘Bones’ Berland, who by then had already won 5 WSOP bracelets; Mike Harthcock with one bracelet from 1984; and Berry Johnston, also with one bracelet, were the final six.

Gary Berland could have been the favorite in such a 6-max table, being very experienced in WSOP final tables. Besides this tournament, Gary had played in final tables 10 times and won 5 out of 10. He also had two second-place finishes, one third, sixth, and eighth place. He was particularly good at Limit Razz, but the Main Event was played in Hold’em. In this form of poker, Berland had only one third-place finish, and that was in a mixed game. Unfortunately, this cash and final table appearance were Gary Berland’s last in his career. The talented player passed away in 1988 at the age of 37. According to Doyle Brunson, Gary died of a rare blood disorder.

Another player who was good in Mixed Games was Mike Harthcock, also known as Mike Hart. In his career, he won 3 WSOP bracelets, but none in No-Limit Hold’em. His victories came in Limit Razz, Limit Hold’em, and Limit 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo.

Now let’s look at Jesse Alto – the most experienced WSOP Main Event finalist, who succumbed to tilt in 1984 and finished in third place. Alto is an excellent player, but emotions let him down time and again. He started playing at the WSOP in the seventies and regularly reached final tables but never won a bracelet in his career.

Bill Smith – the reigning champion and an excellent tournament player. But those who read our article about Bill’s 1985 victory know that Smith had a difficult relationship with alcohol. During the game, he preferred Budweiser and balanced himself in a state of slight intoxication. He was too cautious when sober, excellent at reading opponents when slightly drunk, but could easily cross the line.

And now we have Berry Johnston, who had already finished third in the 1982 Main Event and won his first bracelet in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em. He was stable, careful, and good at this final table.

Heads-Up

After Gary Berland was eliminated, the players moved to the final heads-up. Berry Johnston, having taken Gary Berland’s chips, opened the game as the chip leader.

This heads-up was neither long nor complicated. Mike Harthcock went all-in with A 8 and was dominated by Berry Johnston’s A 10 .

According to Poker Odds Calculator, his pre-flop chances were 27% against Berry Johnston’s 63%.

The flop 6 7 3 increased Berry’s chances to 82%.

The turn 2 gave Berry a 93% chance to win.

The river 4 sealed the deal. Berry Johnston became the new WSOP 1986 champion and won $570,000 in prize money!

The Winner – Berry Johnston

Berry Johnston was born on September 25, 1935, in Bethany, Oklahoma. He started playing poker at the age of 35 in 1970 and debuted at the WSOP series in 1982. In his very first year, Berry finished 3rd in the WSOP Main Event and received $104,000 in prize money. Such was the debut of one of the most successful players of the 80s. In the following year, 1983, Berry won his first bracelet in the debut WSOP tournament for Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em. For his victory, Berry received $40,000, and third and fourth places went to Dewey Tomko and Johnny Chan – poker stars of the eighties.

Berry Johnston’s Successful WSOP Series continued from 1982 to 2010 – every year he managed to cash in tournament prize pools. The series was interrupted in 2011, but after that, Johnston cashed from 2012 to 2016. Thus, from 1982 to 2016, Berry Johnston spent only one year without WSOP cashes, setting a serious record. After 2016, Johnston played less, but during COVID-19, he participated in the WSOP Online series in 2020 and cashed twice.

Returning to tournament successes, it is necessary to note the WSOP Main Event final tables. Johnston finished: third place in 1982, third place in 1985, first place in 1986, fifth place in 1990 – and these are just the final tables!

In the WSOP series, Johnston earned $2,119,871, won 5 bracelets, and cashed in tournaments 72 times. All of Berry’s lifetime poker career prizes amount to $3,503,688.

In 2008, Berry Johnston appeared in a special episode (Season 3, Week 4) of the show Poker After Dark, where a $120,000 game was played between former WSOP champions. Johnny Chan won the game, Phil Hellmuth took second place, and Berry finished in fourth place.

Here’s what players who knew Berry said about him, not only as a player but also as a person.

Doyle Brunson’s quote:

“What I admire most about Berry is not Berry the great poker player, but Berry the man. He is a deeply religious and devoted family man, who has always been a gentleman at all times.”

In 1985, Berry played at the WSOP Main Event final table and was eliminated in a 3-max with 89% to win with AK against AJ by T.J. Cloutier. After this hand, Berry approached his wife, who was watching the game standing nearby. His wife said, “Honey, I’m hungry. Can we go get something to eat now?” and Berry, just after a hand that could have broken many poker amateurs, replied, “Okay, honey, we’ll go eat if that’s what you want to do.”

Poker Hall of Fame member since 2003.

In the 2000s, Berry represented the online poker room Full Tilt Poker.

WSOP 1986 Main Event Results