WSOP 1989: Johnny Chan vs. Phil Hellmuth

Start of the Series

We don’t know the exact dates of the preliminary tournaments and can only speak with confidence about the start of the Main Event. From this point on, we use official data that may contain errors.

Event #1: $1,500 Limit Omaha drew an impressive 181 players for the first tournament of the series. The winner was Lyle Berman, head of a large company and future chairman of the World Poker Tour brand. In 1989, Lyle won his first bracelet. Notably, the $108,600 prize was not even the largest he had won up to that point. Two years earlier, he finished second in a $2,500 PLO tournament with rebuys, earning $108,750—exactly $150 more.

The second tournament of the series also featured Omaha, but this time in a PL format—Event #2: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha. Let’s highlight T.J. Cloutier from Texas, who finished 10th in the first tournament and second in the second event. The winner was Blacky Blackburn from Oklahoma. It was his only bracelet and came with a $108,000 prize. In the money we also note a future Poker Hall of Fame member, Mike Sexton, who finished 6th. This marked Sexton’s fourth WSOP cash and the largest prize of his career up to that point—$9,450.

Only by the third event did players switch to Hold’em. That tournament turned out to be the largest in WSOP history up to that point. The event attracted 449 entrants. It was Event #3: $1,000 Limit Hold’em, and the victory went to George Allen Shaw from Maryland. It was his only lifetime cash, but he earned $179,600 at once. Among the in-the-money finishers were Men Nguyen (7th place), Dewey Tomko (8th place), Tom McEvoy (14th place).

On the fourth day of play, the tables returned to Omaha. Event #4: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (Rebuy) attracted 99 players, who made an additional 85 rebuys. In the money: Jack Keller (9th place), once again T.J. Cloutier (6th place), a young newcomer Phil Hellmuth (5th place), and Jay Heimowitz (3rd place). The winner—an electrical engineer from Houston, Frank Henderson—won $184,000. It was his only bracelet, but not his biggest success. In 1987, he lost heads-up in the WSOP Main Event, finishing second.

A high-priced and interesting tournament took place on May 5—Event #5: $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud. The event attracted 77 participants, and the first prize of $154,000 went to Don Holt, who defeated a familiar name, David Sklansky, heads-up. Humberto Brenes from Costa Rica took third place. Fifth place went to the popular actor Gabe Kaplan, who may be known to you from the show High Stakes Poker.

Triumph of Foreigners

Event #6: $1,500 Limit Seven Card Stud stands out because the winner was Mel Judah. This professional player is recorded by the WSOP as representing the UK, though he was born in India and lives in Australia. Regardless, Mel Judah definitely wasn’t from the USA, meaning he became the third foreigner to win a WSOP bracelet. Notably, Thor Hansen from Norway took seventh place—he had won a bracelet the year before.

The next day, Event #7: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em saw another foreign player win. Norman Keyser from South Africa made his only WSOP cash count, winning $244,000. He became the fourth foreigner to earn a WSOP bracelet, and his prize was the largest among them.

Previous “foreigners’” results:

• Gilbert Gross (1988) – $181,000
• Thor Hansen (1988) – $158,000
• Mel Judah (1989) – $130,800
• Norman Keyser (1989) – $244,000

Women in the Money

Event #8: $1,500 Limit Razz was won by John Laudon from Billings, Montana. Among the cashers, note Carolyn Gardner, who finished 14th in this open event. By that point, she had already won her bracelet in a women’s event in 1983 and would later cash again at the 1989 WSOP.

In Event #9: $1,500 Limit A-5 Draw Lowball, Harry Madoff defeated the strongest regular in that format, Billy Baxter. Linda Ott finished fourth. Phil Hellmuth also cashed in this event, taking 14th place.

Now we come to the women’s event—Event #10: $500 Ladies Limit Seven Card Stud. This year, the tournament attracted 93 participants, tying the record set in 1977, the year the special women’s tournament debuted at the series. This year’s winner was Alma McClelland. During her career, she won one bracelet and cashed six times in WSOP events. If her surname sounds familiar to you, you’re not mistaken. Alma was the wife of famous tournament director Jack McClelland, who was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014. Jack served as WSOP tournament director in the 1980s and worked at Bellagio from 2002 to 2013.

A Bracelet for Mike Sexton

Most poker fans know the name Mike Sexton. For some, he was the face of the World Poker Tour; others remember him for creating the PokerGives charity organization; for others, he was the person behind partypoker. It’s impossible to ignore that Mike Sexton was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. As a player, Sexton also achieved success, winning $6,708,146 in career earnings. Of that amount, $2,653,285 came from WSOP events. However, throughout his long and bright career, Mike won only one WSOP bracelet. This happened in 1989, when Sexton defeated Sid Herald heads-up in Event #11: $1,500 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo.

End of the Series

Event #12: $2,000 Limit Hold’em was won by Thomas Chung from Washington. He earned $212,000 for his victory.

The last preliminary event, Event #13: $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (Rebuy), was won by Bob Stupak, the owner of the Stratosphere Las Vegas casino. You may have seen his name in previous articles about WSOP history. It was Bob who gave Johnny Chan the nickname ‘Orient Express.’ Bob also organized the rival WSOP series, America’s Cup Of Poker.

By a curious coincidence, his wife Sandy won a WSOP bracelet before her husband in 1984, and when Bob also earned a bracelet, they became the first couple in history to each hold a WSOP bracelet.

On his way to his only bracelet, Stupak defeated Billy Baxter, who finished runner-up in a Lowball event for the second time in one year. Among Baxter’s seven bracelets, six were won in Lowball. Being beaten in heads-up matches in such tournaments only happened at the hands of Bobby Baldwin (1977), Harry Madoff (1989), and Bob Stupak (1989).

In the money in this event: David ‘Chip’ Reese (3rd place) and Dick Carson (4th place).

With this, the preliminary events of the series ended, and we can move on to the WSOP 1989 Main Event.

WSOP 1989 Results

In the Money

The payout zone again included 36 places, and it was opened by Crandall Addington, the man who organized the 1969 series that preceded the WSOP. Crandall played many WSOP final tables, but as the series grew, winning bracelets became increasingly difficult. Addington engaged in business and played poker less often, but finishing 36th in the WSOP ME is a serious achievement.

Next, in 35th place, the legendary player Puggy Pearson left the tournament. Unfortunately, this was Puggy’s last WSOP cash. His career was declining, and he could no longer keep up with younger players who were more knowledgeable about the game’s techniques. But don’t worry—Puggy’s story didn’t end in 1989. He lived until 2006 and died at the age of 77.

The previous WSOP champion, Berry Johnston, exited in 29th place. Mickey Appleman finished 22nd. Jay Heimowitz from New York took 14th place.

In 7th place was Fernando Fisdel from Costa Rica. By this point, Costa Rica and Ireland were competing in terms of their foreign players’ results. In 1989, Ireland won this race thanks to Noel Furlong reaching the final table.

Final Table

The official final table included six players. Its favorite was Johnny Chan—the two-time defending WSOP ME champion, fully motivated to make history with a third consecutive victory. He had already joined the ranks of the greatest players who had managed to win twice: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971), Doyle Brunson (1976, 1977), and Stu Ungar (1980, 1981). Chan achieved this result with a significantly increased number of opponents and an overall higher level of play. Now he had the chance to set an incredible record—the third consecutive title.

Five opponents stood in Chan’s way:

• Steve Lott – an American poker player who made his WSOP debut in 1981. In 1986, he had already experienced success in the Main Event, finishing 7th. The 1989 Main Event was his third WSOP cash. It’s worth noting that Steve continued to play poker and even finished 68th in the $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold’em event in 2024!
• John James ‘Noel’ Furlong – an Irish businessman who became a millionaire thanks to a carpet manufacturing business. His mentor was Terry Rogers, who called Furlong two days before the Main Event started to say: “I have two first-class tickets to Vegas.” That’s how Furlong ended up at this table. For the first, but not the last time. Ten years later, in 1999, he would win the WSOP Main Event.
• Lyle Berman – a successful businessman and poker enthusiast who won his first bracelet in 1989. At that time, Berman worked as CEO of the company founded by his father and sold to W.R. Grace. Later, that company would become Wilsons Leather, and Berman would serve as chairman of the board of the World Poker Tour.
• Don Zewin – an American player born in Niagara Falls, New York. Don worked in a family-owned furniture store, and in 1979 he moved to Las Vegas to play poker professionally. He never won a bracelet, but he accumulated $1,842,564 in career earnings.
• Phil Hellmuth – a 24-year-old player from Wisconsin, playing in the WSOP for the second time.

Lyle Berman told ESPN:

“Johnny and I are good friends, but I didn’t even know Phil at all. He was just another chair at the table. I don’t think I had ever played with him.”

Let’s start the game!

Chan started this 6-max final table with the second-largest stack; the chip leader at the start was Steve Lott.

Noel Furlong was the first to exit the final table, and it happened on the very first hand. He went all-in on a K 10 2 flop with a pocket pair of fours but ran into Johnny Chan’s pocket queens. The turn and river changed nothing, and Furlong took $52,850 back to Ireland. Notably, Furlong became the second Irishman in a WSOP ME 6-max table. The first was Donnacha O’Dea from Dublin back in 1983.

Returning to the remaining players, we see Lyle Berman finish in fifth place. He moved all-in with A K on a K 7 6 flop but ran into Johnny Chan’s set of sevens. For fifth place, Berman received $67,950, while Chan tallied another WSOP ME finalist to his record.

Lyle Berman’s recollection for ESPN:

“I do remember the hand I went out with, because I played it bad. I didn’t remember that the blinds had just been raised, so when it got around to me I didn’t raise as much as I should have. If I raised bigger, Johnny may have not called with his two 7’s. But then off came a king, and I got real excited because I got seven outs. But I didn’t get there, and I was really down on myself.”

Next, Chan set his sights on Don Zewin. The players went all-in; Chan showed a pair of nines, while Zewin had A-J. Zewin caught an ace on the river, doubling up and taking some chips from the table’s chip leader.

Phil Hellmuth was close to busting on that hand. He folded pocket tens, not wanting to get involved in a three-way all-in with just tens.

But a few hands later, Hellmuth did get involved in a three-way all-in with A 10 against Steve Lott’s 2 2 and Don Zewin’s 10 10 . According to a Poker Odds Calculator, Hellmuth had about a 25% chance of winning with outs to three remaining aces and a possible straight. Zewin was the favorite with 52%, and Lott trailed with his lower pair at 19%. However, Hellmuth had the most chips. When the flop came A 7 7 , the appearance of an ace drastically changed the situation—now Phil had an 85% chance to win, and ultimately his hand held up after the Q turn and 8 river.

Phil Hellmuth knocked out two opponents at once:

• Stephen Lott – 4th place, $83,050
• Don Zewin – 3rd place, $151,000

Heading into the decisive heads-up, Hellmuth was the chip leader, holding 1.1 million chips against Johnny Chan’s 600,000.

Heads-Up

Johnny Chan achieved the incredible—he reached heads-up in the WSOP Main Event for the third consecutive year. No one had done that before, and it’s unlikely anyone ever will. This time, facing the invincible Johnny was a young player who had only recently started playing at the WSOP: Phil Hellmuth.

The most amazing thing is that they had already met in 1988. It was Chan who knocked Hellmuth out of the 1988 Main Event, where Phil finished 33rd. Now they met again.

Johnny Chan’s recollection for ESPN:

“Back then, the main event lasted four days. On the third day, we played until 3 in the morning, but the broadcast company wanted us to finish by 6 p.m. to get the results on the evening news. So they made us start at 10 a.m. and I was really tired. I didn’t get enough sleep.”

Phil Hellmuth’s recollection for ESPN:

“I didn’t have time to think heading into the final table. You played 10 hours a day for three days in a row. But I had one little gimmick planned. I was going to pull out some sunglasses, which I had never worn before, because Chan wore them. I was showing Chan a little gamesmanship, but no disrespect to him. I was going to make sure I had everyone’s attention when I pulled out my sunglasses. And I did it. And Chan noticed. But it backfired, because I didn’t win any pots.

I was [also] wearing the Sony Sports headphones. At that time, I was the only one wearing headphones. I was listening to music the first three days. But on the final day, I didn’t listen to any music. It was a bluff that I was listening to music.”

The game lasted 30 minutes.

In the decisive hand, Hellmuth opened the action with a 40,000 bet and got raised to 130,000 by Chan. Phil moved all-in, having the chip lead, holding 9 9 . Chan thought for a while and called with A 7 .

Phil Hellmuth was the favorite in this historic hand with a 67% chance of winning versus Chan’s 32%.

The flop came K 10 K . Hellmuth’s chances rose to 73%.

The turn Q gave Chan additional straight outs, but Hellmuth was still ahead with a 70% chance of winning.

The river 6 ended the story.

Johnny Chan lost the decisive heads-up at WSOP 1989. He failed to win the Main Event three times in a row. It’s unlikely anyone else will ever get such a chance.

Phil Hellmuth became the new WSOP champion, winning the largest prize in the series’ history—$755,000!

Hellmuth was the youngest champion at that time, only 24 years old. This record lasted for 20 years!

And this was just the first bracelet for Phil Hellmuth, who would become one of the greatest players in WSOP history!

Heads-up video:

Johnny Chan’s recollection:

“The final hand, I played terrible. I was so tired. I just wanted to get it over with. If I had enough sleep and played my A-game, I might not have lost my patience and I would have never played A-7. Too bad—I might have won back-to-back-to-back.”

Phil Hellmuth’s recollection:

“I just thought he was going to suck out on me. I was scared to death that he would hit his card. I had watched him do it before. He just kept hitting his card, time and time again. I was kind of expecting Chan to get there. I was a little shocked when the 6s came off. I was preparing to play for another two or three hours. It was just a really sweet moment.

It was the sheer joy of winning … After the win, I’m looking up at the camera. Then, literally within five seconds, I was looking for my dad. He comes running up and security stops him because there was so much money on the table. But I waved him through and within 20-30 seconds of that last card falling, I was hugging my dad.”

The Winner – Phil Hellmuth

It’s somewhat difficult to talk about Phil Hellmuth’s successes at the WSOP. As soon as you write down the number of his bracelets, Phil might win another one—or even two at once—just to tease the authors. As of the end of WSOP 2024, Hellmuth has 17 WSOP bracelets, an all-time record. He has won $18,092,966 just at the WSOP, and he has cashed 215 times in WSOP events.

He is also the only player to have won both the WSOP Main Event (1989) and the WSOP Europe Main Event (2012).

Of course, he has been a member of the Poker Hall of Fame since 2007.

Learn more about Phil Hellmuth from our video:

We’ll add a few facts from Phil Hellmuth’s profile:

Born on July 16, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin. Raised in a Catholic family with five children, Phil was the oldest. His father was a university dean, and his mother a sculptor. Phil had academic and social issues in school, but at university, he discovered poker and began playing actively in student dorms.

Gradually, Phil started playing for small stakes in local clubs and casinos. His bankroll grew, and even more importantly, so did his skills. He excelled at reading opponents and, unlike more experienced players, was well-versed in the technical aspects of the game.

His first attempt to conquer Vegas was a failure. Phil lost his money and had to return home. After three years at university, he decided to drop out and pursue poker professionally.

Phil moved to Las Vegas in the 1980s and gradually began to cash in small tournaments. His first success was 5th place at a Pot of Gold tournament for $1,040 in nearby Reno. It brought him a prize of $1,980—just the start of a big journey.

His first victory came in 1988, at the same Pot of Gold series, for $17,550. Then, a win in a $10,000 tournament in Los Angeles and a solid $125,000 prize.

By 1988, Hellmuth was already good. He won tournaments in No Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha H/L, and A to 5 Lowball. At the 1988 WSOP Main Event, only Johnny Chan managed to stop him, leaving Phil in 33rd place. But we already know that a year later, Hellmuth would get his revenge against the formidable opponent.

After that, Hellmuth never stopped. His 1989 WSOP Main Event victory gave him such a boost of energy that he went on to win a record number of bracelets: 1989, 1992, 1993, 1993, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2023.

WSOP 1989 Main Event Results