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One Chip Takes All
Jack “Treetop” Strauss, so called because of his massive height- 6foot 6
inches, was a poker legend. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in
1988, and died at a poker table of a heart attack in a high stakes game at
the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, California. His final hand was a complete
bluff, but one his greatest triumph came at the 1982 World Series of Poker
in Las Vegas’ Binion Horseshoe Casino. The field was the biggest in the
history of the event at that time, with 104 players entered. The tournament
was a large part of the reason Strauss was named to the Hall of Fame, the
play the stuff of legend.
Early in the tournament, things had not gone well for Strauss. He seemed to
be on quite an unlucky streak, one that appeared to be tournament long. All
his big hands were getting topped by even bigger hands, and any attempts he
made at bluffing were being called. In the middle of a key hand for a huge
pot, Strauss jumped out of his chair in anger and announced “I’m betting
it”. He shoved all the chips in front of him with both hands and shoved them
into the middle of the table. His opponent called, and showed Strauss his
winning hand. Brave man.
Strauss picked up his coat and prepared to leave the tournament in
frustration, when he found alone $500 chip that was hidden on his table,
missed in his attricious final all-in. Strauss’ opponent claimed that the
chip was his, a legitimate complaint as Strauss had clearly meant to put all
he had on the last hand. Tournament officials reviewed the situation and
declared that as Strauss had never actually vocalized that he was going
all-in, the chip was still live and still Strauss’.
With almost nothing left to lose, Strauss indulged his freewheeling style of
play and went on a legendary run of the tables. He doubled up on consecutive
hands and used his aggression and bluffing ability to build chips the rest
of the day.
On day two, Strauss picked up a $30,000 pot of the Main Event and ended the
day as the chip leader. By the end of cay three, Strauss had a total of
$340,000, more than twice that of his nearest competitor. Strauss met Dewey
Tomko on the final day, but Strauss was not to be stopped, winning the
tournament with a $520,000 first place finish, the largest in the history of
the event at that time.
Hard as it is to believe, Strauss turned one chip into a fortune. His story
and others can be read in Jonathan Grotenstein’s All In: The (Almost)
Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker.
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