A Tournament Legend Wins
His Second Bracelet Back-to-Back
For the third time in four years, Bobby Baldwin made it to the final table at the World Series of Poker. It was 1981 at the old Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas. There were 75 players that year with $750,000 in chips in play. With seven players left in action, Baldwin played a key hand against Perry Green that put Green in the position to eventually go to battle heads-up for the title against defending champion Stu Ungar, who was going for his second championship in a row.
Top Set Turns the Tide
Here’s how it happened. Baldwin was dealt 9-9 and Green had Q-Q. The flop came 9-4-3. Baldwin flopped top set and checked it to Green, who bet $40,000. Baldwin raised $86,000, enough to put Green all in if he called the raise. Green agonized over it, finally making the call with his overpair. When the hands were turned up, Green realized that he was reduced to two outs to win the pot and stay alive. He knew that Baldwin was a very strong player who would become the chip leader if he won the hand.
That’s when destiny stepped in: the spade Q showed up on the river, giving Green the pot with set over set. He jumped up and down with joy when he saw the lady hit the board. Now very low on chips, Baldwin just sat there with a weak smile on his face realizing that this fateful hand had put Green in position to win the tournament.
This hand demonstrates the highs and the lows you go through in tournament poker. When Green realized that he was up against Baldwin’s trip nines, he probably thought, “Oh God, I’ve played all this time and now I’m through.” But when the queen hit, his emotions reached an unexpected high. Suddenly everybody was congratulating him.
The ebbs and flows in poker can raise your spirits from the pits to the pinnacle. And, unfortunately, vice versa. Green would soon find this out for himself.
Overbetting the Pot Costs a King's Ransom
When it got to three-handed play at the final table, Green had a substantial chip lead, Stu Ungar was a solid second, and Gene Fisher was trailing as a distant third. Green was on the button holding an A-Q offsuit and opened the pot for $80,000. Clearly he overbet the pot. Sitting on $200,000, Stu Ungar called the $80,000 and went all in for $120,000 more with K-K. Green didn’t hesitate very long in calling.
If he hadn’t overbet the pot to start with, there’s a chance that he might have considered backing off, but he decided to call. If Green wins this pot, he probably will have 90 percent of the chips and will be heads up with Fisher. If Ungar wins the pot, Green is still a solid second in chips, but Ungar will have over one-half the chips in play and will be the chip leader.
With all the money in before the flop and the hands turned up, the flop came A-5-10. Perry flopped an ace, which reduced Ungar to two outs to win the hand. He caught one of them on fourth street, the Kd, giving him trip kings. However, Green now had a flush draw and an inside-straight draw, so he had some redraws to the nuts. The river card was a 4, putting the kid from Brooklyn in the lead. If Ungar hadn’t won this one—after the ace flopped, he became a big dog to the hand—he couldn’t have won the tournament.
After Fisher went out third, the lead seesawed back and forth several times. Green was the chip leader when this hand happened. Perry was a very aggressive player, as was Stu, and both these guys put in all their money on either premium hands or drawing hands. In this hand, Perry got involved with the 10c 2c on the button against Stu’s Ac Jc. The flop came J-9-8 with two clubs. Stu flopped top pair with the nut flush draw, and Perry flopped a flush draw plus an open-ended straight draw.
On the flop they went to war raising back and forth, and finally Perry moved in on Stu. If he wins this hand, the tournament is over. If Stu wins the hand, he will have a substantial chip lead. There was $554,000 in the pot out of $750,000 chips in play, the biggest pot ever played during a WSOP tournament to that date.
Perry had a lot of gamble to him in this spot. He could’ve just called Stu’s bet and tried to make his hand cheaply, but instead he decided to go to war with him right on the flop. And Stu decided not to lay down top pair and the nut flush draw. Another jack came on the turn, giving Stu trip jacks. When a 6 came on the river, Stu won the pot and took the chip lead.
Draw Against Draw for the Bracelet
In the very last hand of the tournament, Green and Ungar went to the center with draws. The blinds were $4,000/$8,000. On the button with 10-9 offsuit, Green made it $16,000 to go, a modest raise. Ungar was looking down at the A-Q of hearts and reraised $25,000 more. Green made a marginal call and caught part of the flop: 8h 7d 4h. He had an open-ended straight draw and two overcards to Ungar’s nut flush draw and two overcards. Ungar went for the kill, betting $100,000. Green called with his last $78,000 in chips.
The pot had well over $200,000 in it, which was close to one-third of the total chips in play. If Green had won the pot, it would have put him back into a more competitive position, although he still would not have had the lead. The turn card was the 4c, which paired the board but didn’t help either one of them. The Qd came at the river, pairing Ungar, although he would’ve won anyway with ace-high.
Why We Call Them the Hands of Destiny
In this tournament, Ungar and Green played three key hands against each other, all of which Ungar won. And Green was incredibly lucky against the other players. When he hit a two-out bigger set against Baldwin’s set, he would have been eliminated if Baldwin had won the pot, and Baldwin would have become the chip leader. The entire course of the tournament was affected by that hand. Ungar was lucky to win against Green, and Green was lucky to win against some of the other players. Skill and luck is a powerful combination.
This lesson was adapted from Championship Hold'em Tournament Hands, written by me and Tom McEvoy, with the permission of Cardoza Publishing.
