In 1980, Stu Ungar beat WSOP Final Boss Doyle Brunson to win his first of three Main Event titles at Binion's Horseshoe in Downtown Las Vegas. It was an instant heads-up classic that pit 'The Kid' against Brunson, who was chasing his third Main Event victory.
The two had outlasted a field of 73 players to play for the top prize of $365,000, a bump up from the 54 runners seen the year before when amateur Hal Fowler won poker's world championship. A gutshot straight downed Brunson at the end, handing Ungar $365,000 and the championship.
Ungar would return to the mix again in 1981, winning two bracelets in the final events of the series. The first was the $10,000 2-7 Draw Championship, a 19-player affair with a $95,000 first prize. 'The Kid' followed that up with his second Main Event title in a row, beating Perry Green in heads-up play for $375,000.
Serious poker for the 'serious gambler'
Hand-written records are still tucked away in the Special Collections department at the UNLV Library, where several boxes of records from the history of Binion's Horseshoe were donated by high-powered L.A. press agent Henri Bollinger. Bollinger promoted the WSOP and other events, leveraging media all over the country to increase the visibility of Binion's Horseshoe Casino.
A press release highlights the 12th annual festival. It touts the famous Binion display of $1 million cash and highlights several members of the Binion family with key roles in the business:
"Prime responsibility for running the establishment is divided between Benny, the overall host, his wife, Teddy Jane, who supervises the cashier's cash, son Teddy, who oversees the casino games, and Jack, who, as president..."
Promoting the The Binions and the "family-run" aspect of the business was a specific strategy for the casino, which sought to mirror similar campaigns in other major industries at the time.
A dive into the 1981 folders reveal a simpler time when the WSOP was still in its early years, though the casino had already thrown 11 of them. Event registration was done by hand, as were the end-of-night chip counts and other administrative tasks that are handled by much larger teams in the modern era.
'The Kid' goes back-to-back
The structure sheet for the 1981 Main Event spreads the tournament out over four days. Day 1 had a trio of two-hour levels before a one-hour dinner and then a full level after the break. Starting stacks were 10,000 and blinds started at 50 with an ante of 10 in the first level. The small blind appeared in Level 3 with blinds at 50/100 with a 25 ante from every player.
Day 1 chip counts are missing, but 38 players moved on from the original 75 runners. Three former champions were still in contention after Day 2, with Bobby Baldwin and Brunson lurking behind Perry Green in the top ten. Ungar was just outside of it in 11th with 34,700 chips entering the 300/600 level. Chip Reese rounded out the final 20 players with the shortest stack.
The third day played down to the final nine and it was the first year to pay the full final table. Brunson fell on Day 3 but Baldwin jumped to the lead, while Ungar scratched his way to the final table ahead of only Andy Moore in ninth.
'Chicago Sam' Petrillo was the first player out at the final table, followed by Moore, Baldwin, and Jay Heimowitz. Bill Smith and Ken Smith fell back-to-back before Gene Fisher lost in third to leave Ungar and Green at the end.
Several typewritten final table hand histories are found in the records, perhaps in one of the first instances of "live reporting" — though their exact purpose was likely to assist filmmakers. Check out a selection below:
1981 WSOP Main Event final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stu Ungar | $375,000 |
| 2 | Perry Green | $150,000 |
| 3 | Gene Fisher | $75,000 |
| 4 | Ken Smith | $37,500 |
| 5 | Bill Smith | $37,500 |
| 6 | Jay Heimowitz | $30,000 |
| 7 | Bobby Baldwin | $15,000 |
| 8 | Andy Moore | $15,000 |
| 9 | Sam Petrillo | $15,000 |
Ruth Godfrey wins 5th Women's Championship
1981 was also the fifth edition of the Women's Championship, a $415 buy-in slotted as the fourth event on the 12-tournament schedule. Ruth Godfrey beat a field of 88 players — up from 62 in 1980 — to win a then-record $17,600 for first. The women's championship was held as Seven Card Stud until 2000, when it operated at a Stud/NLH split until going full no-limit hold'em in 2004.
See more in our full gallery of 1981 WSOP artifacts:
Artifacts obtained from Binion's Horseshoe Casino Records on Poker, 1960-2006. MS-00325. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
