Thanks to its achieving legendary status in Rounders, the 1988 World Series of poker is one of the best remembered installments in the event’s history. It didn’t start out looking like it would be that way, with many of the preliminary events won by no-name gamblers whose names have since faded from the radar, but two things happened as the Series drew to its conclusion. They left their mark for good.
The first was Johnny Moss with the $1,500 Ace-to-Five draw event that preceded the World Championship. The 81-year old Moss, once the greatest player in the world, had seen age reduce him to mortality. Rounders who’d once feared him now chased him around the tables, taking some back. For Moss, this would be one last infusion of glory; his eighth bracelet victory.
The Main Event though was where the real fireworks lay. Johnny Chan, the Chinese-turned-Texan restaurateur, returned as the previous year’s champion and promptly blazed a trail through the field that left him heads up with an unknown 27-year old New Yorker who we’d eventually come to know as Erik Seidel. The conclusion of their match is the stuff of legends.
With Chan holding a slight chip lead on the small blind, he limped in with Jc-9c to Eric’s Qc-7h. The flop was perfection: Q-T-8 rainbow, giving Chan the nuts with minimal chance of an opposing flush. Looking to trap Seidel, Johnny made a $40k bet, which Seidel immediately replied to with a $50k raise. Chan just called.
When the turn brought the brick both players were looking for, Chan checked knowing Eric would follow his strong move on the flop with another bet. Seidel, knowing John had some kind of hand and that he hadn’t been helped by the turn, bet all-in, hoping to take down the pot right there. Chan called, and after another brick on the river, was crowned the champion.
Did Seidel make a mistake? His raise on the flop didn’t get him all of the information he’d have liked. Chan’s call suggested he had something, but if Eric had bet more, the call would have been more meaningful. Chan’s call probably read as a lesser pair and a gut-shot to Seidel, which would explain his decision to all-in after the brick hit the turn. One thing’s for sure; Chan played his man perfectly. At that moment in time, he was the best in the world.
Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com
