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Stu Ungar’s Final Hand in 1997 WSOP
Thinking back to Day Two of the main event of the 1997 WSOP (World Series of Poker), I remember that I played at a table that was pretty stacked. Sitting there on that day were World Champions Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Bobby Baldwin, Stu Ungar, and me. I remember that Ungar and I were the chip leaders of the whole tournament, and we dueled all day long! Unfortunately for me, I was eliminated the next day--on Day Three—with 27 players remaining, but Ungar went on to face John Strzemp for the title and $1 million in cash.
The final table was played outdoors, between the “Horseshoe Casino” and the “Golden Nugget Casino,” with the ESPN cameras there to catch the action. It is always windy in Las Vegas, and I remember that that was an issue for the dealers. Here is a link to video of the hand that I am breaking down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PjuBWtn3MI With the blinds at $10,000 - $20,000 and a $2,000 a man ante, Ungar (with over $2 million in chips) opened for $60,000 on the button with A-4, and Strzemp (with less than $1 million in chips) called with A-8. The flop was A-5-3, Strzemp bet $120,000 into the $124,000 pot, and Ungar studied his cards for a long time (more on this below) before he finally moved all in. Strzemp called for all of his remaining chips and now Ungar needed to catch a four, or a deuce to win his third World Championship. The five on the turn meant that Ungar now needed to catch a deuce and only a deuce to win the 1997 WSOP. The river was a deuce, and Ungar became a three time World Champion of Poker!
Let’s take a closer look at this hand. Ungar’s $40,000 raise before the flop was a pot sized pre-flop raise and represented the standard for the time. The new school standard betting sizes are different, and the standard today would have been closer to a $25,000 raise. Strzemp’s $40,000 pre-flop call was interesting. In 1997, it was more standard to re-raise with A-8 in a heads up position like this one, and if Strzemp thought that he had the best hand, then he should have reraised it! The new school standard is to reraise in this spot as well. Basically, I would teach my students to reraise if they thought that they had the best hand, or if they weren’t sure to reraise anyway (unless they had a strong read). Because heads up A-8 is a pretty good hand! Personally, I could have gone either way, depending on the strength of my opponent (How good is he? Was he making any mistakes?), and my read. If I thought that I could beat my opponent and I wasn’t sure if his $40,000 was weak or strong, then I would have just called. If I thought that my opponent had a weaker hand, then I would have moved all in.
Strzemp’s $120,000 pot sized bet on the flop was not a good one. Since Strzemp was going all the way with this hand on the flop, why bet it? Why not check-raise the flop, and give Ungar a chance to bluff some chips off? Or if you have to bet it, then why not bet less and try to appear weak? After Strzemp bet, Ungar studied for a minute while he appeared to be studying his hole cards. A few years later, after I saw the hand on tape, I told Ungar, “I know you only looked at the ace before the flop, and that you knew you had a ‘two across’ with it. Then when the flop came, you knew you had either top two pair, or aces and a straight draw.” Ungar acted very surprised and said, “How did you know that?” [“Two across” or “Two spotter” means a card that when you look at the spots on half of the underside of the card, there are two. Thus a two across is a four or a five, a three across is a six, a seven, or an eight, and a four across is a nine or a ten.] No limit Lowball players “Sweat” in cards all the time looking at how many spots they see on the side, and if, for example, they are even money to have a pair or to make a strong lowball hand (maybe a five pairs them and a four makes them the best possible hand), then they may make a huge bet; not knowing if they have a great hand or if they have squaddush! After all, it is harder for someone else to read you when you yourself don’t even know if you’re strong or weak!
Ungar’s all in move here was fine. He either wins the pot if Strzemp is bluffing, wins the pot because Strzemp folds a hand like A-8, or if he does get called by a better ace, then he can always hit a four or a deuce. Strzemp’s call was a good one. He correctly surmised that he had the best hand, and actually, when he bet the flop I think that Strzemp felt like he was going to go with it, if necessary. |
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