Jack Straus

American poker player (1930–1988)

Jack Straus

Jack "Treetop" Straus

Nickname(s)| Treetop
Born| (1930-06-16)June 16, 1930
Died| (1988-08-17)August 17, 1988 (age 58)
Los Angeles, California
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)| 2
Money finish(es)| 4
Highest ITM
Main Event finish| Winner, 1982

Jack "Treetop" Straus (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1988) was an American professional poker player.

He is best known for winning the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he was able to come back from being down to one chip earlier in the tournament, giving meaning to the poker phrase "a chip and a chair".[1][2] In addition, Straus is known for successfully pulling off one of the best bluffs in the history of poker.

## Poker career

[edit]

Straus began playing in World Series of Poker events in the early 1970s. He finished in fourth place in the 1972 Main Event. He won his first bracelet in 1973 in the $3,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event for $16,500. Straus finished in third place in the Main Event that year. He won the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $520,000 and a second WSOP bracelet. Straus' appearances at the final table of the Main Event in 1972, 1973, and 1982 put him in an elite group of players to have made the final table three or more times. Other players to have accomplished this include Main Event champions such as Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Johnny Chan and Dan Harrington.

## 1982 WSOP Main Event, "A Chip and a Chair"

[edit]

Famously, Straus's 1982 win was a comeback after being down to a single $500 chip, supposedly the origin of the common tournament poker aphorism: "a chip and a chair." Although accounts vary, the most common story is that he pushed his chips into the pot, was called and lost the hand. Straus had thought he was eliminated from the tournament, but when he got up, he discovered he had one chip left under a napkin on the table.

Because he did not declare himself all-in, the tournament directors allowed him to continue playing. Modern lore says that this feat occurred at the final table, but the 2005 book All In, which documents the history of the WSOP, confirms that it occurred early in the second day, and did leave him with a $500 chip before his comeback.

## The bluff

[edit]

Straus is credited with one of the most celebrated bluffs of all time. While playing in a high-stakes no limit Texas Hold'em cash game, Straus had won several large pots in a row and so decided that he would raise the next hand pre-flop with any two cards. When he looked down he found that he had been dealt 7–2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em, but, playing a 'rush', he raised anyway. Straus's raise was called by a single opponent and the flop came 7–3–3. This was a good flop for a 7–2, so Straus bet out. However his tight opponent made a large raise, indicating a likely overpair to the board.

Straus knew he was almost certainly behind, but he decided that he might be able to beat his opponent by representing trip threes, so he called the large raise. The turn was a 2, for a board of 7–3–3–2, which was no help to Straus with a better pair already on the board, but he made a huge bet anyway. This set his opponent thinking deeply. Straus knew that he was desperate to avoid a call, as his chances of drawing out to win on the river were very slim. After a few minutes, Straus offered his opponent a proposition. He told him that for $25, he could choose either one of Straus's hole cards and Straus would show it to him. The opponent considered for a while, then tossed Straus $25 and chose a card. Straus showed him the deuce.

After another long pause, his opponent eventually figured that Straus would only make such an offer if both of his hole-cards were deuces, therefore giving him a full house: deuces over threes. He reluctantly folded, and Jack Straus entered poker folklore as one of the most creative bluffers of all time.[3] The bluff was depicted in the Stu Ungar biopic Stuey; however, Straus is not a character in the film and the bluff is credited to another player.

## Outside poker

[edit]

Straus was nicknamed "Treetop" because he was 6'6"; he attended Texas A&M. While it has been reported that he had played varsity basketball there, his name does not appear on the school's all-time list of basketball letter earners.[4] Aside from his poker-playing, Straus was well known as a marksman, a big-game hunter, and for his erudite wit.

## Death

[edit]

After his championship win, Straus continued to actively play poker until his death.

He died of an aortic aneurysm on August 17, 1988, at the age of 58 while playing in a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.[5] He was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.

Straus's live poker tournament winnings exceeded $750,000.[6]

## World Series of Poker bracelets

[edit]

Year  | Tournament  | Prize (US$)

|
|

1973 | $3,000 Deuce to Seven Draw | $16,500
1982 | $10,000 Championship Event - No Limit Hold'em | $520,000

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Suzuki, Sylvester; Cizmar, Paula (1998). Poker Tournament Strategies. Two Plus Two Pub. p. 110\. ISBN 978-1-880685-19-8. Retrieved November 14, 2023. "As the late Jack Straus demonstrated years ago at the World Series of Poker, if you still have a "chip and a chair," you always have a chance to win it all. Never give up. Never!"
2. ^ Alfano, Sean (July 2, 2007). ""All You Need Is A Chip And A Chair"". CBS News. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
3. ^ "Jack Straus". WSOP.com. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
4. ^ "2006-07 Texas A&M Basketball Media Fact Book" (PDF). Texas A&M University. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2007. Retrieved December 14, 2006. See p. 180.
5. ^ "Poker Hall of Fame". PokerPages.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009.
6. ^ "Jack Straus' profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved November 15, 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Card Player profile
* Hendon Mob profile
* WSOP profile

* v
* t
* e

Poker Hall of Fame

1979|

* Johnny Moss
* Nick Dandolos
* Corky McCorquodale
* Red Winn
* Sid Wyman
* Wild Bill Hickok
* Edmond Hoyle

1980s|

* Blondie Forbes
* Bill Boyd
* Tom Abdo
* Joe Bernstein
* Murph Harrold
* Red Hodges
* Henry Green
* Puggy Pearson
* Doyle Brunson
* Jack Straus
* Sarge Ferris

1990s|

* Benny Binion
* Chip Reese
* Amarillo Slim
* Jack Keller
* Little Man Popwell
* Roger Moore

2000s|

* Stu Ungar
* Lyle Berman
* Johnny Chan
* Bobby Baldwin
* Berry Johnston
* Jack Binion
* Crandell Addington
* T. J. Cloutier
* Billy Baxter
* Barbara Enright
* Phil Hellmuth
* Dewey Tomko
* Henry Orenstein
* Mike Sexton

2010s|

* Dan Harrington
* Erik Seidel
* Barry Greenstein
* Linda Johnson
* Eric Drache
* Sailor Roberts
* Tom McEvoy
* Scotty Nguyen
* Jack McClelland
* Daniel Negreanu
* Jennifer Harman
* John Juanda
* Todd Brunson
* Carlos Mortensen
* Dave Ulliott
* Phil Ivey
* Mori Eskandani
* John Hennigan
* Chris Moneymaker
* David Oppenheim

2020s|

* Huck Seed
* Eli Elezra
* Layne Flack
* Brian Rast

* v
* t
* e

1970s WSOP bracelet winners

Note
number in brackets represents the number of bracelets earned in that year

1970|

* Johnny Moss

1971|

* Bill Boyd
* Jimmy Casella
* Johnny Moss (2)
* Puggy Pearson

1972|

* Bill Boyd
* Amarillo Slim

1973|

* Sam Angel
* Joe Bernstein
* Bill Boyd
* Aubrey Day
* Puggy Pearson (3)
* Jack Straus

1974|

* Bill Boyd
* Jimmy Casella (2)
* Johnny Moss
* Sailor Roberts
* Amarillo Slim

1975|

* Sam Angel
* Billy Baxter
* Jay Heimowitz
* Johnny Moss
* Sailor Roberts

1976|

* Howard Andrew (2)
* Doyle Brunson (2)
* Doc Green
* Perry Green
* Johnny Moss
* Walter Smiley

1977|

* Billy Allen
* Bobby Baldwin (2)
* Gary Berland
* Doyle Brunson (2)
* Perry Green
* George Huber
* Louis Sager Hunsucker Jr.
* Jackie McDaniels
* Fats Morgan
* Jeff Sandow
* Richard Schwartz

1978|

* Bobby Baldwin
* Billy Baxter
* Gary Berland (2)
* Doyle Brunson
* Aubrey Day
* Terry King
* Lakewood Louie
* Hans Lund
* Chip Reese
* Henry Young

1979|

* Bobby Baldwin
* Gary Berland (2)
* Starla Brodie
* Doyle Brunson
* Hal Fowler
* Barbara Freer
* Perry Green
* Lakewood Louie (2)
* Sam Mastrogiannis
* Johnny Moss
* Dewey Tomko

* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

1980s WSOP bracelet winners

Note
number in brackets represents the number of bracelets earned in that year

1980|

* Mickey Appleman
* Robert Bone
* Pat Callihan
* Deby Callihan
* Pete Christ
* Sarge Ferris
* Gene Fisher
* Jim Fugatti
* Lynn Harvey
* A.J. Myers
* Bobby Schwing
* Lakewood Louie
* Stu Ungar

1981|

* Ed Barmach
* Frank Cardone
* Fred David
* Sid Gamerman
* Ruth Godfrey
* Bruce Hershenson
* Juanda Matthews
* Johnny Moss
* A.J. Myers
* Mickey Perry
* Dody Roach
* Glen Rodgers
* Stu Ungar (2)

1982|

* Billy Baxter (2)
* Tom Cress
* Jim Doman
* June Field
* Nick Helm
* Dani Kelly
* Ralph Morton
* John Paquette
* Chip Reese
* Vera Richmond
* David Sklansky (2)
* Jack Straus
* Don Williams

1983|

* David Angel
* David Baxter
* Artie Cobb
* Donna Doman
* Jim Doman
* Ken Flaton
* Carolyn Gardner
* Buster Jackson
* Berry Johnston
* John Lukas
* Tom McEvoy (2)
* David Sklansky (2)
* Don Todd
* Stu Ungar

1984|

* Dick Albano
* Todd Baur
* William Bennett
* Norman Berliner
* Paul Fontaine
* Mike Hart
* Jack Keller (2)
* Sandy Stupak
* Bob Martinez
* Mike Schneiberg
* Dewey Tomko (2)
* Karen Wolfson

1985|

* Dick Carson
* Johnny Chan
* Tommy Fischer
* Rick Hamil
* John Lukas
* Mark Mitchell
* Rose Pifer
* Amarillo Slim
* Zorn Smiljanic
* Bill Smith
* Tony Thang
* Harry Thomas
* Don Williams
* Edwin Wyde

1986|

* Jim Allen
* David Baxter
* Mike Cox
* Hamid Dastmalchi
* Barbara Enright
* Tommy Fischer
* Ron Graham
* Jay Heimowitz
* Berry Johnston
* Sam Mastrogiannis
* Tom McEvoy
* J.B. Randall

1987|

* Bob Addison
* Billy Baxter
* T. J. Cloutier
* Johnny Chan
* Artie Cobb
* Jim Craig
* Hal Kant
* Ralph Merton
* Joe Petro
* Carl Rouss
* Linda Ryke-Drucker
* Hilbert Shirey

1988|

* Val Carpenter
* Johnny Chan (2)
* Russ Gibe
* Gilbert Gross
* Thor Hansen
* David Helms
* Lance Hilt
* Loretta Huber
* Merrill Hunt
* Seymour Leibowitz
* Johnny Moss
* Don Williams

1989|

* Lyle Berman
* Barry Blackburn
* Thomas Chung
* Phil Hellmuth
* Frank Henderson
* Don Holt
* Mel Judah
* Norman Keyser
* John Laudon
* Harry Madoff
* Alma McClelland
* Mike Sexton
* George Allen Shaw
* Bob Stupak

* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

* v
* t
* e

World Series of Poker – Main Event champions

* 1970: Moss
* 1971: Moss
* 1972: Preston
* 1973: Pearson
* 1974: Moss
* 1975: Roberts
* 1976: Brunson
* 1977: Brunson
* 1978: Baldwin
* 1979: Fowler
* 1980: Ungar
* 1981: Ungar
* 1982: Straus
* 1983: McEvoy
* 1984: Keller
* 1985: Smith
* 1986: Johnston
* 1987: Chan
* 1988: Chan
* 1989: Hellmuth
* 1990: Matloubi
* 1991: Daugherty
* 1992: Dastmalchi
* 1993: Bechtel
* 1994: Hamilton
* 1995: Harrington
* 1996: Seed
* 1997: Ungar
* 1998: S. Nguyen
* 1999: Furlong
* 2000: Ferguson
* 2001: Mortensen
* 2002: Varkonyi
* 2003: Moneymaker
* 2004: Raymer
* 2005: Hachem
* 2006: Gold
* 2007: Yang
* 2008: Eastgate
* 2009: Cada
* 2010: Duhamel
* 2011: Heinz
* 2012: Merson
* 2013: Riess
* 2014: Jacobson
* 2015: McKeehen
* 2016: Q. Nguyen
* 2017: Blumstein
* 2018: Cynn
* 2019: Ensan
* 2020: Salas
* 2021: Aldemir
* 2022: Jørstad
* 2023: Weinman
* 2024: Tamayo

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