Jack Strauss - WSOP Winner

Updated 2008/2009
Bluffing is an art and when we thinking of bluffing in Poker, we think of Jack “Treetop” Strauss. He was 6’6’ and he played college basketball at Texas A&M. Jack was an aggressive player and there are two very famous stories about him. During the 1982 WSOP he went all-in during a game and lost the hand. As he stood up he found that he had one $500 chip remaining and since he didn’t declare to the officials that he was all in, he was allowed to continue playing. In that consequence he won the tournament earning his second WSOP and $520,000. This is the story that is told in context of the final table. According to one book “The Biggest game in town” written in 1983, this sequence occurred during the first day of the tournament. To watch the telecast nowadays the look of pure bewilderment on his face when he drew that 10 is a delight to see. The poker players at times credit the story by saying “A chip and a chair” which is quite popular amongst them.

One of the best bluffs of all times is depicted in the second story about Jack. At that time, Jack was playing in a high stakes no limit Texas Hold’em cash game in which he continuosly had been winning large games in a row. The continuous success encouraged him to raise the next hand pre-flop with any two cards. The surprise came in when he looked at the cards, the worst cards to start any game in Texas Hold’em, he was dealt 7-2. Jack still continued the game. If it had been for any other player, he would have thrown the cards. So Jack raised and was called by only one other player. The flop delivered a 7-3-3, not much of a help to Jack. It is easy in fact to defeat a small pair. His opponent had been playing with very less amount till that time, but eventually he increased his raise. Jack made a smart move by calling for a raise and putting an impression that he has triples. What Jack did next was he bet one larger raise on the turn of a 2. This made his opponent think very hard on the situation. Jack didn’t want to take the call and he was aware that the river card would be of very less help and he made an offer to his opponent. This was the turning point in the game.

Jack told him that for $25, Jack would show him the hole card of his choice. The opponent pondered for a while tossed a $25 chip to Jack. Jack showed him a deuce. His opponent thought that Jack would make this kind of offer only if both of his hole cards are deuces, which gave him a full house, deuces over threes. The opponent withdrew from the game.

This was the greatest bluff Jack ever made and is always remembered in the history of Poker bluffs. Jack succumbed to a heart attack in 1988 during a high stakes Poker game. His comeback in 1982 WSOP tournament was historical because of which his name was entered into the Poker Hall of Fame. His career spanned a glorious 2 WSOP bracelets and earnings close to $6 Million in all.