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1988 Super Bowl of Poker

The Super Bowl of Poker (also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker or SBOP) was the second most prestigious poker tournament in the world during the 1980s. While the World Series of Poker was already drawing larger crowds as more and more amateurs sought it out, the SBOP "was an affair limited almost exclusively to pros and hard-core amateurs."

Prior to 1979, the only high dollar tournament a person could enter was the WSOP. 1972 WSOP Main Event Champion and outspoken ambassador for poker Amarillo Slim saw this as an opportunity. "The World Series of Poker was so successful that everybody wanted more than one tournament," he said. Slim called upon his connections and friendships with poker's elite to start a new tournament in the February 1979. Before the SBOP had developed a reputation of its own, many of the most respected names in poker attended the tournament "more to support Slim and take advantage of the very fat cash games the event would obviously inspire." Slim modelled his SBOP after the WSOP with several events and a $10,000 Texas Hold'em Main Event.

One of the principal differences between the WSOP and the SBOP was the prize structure. The WSOP's prize structure was flat ensuring more people received smaller pieces of the prize pool. The SBOP typically used a 60-30-10 payout structure. In other words, only the first three places received money and generally in the ratio of 60% to first place, 30% to second place, and 10% to third. This payment schedule predominated the SBOP for the first 5 years of the event, but as the event grew the number of payouts increased while keeping the payout schedule top heavy.

1988 Tournament

The 1988 SBOP was possibly one of the most notable events in the tournament's history. Two future Poker Hall of Famer's Stu Ungar and Jack Keller were playing heads-up for the right to claim the title. Stu won the event and went on to become the only person to win three SBOP Main Events. The loser, Jack Keller, ended up winning two SBOP Main Events. The Main Event was not the only final table that Jack made it to in 1988. Jack faced off against another future Poker Hall of Famer at the $1,000 Ace to Five Draw tournament. This time he fell short to Chip Reese.

Key

* Elected to the Poker Hall of Fame.
Place The place in which people finish.
Name The name of the player
Prize (US$) Event prize money

Event 1: $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Stu Ungar* $210,000
2nd Jack Keller* $84,000
3rd Don Williams $42,000
4th David Baxter $21,000
5th Perry Green $21,000
6th Ricardo Alem-Simon $21,000
7th Jose Rosenkrantz $21,000

Event 2: $ 500 Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Robert Turner $38,000
2nd Eric Treichel $15,200
3rd Earl Kim $7,600
4th Michael Halford $3,800
5th Stan Singer $3,800
6th Ken Flaton $3,800
7th Johnny Hale $3,800
8th John Fallon $2,000

Event 3: $ 1,000 Ace to Five Draw

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Chip Reese* $25,000
2nd Ray Rumler $12,500
3rd Pat Flanagan $7,500
4th Jack Keller* $5,000
5th Jack Lewis $2,500

Event 4: $ 500 Limit Seven Card Stud

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Jim Brenner $36,000
2nd Barbara Gold $14,400
3rd Wallace Phipps $7,200
4th Said Barjestch $3,600
5th Robert Miller $3,600
6th Jack Shirley $3,600
7th Karen Wolfson $3,600
8th Jack Lewis $2,000
9th Ken Flaton $1,000
10th Johnny Moss* $1,000

Event 5: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st John King $54,180
2nd Seymour Leibowitz $25,080
3rd Ron Graham $12,040
4th George Tsiklitiras $6,020
5th Ed Edmonson $6,020
6th David Baxter $6,020
7th Mike Hart $6,020
8th Don Williams $3,010
9th Artie Cobb $3,010

Event 6: $ 1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Marty Sigel $46,500
2nd Al Korsin $9,300

Event 7: $ 200 No Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Ricardo Alem-Simon $72,585
2nd Men Nguyen $32,260
3rd Tony Abadi $16,130
4th Eldon Elias $8,065
5th Dewey Tomko* $8,065
6th Tom Franklin $8,065
7th Al Korsin $8,065
8th Eddie Schwettmann $4,032
9th George Rodis $4,032

Event 8: $ 500 Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Doug Roche $36,225
2nd Ray Rumler $16,100
3rd Lauri Foreman $8,050
4th Humberto Brenes $4,025
5th Al Korsin $4,025
6th Tony Thang $4,025
7th T.J. Cloutier $4,025
8th Hector Williams $2,013
9th Don Thrash $2,013

Event 9: $ 1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st John Cernuto $58,000

Event 10: $ 2,500 No Limit 2-7 Draw

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Carl Rouss $71,250

Event 11: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Ralph Morton $60,975

Event 12:$ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Don Holt $60,750
2nd George Rodis $27,000
3rd Jens Nielsen $13,500
4th Yosh Nakano $6,750
5th Brad Daugherty $6,750
6th Perry Green $6,750
7th Harve Morgan $6,750
8th Scott Mayfield $3,375
9th David Baxter $3,375
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