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1982 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.

1982 tournament

Puggy Pearson is the Poker Hall of Famer who is credited with coming up with the concept of a freeze-out tournament. As a four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Pearson was well known in poker circles. In 1982, Puggy was playing Chuck Bemus heads up in the "Follow the Stars" tournament. The "Follow the Stars" tournament was known for offering a prize equal to half the total buy-in and a new car. Pearson was one of two future Poker Hall of Famers to win a SBOP tournament in 1982; the other one was Chip Reese. Reese won the $10,000 Deuce to Seven Lowball event.

Key

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

Event 1: Ladies Seven Card Stud

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st EJ Freeman $9,840
2nd Lanette Rocheleau $4,920
3rd Alma McClelland $1,640

Event 2: Ace to Five Lowball

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Howard Andrew $28,800
2nd Seymour Leibowitz $14,400

Event 3: $ 500 Seven Card Stud

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Howard Andrew $19,200
2nd Phil Glessner $9,600
3rd Dick Faucette $3,200

Event 5: $ 5,000 Seven Card Stud

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Sam Mastrogiannis $39,000
2nd Bobby Baldwin* $19,500
3rd Hugh Nevill $6,500

Event 6: Ace to Five Lowball

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Dave Hampton $39,000
2nd Perry Green $19,500
3rd David Baxter $6,500

Event 7: $ 10,000 Deuce to Seven Lowball

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Chip Reese* $84,000
2nd Richard Clayton $42,000
3rd Frank Mariani $14,000

Event 8: $ 1,000 Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Tom McEvoy $57,600
2nd Tom Hood $28,800
3rd Howard Andrew $9,600

Event 9: $ 2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Split

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Darryl Smith $36,000
2nd Mickey Appleman $18,000
3rd Robert Travis $6,000

Event 10: $ 1,000 Hold'em - Follow the Stars

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Puggy Pearson* $75,000
2nd Chuck Bemus $30,000
3rd Walter Jones $15,000

Event 11: $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em

Final table
Place Name Prize
1st Ed Stevens $195,000
2nd Tony Salinas $117,000
3rd Gabe Kaplan $105,000
4th Chuck Bemus $78,000
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