The Super Bowl of Poker (SBOP), also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker, 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, who 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
Number of buy-ins: 42 Total prize pool: $16,400 Number of payouts: 4 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st EJ Freeman $2nd Lanette Rocheleau $3rd Alma McClelland† $
Event 2: Ace to Five Lowball
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $43200 Number of payouts: 2 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Howard Andrew $2nd Seymour Leibowitz $
Event 3: $ 500 Seven Card Stud
Number of buy-ins: 64 Total prize pool: $32,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Howard Andrew $2nd Phil Glessner $3rd Dick Faucette $
Event 4: $ 500 Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: 197 Total prize pool: $99,500 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Dave Bailey $2nd Robert "Chip Burner" Turner $3rd Johnny Chan $
Event 5: $ 5,000 Seven Card Stud
Number of buy-ins: 13 Total prize pool: $65,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Sam Mastrogiannis $2nd Bobby Baldwin* $3rd Hugh Nevill $
Event 6: Ace to Five Lowball
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $65,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Dave Hampton $2nd Perry Green $3rd David Baxter $
Event 7: $ 10,000 Deuce to Seven Lowball
Number of buy-ins: 14 Total prize pool: $140,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Chip Reese†* $2nd Richard Clayton $3rd Frank Mariani $
Event 8: $ 1,000 Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: 96 Total prize pool: $96,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Tom McEvoy $2nd Tom Hood $3rd Howard Andrew $
Event 9: $ 2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Split
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $60,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Darryl Smith $2nd Mickey Appleman $3rd Robert Travis $
Event 10: $ 1,000 Hold'em - Follow the Stars
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $120,000 Number of payouts: 3 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Puggy Pearson†* $2nd Chuck Bemus $3rd Walter Jones $
Event 11: $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: unknown Total prize pool: $495,000 Number of payouts: 4 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Ed Stevens $2nd Tony Salinas $3rd Gabe Kaplan $4th Chuck Bemus $
References