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 years 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
Number of buy-ins: 42 Total prize pool: $420,000 Number of payouts: 7 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Stu Ungar* $2nd Jack Keller* $3rd Don Williams $4th David Baxter $5th Perry Green $6th Ricardo Alem-Simon $7th Jose Rosenkrantz $
Event 2: $ 500 Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: 156 Total prize pool: $78,000 Number of payouts: 8 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Robert Turner $2nd Eric Treichel $3rd Earl Kim $4th Michael Halford $5th Stan Singer $6th Ken Flaton $7th Johnny Hale $8th John Fallon $
Event 3: $ 1,000 Ace to Five Draw
Number of buy-ins: 50 Total prize pool: $50,000 Number of payouts: 5 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Chip Reese* $2nd Ray Rumler $3rd Pat Flanagan $4th Jack Keller* $5th Jack Lewis $
Event 4: $ 500 Limit Seven Card Stud
Number of buy-ins: 152 Total prize pool: $76,000 Number of payouts: 10 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Jim Brenner $2nd Barbara Gold $3rd Wallace Phipps $4th Said Barjestch $5th Robert Miller $6th Jack Shirley $7th Karen Wolfson $8th Jack Lewis $9th Ken Flaton $10th Johnny Moss* $
Event 5: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha
Number of buy-ins: 607 Total prize pool: $121,400 Number of payouts: 10 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st John King $2nd Seymour Leibowitz $3rd Ron Graham $4th George Tsiklitiras $5th Ed Edmonson $6th David Baxter $7th Mike Hart $8th Don Williams $9th Artie Cobb $
Event 6: $ 1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $55,800 Number of payouts: 10 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Marty Sigel $2nd Al Korsin $
Event 7: $ 200 No Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $161,400 Number of payouts: 9 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Ricardo Alem-Simon $2nd Men Nguyen $3rd Tony Abadi $4th Eldon Elias $5th Dewey Tomko* $6th Tom Franklin $7th Al Korsin $8th Eddie Schwettmann $9th George Rodis $
Event 8: $ 500 Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: 161 Total prize pool: $80,500 Number of payouts: 9 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Doug Roche $2nd Ray Rumler $3rd Lauri Foreman $4th Humberto Brenes $5th Al Korsin $6th Tony Thang $7th T. J. Cloutier $8th Hector Williams $9th Don Thrash $
Event 9: $ 1,000 Limit Seven Card Stud
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $58,000 Number of payouts: 1 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st John Cernuto $
Event 10: $ 2,500 No Limit 2-7 Draw
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $71,250 Number of payouts: 1 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Carl Rouss $
Event 11: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha
Number of buy-ins: Unknown Total prize pool: $60,975 Number of payouts: 1 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Ralph Morton $
Event 12:$ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Number of buy-ins: 135 Total prize pool: $135,000 Number of payouts: 9 Reference:
+ Final tablePlace Name Prize1st Don Holt $2nd George Rodis $3rd Jens Nielsen $4th Yosh Nakano $5th Brad Daugherty $6th Perry Green $7th Harve Morgan $8th Scott Mayfield $9th David Baxter $
References