A Review of televised pre-Moneymaker Main Events Part 2: 1978 and 1979

The next televised main events of the WSOP occurred in back to back years, and both showcased how poker was a changing game. The fields in these games was expanded to young players, female players, and ameteur players, but still kept the feel of a wild west gambling hall.

In 1978, 42 players battled it out to become world champion. The viewers at home only saw six, and half of the 20 minute runtime was spent showing the hands that players busted out on. The two players left, Bobby Baldwin and Crandall Addington went head to head in a back and forth battle, which ultimately ended in my favorite hand of the tournament, where both men went all in preflop, Baldwin with pocket queens, and Addington with pocket 9s. Both players spiked a set on the flop, but Addington failed to improve after, busting him from the tournament and crowning Bobby Baldwin the ninth World Champion of Poker, making him the youngest to do so at the time. Overall, I was dissapointed with the coverage of this event, as we got better quality content with double the runtime five years prior.

1979 was a different story. After watching so much High Stakes Poker from the 2000’s, it was a treat to see Gabe Kaplan play in the main event. There were still mostly familiar faces at this event, Puggy Pearson, Johnny Moss, and the aformentioned Bobby Baldwin and Crandall Addington were all contenders out of the 54 person field. One of the best hands of the event comes early in the show when Sam Petrillo calls an all in with red Kings, only to run into the red Aces of Jim Bechtel. It’s a devestating spot for Petrillo, but there is still hope. And that hope comes in the form of a flopped King of Clubs, no ace comes on the turn or river, and 3 Kings wins it for Petrillo. That’s just one of the notable hands of this event, another being Bobby Baldwin losing set over set. But the highlight in my eyes comes in the form of the first Royal Flush at the Main Event, held by Lakewood Louie, which gave him a much needed double-up. Ultimately the final hand ends with Hal Fowler cracking Bobby Hoff’s aces with 67o. A satysfying end to an eventful Main Event.

Each Main Event will represent an evolution in the game, with Hal Fowler being the first ameteur to win the event, setting a precident which would eventually lead to the poker boom of 2003.