WSOP Classic Moments – Hal Fowler Wins 1979 Main Event
The 1979 Main Event went down as one of the more unusual final tables in the history of the event. An unlikely amateur by the name of Hal Fowler had made the table, and how he made the final baffles players to this day. He was a horrible player that chased bad draws and somehow managed to hit them.
The final table of the Main Event included David “Chip” Reese, “The Grand Old Man of Poker” Johnny Moss, and Bobby Hoff. Moss and Reese fell by the wayside early in the final table and ultimately, it was Fowler and Hoff that battled for the title.
True to form, Fowler doubled-up after hitting a miracle three-outer against Hoff. Fowler then managed to catch like mad and wound up with a huge chip lead. Hoff battled back to about even before the final hand. In that hand, Hoff raised pre-flop with pocket aces and Fowler called along with a meager 7s-6d. On a flop of Js-5h-3c, Hoff led out for 40,000. Fowler made the call and the 4s came on the turn to give Fowler the straight. Hoff was oblivious to the possibility of Fowler holding a straight and moved all-in. Fowler made the call and Hoff was drawing dead. The unlikely amateur had won the WSOP Main Event and $270,000 in prize money.
Fowler’s win is considered by many to be the greatest upset in the history of the WSOP. It is rumored that Fowler lost his winnings at the poker table soon after the Main Event. After his WSOP win, Fowler literally dropped off the planet. Many years later, a private detective was hired to try and find Fowler. What was found was very strange. Apparently, Fowler left home at 18 and never went back and never saw any of his family ever again. He served in the military but insisted that they not share where he was at after he finished the service. Towards the end of his life, Fowler spent his last years in a nursing home, with his only possessions a gun and a top of his Main Event win. He also told the nursing home not to share his death for at least two years after his passing.
What possessed Fowler to live such a reclusive life is unknown but regardless of how he spent the rest of his life, he is still remembered in the WSOP record books as a world champion.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
