1987 Super Bowl of Poker


The 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.

1987 Tournament

Three Poker Hall of Famers played at the final table in the $200 Pot Limit Omaha event. Johnny Chan was a relative newcomer compared to the older veterans Jack Keller and Johnny Moss, but Chan succeeded in defeating both to claim the title. Chan later made it to another final table and played against future Hall of Famer, Barbara Enright at the $200 No Limit Hold'em. Howard Andrew won the event.

Event 1: $ 500 Limit Hold'em

Number of buy-ins: 196Total prize pool: $98,000Number of payouts: 9Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stRalph Johnson$47000
2ndRobert Turner$18800
3rdJohn Franjesh$9400
4thRichard Sargent$4700
5thJeff Gold$4700
6thAli Farsai$4700
7thKen Flaton$4700
8thJohn Cernuto$2000
9thSteve Kopp$2000

Event 2: $ 500 Limit Seven Card Stud

Number of buy-ins: 164Total prize pool: $82,000Number of payouts: 10Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stGlenda Bridges$38000
2ndAlex Murray$15200
3rdBill Sheppard$7600
4thBuddy McIntosh$3800
5thMark Jacobus$3800
6thSteve Kopp$3800
7thCraig DiSalvo$3800
8thLenny Moore$2000
9thJack Lindsay$2000
10thFred Sigur$2000

Event 3: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha

Number of buy-ins: UnknownTotal prize pool: $135,200Number of payouts: 9Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stJohnny Chan*$60795
2ndBerry Johnston*$27020
3rdArtie Cobb$13510
4thTerry Davis$6755
5thGarland Walters$6755
6thJerry St. Pierre$6755
7thEddie Scwettman$6755
8thJohnny Moss*$4053
9thDon Williams$2702

Event 4: $ 1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo

Number of buy-ins: 78Total prize pool: $78,000Number of payouts: 7Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stRobert Turner$39000
2ndRon McMillan$15600
3rdGeorge Feher$7800
4thMike Magic$3900
5thAl Korsin$3900
6thScott Dick$3900
7thBarney O'Malia$3900

Event 5: $ 200 No Limit Hold'em

Number of buy-ins: 173Total prize pool: $214,500Number of payouts: 18Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stHoward Andrew$86400
2ndJohnny Chan*$38400
3rdDavid Baxter$19200
4thJim Doman$9600
5thGarland Walters$9600
6thBarbara Enright$9600
7thBob Lackhart$9600
8thGene Fisher$5760
9thEd Stevens$3840

Event 6: $ 1,000 Ace to Five Draw

Number of buy-ins: 80Total prize pool: $80,000Number of payouts: 5Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stMargo Marvin$40000
2ndRobert Turner$16000
3rdDavid Question$1200
4thBruce Holt$8000
5thCharles Hantz$4000

Event 7: $ 500 Limit Hold'em

Number of buy-ins: 189Total prize pool: $94,500Number of payouts: 9Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stRay Johnson$42525
2ndKelly Samson$18900
3rdJ.C. Pearson$9450
4thBill Smith$4725
5thElvis Russell$4725
6thTom McGuire$4725
7thBilly Smith$4725
8thElmer Thomas$2835
9thBarbara Enright*$1890

Event 8: $ 1,000 Seven Card Stud

Number of buy-ins: UnknownTotal prize pool: $189,822Number of payouts: 3Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stRobert Turner$51500
2ndMax Stern$20600
3rdBuddy McIntosh$10300
4thTerry King$5150
5thJim Dickerson$5150
6thTom McEvoy$5150
7thMike Ungurean$5150

Event 9: $ 2,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball

Number of buy-ins: 32Total prize pool: $94,500Number of payouts: 3Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stJack Keller*$48000
2ndBerry Johnston*$24000
3rdSeymour Leibowitz$8000

Event 10: $ 200 Pot Limit Omaha

Number of buy-ins: UnknownTotal prize pool: $189,822Number of payouts: 9Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stDolph Arnold$83745
2ndJoe Petro$37220
3rdGene Fisher$18610
4thKen Flaton$9305
5thSeymour Leibowitz$9305
6thArtie Cobb$9305
7thJohn Franjeah$9305
8thUnknown$9305
9thJim Dickerson$3722

Event 11: $ 1,000 No Limit Hold'em

Number of buy-ins: 140Total prize pool: $140,000Number of payouts: 10Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stGene Fisher$63000
2ndGeorge Huber$28000
3rdYosh Nakano$14000
4thKen Lambert$7000
5thRon McMillan$7000
6thCurtis Skinner$7000
7thBarbara Gold$7000
8thDolph Arnold$4200
9thMike Cox$1400
10thFrank Henderson$1400

Event 12: $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em

Number of buy-ins: UnknownTotal prize pool: $440,000Number of payouts: 7Reference:
PlaceNamePrize
1stJack Keller*$220000
2ndChip Reese*$88000
3rdTuna Lund$44000
4thPerry Green$22000
5thDick Carson$22000
6thJim Ward$22000
7thMax Stern$22000