16 Facts About Jack Straus

Jack "Treetop" Straus was an American professional poker player.

Jack Straus is best known for winning the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he was able to come back from being down to one chip earlier in the tournament, giving meaning to the poker phrase "a chip and a chair".

Jack Straus began playing in World Series of Poker events in the early 1970s.

Jack Straus finished in fourth place in the 1972 Main Event.

Jack Straus won his first bracelet in 1973 in the $3,000 Deuce to Seven Draw event for $16,500.

Jack Straus finished in third place in the Main Event that year.

Jack Straus won the 1982 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $520,000 and a second WSOP bracelet.

Jack Straus had thought he was eliminated from the tournament, but when he got up, he discovered he had one chip left under a napkin on the table.

Jack Straus is credited with one of the most celebrated bluffs of all time.

Jack Straus knew he was almost certainly behind, but he decided that he might be able to beat his opponent by representing trip threes, so he called the large raise.

Jack Straus knew that he was desperate to avoid a call, as his chances of drawing out to win on the river were very slim.

Jack Straus told him that for $25, he could choose either one of Straus's hole cards and Straus would show it to him.

Jack Straus reluctantly folded, and Jack Straus entered poker folklore as one of the most creative bluffers of all time.

The bluff was depicted in the Stu Ungar biopic Stuey; however, Jack Straus is not a character in the film and the bluff is credited to another player.

Jack Straus died of an aortic aneurysm on August 17,1988, at the age of 58 while playing in a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

Jack Straus was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.