Jack Straus

You have probably heard the phrase ‘If you have a chip and a chair you can win’ or the shortened version of it ‘A chip and a chair’. You have probably also thought that it is a nice idea but it is never going to actually happen - one chip is as good as being out; why delay the inevitable?

You have probably heard the phrase ‘If you have a chip and a chair you can win’ or the shortened version of it ‘A chip and a chair’. You have probably also thought that it is a nice idea but it is never going to actually happen - one chip is as good as being out; why delay the inevitable?

Try telling that to Berry Johnston, Doyle Brunson and the other players at the final table of the main event at the 1982 World Series of Poker.

After putting all his chips into a losing hand, Jack ‘Treetops’ Straus began to leave the table. However, before he got away the sharp eyed dealer spotted a $500 chip underneath a napkin. Straus was allowed to carry on with this single chip and, against the odds, went on to win the tournament, collecting $520,000 and his second WSOP bracelet.

His first bracelet had come nine years previously when he tied for top spot with Aubrey Day playing No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball.

Before playing in the WSOP, Straus was one of a band of road gamblers (along with Brunson and Amarillo Slim) who would travel the southern US states to find games to play in.

‘Treetops’ was given his nickname because of his domineering stature – measuring 6’ 6”- and was known as a great story teller at the table. It is perhaps fitting that one of the most told stories about bluffing centres around Straus.

Playing in a No Limit Hold ‘em game, Straus had won a few big hands on the trot. Despite being dealt 7-2 off suit, he decided to raise pre-flop. One opponent saw his raise and joined him for the 7-3-3 flop. Straus bet and his opponent raised high; Straus called the raise and was given a 2 on the turn. Although this was no help to Straus he bet big and, as his opponent sat thinking, Straus offered him a strange deal – for $25 he could choose to see either of Straus’ hole cards. He accepted and turned over Straus’ 2 and figured that Straus would only make an offer like that if he had two deuces, and thus a full house. He folded and Straus went down in history as a great bluffer. However, a similar bluff was shown in the Stu Ungar film, Stuey, but credited to another player because of Straus’ absence.

Straus was a man who lived and died by a poker table who was not hung up on cash but simply enjoyed playing. In August 1988, aged 58, he was a victim of a heart attack whilst playing in a high stakes game at the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, California. Later that year he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.