The 1989 World Series of Poker

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is a world-renowned series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2005, sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment...

(WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe, also known as the Horseshoe Casino or simply The Horseshoe, was a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on what is now the Fremont Street Experience. The casino was named for its founder, Benny Binion and had 366 rooms, three restaurants and a rooftop pool.The...

. The 1989 Main Event was won by 24-year-old Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth

Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...

, defeating defending champion Johnny Chan

Johnny Chan (poker player)

Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....

, and also breaking the record for the youngest player to win the WSOP Main Event (a record previously set by Stu Unger in 1980). Had Johnny Chan won, he would have tied Johnny Moss

Johnny Moss

Johnny Moss was a gambler and professional poker player. He was the first winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event, at the time a cash game event in which he was awarded the title by the vote of his peers in 1970, He also twice won the current tournament format of the WSOP Main Event in...

's record of 3 Main Event wins. This year also marked the first year in which Johnny Moss did not finish any WSOP tournaments inside the payout positions.

Preliminary events

Event	Winner	Prize	Runner-up
$1,000 Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...  Hold'em	George Allen Shaw	$179,600	Lee Southard
$1,500 Seven Card Razz Razz (poker) Razz is a form of stud poker that is normally played for ace-to-five low . The object of Razz is to make the lowest possible five-card hand from the seven cards you are dealt. In Razz, straights and flushes do not count against the player for low, and the ace usually plays low...	John Laudon	$95,400	Said Barjesteh
$1,500 Seven Card Stud Split	Mike Sexton Mike Sexton Michael Richard Sexton is an American professional poker player and commentator. He is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.-Early years:...	$104,400	Sid Herald
$500 Ladies' Seven Card Stud	Alma McClelland Alma McClelland Alma McClelland was a World Series of Poker champion in the 1989 $500 Ladies - Limit 7 Card Stud.As of 2008, her total WSOP tournament winnings exceed $63,960 ....	$18,600	Adrienne Zoia
$1,500 Ace to Five Draw Draw (poker) A poker player is drawing if they have a hand that is incomplete and needs further cards to become valuable. The hand itself is called a draw or drawing hand. For example, in seven-card stud, if four of a player's first five cards are all spades, but the hand is otherwise weak, they are drawing to...	Harry Madoff	$119,400	Billy Baxter Billy Baxter (poker player) William E. Baxter, Jr. is an American professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won numerous tournament titles in his career as a professional poker player, including seven World Series of Poker bracelets....
$1,500 Pot Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...  Omaha	Barry Blackburn	$108,000	T. J. Cloutier T. J. Cloutier Thomas James "T.J." Cloutier is a professional poker player from Richardson, Texas. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2006.-Early years:...
$1,500 Seven Card Stud	Mel Judah Mel Judah Mel Judah is an Australian professional poker player, also known as "The Silver Fox" . He learned poker at the age of 14 by watching his father play 5-card draw....	$130,800	Jerry Buhr
$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	Bob Stupak Bob Stupak Robert E. "Bob" Stupak was a Las Vegas casino owner and entrepreneur.He was also a poker player, winning titles at the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of Poker...	$139,500	Billy Baxter Billy Baxter (poker player) William E. Baxter, Jr. is an American professional poker player and sports bettor. He has won numerous tournament titles in his career as a professional poker player, including seven World Series of Poker bracelets....
$5,000 Seven Card Stud	Don Holt Don Holt (poker player) Don Holt is an American poker player. He has won a World Series of Poker bracelet and has cashed in various events at the WSOP including the Main Event....	$154,000	David Sklansky David Sklansky -Life and career:Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked...
$1,500 Limit Omaha	Lyle Berman Lyle Berman Lyle Arnold Berman is a professional poker player and business executive.-Business:Berman grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration. He then went to work for his father's leather business, Berman Buckskin. ...	$108,600	MacDonald Kempe
$2,500 Pot Limit Omaha	Frank Henderson Frank Henderson Frank Henderson is an American professional poker player from Houston, Texas.Henderson was the runner-up to Johnny Chan in the 1987 World Series of Poker $10,000 no limit hold'em main event. He also finished in the money of the same event in 1996....	$184,000	Kevin Redican
$2,000 No Limit Betting (poker) In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing...  Hold'em	Norman Keyser	$244,000	Tommy Grimes
$2,000 Limit Hold'em	Thomas Chung Thomas Chung Thomas Chung is an American poker player from Federal Way, California, who has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker.Chung won his first bracelet in 1989 in the $2,000 Limit Hold'em event, winning a $212,000 cash prize in addition to the title. This was in his first cash in a WSOP...	$212,000	Carl McKelvey

Final table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Phil Hellmuth Jr Phil Hellmuth Phil Hellmuth is an American professional poker player. He is best known for holding a record 11 World Series of Poker bracelets, for winning the Main Event of the 1989 World Series of Poker and for his temperamental, "poker brat" personality...	$755,000
2nd	Johnny Chan Johnny Chan (poker player) Johnny Chan rather than his Chinese birth name. born in Guangzhou, China in 1957) is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively....	$302,000
3rd	Don Zewin	$151,000
4th	Steve Lott	$83,050
5th	Lyle Berman Lyle Berman Lyle Arnold Berman is a professional poker player and business executive.-Business:Berman grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where he graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration. He then went to work for his father's leather business, Berman Buckskin. ...	$67,950
6th	Noel Furlong Noel Furlong J. J. Furlong is an Irish businessman and recreational poker player who won the 1999 World Series of Poker main event.-Early life:Furlong was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland...	$52,850

Other High Finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.

Place	Name	Prize
11th	John Esposito John Esposito (poker player) John Esposito Jr is an American professional poker player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in Limit Hold'em.Esposito a veteran professional poker player who has 25 money finishes at the World Series of Poker including five final tables and six cashes in the $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main...	$12,500
14th	Jay Heimowitz Jay Heimowitz Jay B. Heimowitz is an American poker player from Bethel, New York. Heimowitz was one of the original players to help establish the Mayfair Club as a premier poker house....	$12,500
16th	John Bonetti John Bonetti John Joseph Bonetti was an American professional poker player from Houston, Texas.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bonetti began playing at the age of 54, and won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker ....	$12,500
22nd	Mickey Appleman Mickey Appleman Mickey L. Appleman is an American professional poker player, sports bettor, and sports handicapper now living in Fort Lee, New Jersey...	$10,000
23rd	David "Chip" Reese Chip Reese David Edward Reese , more commonly known as Chip Reese, was an American professional poker player and gambler from Centerville, Ohio...	$10,000
24th	An Tran An Tran An Tran is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada.Tran began playing poker in the mid-1970s and first finished in the money of a World Series of Poker event in 1989 in the $2,000 no limit hold 'em event...	$10,000
25th	Hilbert Shirey Hilbert Shirey Hilbert Shirey is an American professional poker player.Shirey has won three bracelets at the World Series of Poker and has also cashed in more than 20 other WSOP events.Shirey won his first WSOP bracelet in 1987 in a No Limit Hold'em event...	$10,000
28th	Yoshio Nakano Yoshio Nakano Yoshio Nakano is a professional poker player and entrepreneur who resides in Long Beach, California.He has played professionally for over 20 years and is a long-time regular at high stakes poker tables at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles...	$7,500
29th	Berry Johnston Berry Johnston Berry Enfield Johnston is an American professional poker player. He is best known as the 1986 World Champion, but he has also won four other bracelets at the World Series of Poker in addition to cashes and wins in many other tournaments throughout his career.- Poker career :Johnston won the 1986...	$7,500