1979 World Series of Poker

The 1979 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

1979 World Series of Poker
Location	Binion's Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada
Dates	May 11 – May 22
Champion
Hal Fowler

Preliminary events

Event	Winner	Prize	Runner-up
$10,000 Deuce to Seven Draw	Bobby Baldwin	$90,000	Byron Wolford
$500 Seven Card Stud	Gary Berland	$24,000	Unknown
$1,000 Seven Card Stud Split		$20,400	Unknown
$600 Mixed Doubles	Doyle Brunson & Starla Brodie	$4,500	Unknown
$400 Ladies' Seven Card Stud	Barbara Freer	$12,720	Pat Sovoia
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	Perry Green	$76,500	Jim Bechtel
$1,000 Ace to Five Draw	Lakewood Louie	$22,200	Unknown
$2,000 Draw High		$22,800	Unknown
$1,000 Razz	Sam Mastrogiannis	$22,200	Unknown
$5,000 Seven Card Stud	Johnny Moss	$48,000	Unknown
$1,000 No Limit Hold'em	Dewey Tomko	$48,000	Duanne Hammrich

Main Event

There were 54 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. Fowler was the first amateur to win the WSOP Main Event.

Final table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Hal Fowler	$270,000
2nd	Bobby Hoff	$108,000
3rd	George Huber	$81,000
4th	Sam Moon	$54,000
5th	Johnny Moss	$27,000
6th	David "Chip" Reese	None
7th	Crandell Addington	None
8th	Sam Petrillo	None

Performance of past champions

• Day 1: Doyle Brunson, Brian "Sailor" Roberts, Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston
• Day 2: Walter "Puggy" Pearson
• Day 3: Bobby Baldwin ⁽¹⁾