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Going into the 1981 World Series of Poker, Stuey "the Kid" Ungar was king. The previous year, he had defeated the only two men to repeat as WSOP main event champions, Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson, to take the title, and was looking to duplicate their feat.

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Ungar Looking for Number Two

Most oddsmakers didn't find this too likely. Although repeating as World Series of Poker champion was not nearly as difficult then as it is today, with thousands of players competing, it was still viewed as an extremely difficult feat, given the concentrated poker power in the 75 players who signed up for the event.

1981 was the first year that every player at the final table got paid, but neither Moss nor Brunson would be among them. Brunson came close, finishing in 11th place, but had to make a move short stacked with king high and was called and eliminated by a player holding an ace.

At the final table, Bobby Baldwin, who had been the champ three years earlier, knocked out two players with pocket queens, then was knocked out himself by two players with pocket queens, one hand crippling him when his set of nines were outdrawn by a set of queens on the river, the other ending his day when his pocket kings fell to queens after that infamous river queen came.

The Kid Took Control

That was Stuey Ungar's cue to swing into action. He took control of the table and ran his chip stack up until he was the chip leader, facing Perry Green, Gene Fisher, Ken Smith, Bill Smith and Jay Heimowitz. The demographics of the table caused Doyle Brunson and Gabe Kaplan, observing from the sidelines, to bill the battle as "Jews vs. Texans," and to put a little wager on who would win.

The only smart money was on Stuey Ungar though, who was nearly unbeatable with chips in front of him. He knocked out Heimowitz when his set of jacks took down the now infamous pocket queens, and then made a flush to send Bill Smith home. Green took care of the other two threats to Stuey's repeat run, pulling quad aces to eliminate Ken Smith and a flush to take out Fisher.

Draw vs. Draw

There was some back and forth, with Green holding the chip lead at one point, but in the end, it was Stuey Ungar's day. Both players saw a flop of 8h 7d 4h, and Green, with the Ts 9d giving him an open ended straight draw, moved all-in on a semi-bluff. Ungar, holding Ah Qh giving him two over cards and the nut flush draw, saw a chance to end things and called. The turn was another 4, and an unnecessary queen on the river sealed the deal for Stuey Ungar, making him the World Series of Poker champion for the second consecutive year in 1981.

Unfortunately, Stuey's taste for the high life ruined him, and he would all but disappear from World Series play for the next fifteen years. When he returned for a brief comeback before flashing out a final time, however, it would be with a vengeance. In 1997, a year before his death, Stuey collected his record third World Series of Poker championship.

1981 WSOP Tournaments and Winners

Event	Winner	Prize	Entrants
$10,000 Championship Event	Stu Ungar	$375,000	75
$5,000 Limit 7-Card Stud	A.J. Myers	$67,500	N/A
$1,000 7-Card Stud Split	Johnny Moss	$33,500	N/A
$1,000 Razz	Bruce Hershenson	$34,500	N/A
$1,000 Limit 7-Card Stud	Sid Gammerman	$52,000	N/A
$1,000 Draw High	Ed Barmach	$18,000	N/A
$600 Mixed Doubles	Juanda Matthews/Frank Cardone	$7,800	N/A
$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em	Fredric David	$96,000	N/A
$400 Women's 7-Card Stud	Ruth Godfrey	$17,600	N/A
$2,500 A-5 Draw	Mickey Perry	$46,250	N/A
$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em	Dody Roach	$81,000	N/A
$1,000 A-5 Draw	Glen Rodgers	$44,000	N/A
$10,000 2-7 Draw	Stu Ungar	$95,000	N/A

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