A Blast From the Past: Set Over Set at the 1978 WSOP
By Tom McEvoy and Dana Smith

In the final hand of the 1978 World Series of Poker, 27-year-old Bobby Baldwin faced off against dapper oilman Crandall Addington. Baldwin was considered to be the best no-limit hold'em player in the world at that time, and Addington was a respected high-limit Texas gambler. In the final hand of the championship event, Baldwin held Q-Q. Addington's hand was 9-9. Baldwin had a substantial chip lead at the time – $370,000 to $50,000. If Addington had won that hand, he would have had at least a fighting chance with $100,000 in chips against Baldwin's $320,000. When Addington flat-called before the flop with his pocket nines, Baldwin raised $10,000 and Addington moved in the rest of his chips. The flop came K-Q-9 – set over set in the final hand! Addington was reduced to having to catch a magic 9. He missed on the turn card, the A, and on the river card, the 10. When Baldwin's trip queens held up for the win, he jumped up in victory to become the ninth WSOP champion.

The betting was rather unusual, in that two nines wasn't the type of hand to slow-play in heads-up combat, yet that's what Addington did before the flop. He must have thought Baldwin would make an aggressive play and then he could come over the top, which indeed is what happened. Addington's decision to reraise when Baldwin raised $10,000 certainly was justified. One way or the other, all the chips were destined to go into the pot on the flop when they both flopped sets; there was no way for Addington to avoid his dismal destiny.

Baldwin, who lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at that time, won $210,000 and the gold bracelet. San Antonio native Addington took home $84,800. Third-place finisher Louis Hunsucker from Houston, Texas, placed third for $63,000. Buck Buchanan from Killeen, Texas, came in fourth for $42,000, and Jesse Alto, another Houston, Texas, native, placed fifth for a $21,000 payday.

Interestingly, this was Alto's second of five final-table finishes at the World Series. In 1976, he placed second to the venerable Doyle Brunson, who has won a record nine WSOP bracelets to date. In 1984, he placed third to Jack Keller and Byron "Cowboy" Wolford. In 1985, Alto finished sixth to winner Bill Smith and runner-up T.J. Cloutier. And in 1986, he came in fourth to champion Berry Johnston and second-place finisher Mike Harthcock. These three back-to-back finishes give Alto the distinction of being only one of two players ever to play at the final table three years in a row. The other player? Johnny Chan, who won the championship two years in a row in 1987 and 1988, and narrowly missed winning a third bracelet in 1989 when he placed second to Phil Hellmuth, the "other" player who, in addition to Brunson, has won nine WSOP bracelets. Both Brunson and Hellmuth have also become noted poker authors, of course – Brunson with Super/System and Hellmuth with Play Poker Like the Pros.

1978 was the first year that the prize pool was divided among the top five players. Before that, the entire prize pool was awarded to the winner. Barbara Freer, who won the women's title that year, became the first woman in WSOP history to enter the formerly all-male championship event. Baldwin, who went on to become the president and CEO of Mirage Resorts, was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2003.

My writing partner, Dana Smith, and I adapted this story from our book, The Championship Table, where you will find a story about every final table played to date at the World Series of Poker. Since I didn't meet most of you at the final table at the 1983 WSOP, the year that I took home the bracelet, let's make up for it by shaking hands in the winner's circle one day soon.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the co-author with Brad Daugherty of Championship Satellite Strategy, now available through Card Player, and No-Limit Texas Hold'em for New Players, their new book due out in February. For complete details of these and other Cardsmith Publishing books, visit www.pokerbooks.com.