1997 World Series of Poker

The 1997 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe. Most notably, it was the only WSOP where the final table of the main event took place outdoors, at the Fremont Street Experience, just outside of Binions. The 1997 WSOP is also famous for marking the comeback of Stu Ungar who had last won the main event in 1981.

Preliminary events

Event Winner Prize Runner-up
$2,000 Limit Hold'em Kevin Song $397,120 Yuan Lanvin
$1,500 Razz Linda Johnson $96,000 Peter Brownstein
$1,500 Limit Omaha Claude Cohen $110,400 Frankie Havard
$1,500 Seven Card Stud Maria Stern $140,708 Adam Roberts
$1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/Rebuys Chris Bjorin $169,200 Michael Davis
$1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Doug Saab $130,305 Bernie Rosenthal
$2,000 No Limit Hold'em John Cernuto $259,150 Thomas Sparks
$2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Scotty Nguyen $156,950 Mike Matusow
$2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em Dave Ulliott $180,310 Chris Truby
$2,500 Seven Card Stud Vasilis Lazarou $169,000 Caesar Como
$2,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/Rebuys Matthias Rohnacher $183,000 Surinder Sunar
$2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split Max Stern $117,000 Artie Cobb
$3,000 Limit Hold'em Louis Asmo $231,600 Jim Meehan
$3,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Dean Stonier $145,200 John Hom
$3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em Phil Hellmuth $204,000 Tom McEvoy
$5,000 No Limit Deuce to Seven Draw w/Rebuys Johnny Chan $164,250 Lyle Berman
$3,000 No Limit Hold'em Max Stern $237,615 Kathy Liebert
$5,000 Seven Card Stud Mel Judah $176,000 Vasilis Lazarou
$5,000 Limit Hold'em Bob Veltri $224,000 Ed Stevens
$1,000 Ladies' Seven Card Stud Susie Isaacs $38,000 Karen Wolfson

Main Event

There were 312 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament.

Final table

Place Name Prize
1st Stu Ungar $1,000,000
2nd John Strzemp $583,000
3rd Mel Judah $371,000
4th Ron Stanley $212,000
5th Bob Walker $161,120
6th Peter Bao $127,200

Other High Finishes

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

Place Name Prize
9th Chris Bjorin $48,760
12th Marsha Waggoner $33,920
13th Jay Heimowitz $29,680
14th Andrew Black $29,680
15th Rod Peate $29,680
16th Doyle Brunson $25,440
18th Ken Flaton $25,440
19th Paul Clark $21,200
21st Phil Hellmuth $21,200
22nd Billy Baxter $21,200

External links