Jack “Treetop” Straus: 1982 WSOP Main Event Champion and Poker Hall of Famer
POKER HALL OF FAME
Inducted 1988
Jack “Treetop” Straus was a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, the 1982 WSOP Main Event champion and a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. His victory in the 1982 Main Event became one of the most enduring comeback stories in tournament poker and helped popularize the saying that a player only needs “a chip and a chair” to remain alive in a tournament.
Straus was already an accomplished tournament player before becoming world champion. He reached multiple WSOP Main Event final tables during the early years of the series, won his first bracelet in a deuce-to-seven draw event in 1973 and built a reputation as an aggressive, imaginative gambler.
As of September 3, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Straus with $830,269 in recorded live tournament earnings and a career-best cash of $520,000 from his 1982 Main Event victory. Straus died in 1988, so his tournament career is complete, although historical database totals and rankings can still change as records are updated.
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Who Was Jack “Treetop” Straus?
Jack Straus was an American professional poker player associated with the generation of Texas road gamblers who helped shape tournament poker before and during the early growth of the World Series of Poker.
According to PokerNews, Straus was born in Texas on June 16, 1930, attended Texas A&M and later became a road gambler who traveled through Texas and Oklahoma in search of poker games.
His nickname, “Treetop,” referred to his unusual height. Contemporary profiles generally place him at about six feet six inches tall, making him an imposing presence at poker tables during an era filled with colorful gambling personalities.
Straus competed alongside many of the players who defined the WSOP’s formative decades, including Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss. His own place in that history ultimately came from a combination of tournament success, unconventional play and one remarkable Main Event comeback.
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Jack Straus’s Early WSOP Career
Straus began appearing at the World Series of Poker during the tournament’s earliest years. PokerNews records his first WSOP Main Event appearance in 1971, the first year the championship used the freezeout format that became standard.
He reached the Main Event final table in both 1972 and 1973, finishing fifth and third. Those deep runs established Straus as a significant championship-level tournament player well before his eventual Main Event victory.
The 1973 WSOP also produced Straus’s first bracelet. He won the $3,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw event for $16,500, demonstrating that his tournament ability extended beyond no-limit hold’em.
Straus continued competing in major events throughout the following decade. In 1981, he finished runner-up in the WSOP $2,500 No-Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event, earning $18,500 according to The Hendon Mob.
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The 1982 WSOP Main Event Victory
Straus’s defining achievement came in the 1982 World Series of Poker $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship.
The tournament attracted 104 entries, making it the first WSOP Main Event to exceed 100 players. Straus ultimately defeated Dewey Tomko heads-up and collected $520,000, which remains the largest recorded tournament cash of his career.
The final table included several prominent players from poker history. Tomko finished second, Berry Johnston placed third and Doyle Brunson finished fourth while pursuing what would have been his third Main Event championship.
The victory gave Straus his second WSOP bracelet and established him permanently among the game’s world champions. The World Series of Poker later ranked him among its notable Main Event champions and highlighted the extraordinary route he took to the title.
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The “Chip and a Chair” Comeback
Straus’s 1982 championship is remembered as much for how close he came to elimination as for the victory itself.
According to the WSOP’s account, Straus lost a pot after pushing what he believed were all of his chips into the middle. As he prepared to leave, a single $500 chip was discovered beneath a napkin. Because Straus had not verbally declared himself all-in, the remaining chip was still considered part of his tournament stack.
He continued playing from that single chip and eventually rebuilt his stack all the way to the championship.
The story became closely associated with the poker expression “a chip and a chair,” shorthand for the idea that a tournament player who still possesses even one chip still has a chance to recover.
Straus’s comeback remains especially memorable because it did not end with a modest recovery or a cash. He went from the brink of elimination to winning the Main Event itself.
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Jack Straus’s Two WSOP Bracelets
Straus won two World Series of Poker titles during his career.
1973 WSOP $3,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw — $16,500
1982 WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship — $520,000
Those victories came nine years apart and in two different forms of poker, reflecting the broader range of games played by leading professionals of Straus’s era.
The 1982 championship is officially recognized as his second WSOP victory. Although the WSOP temporarily awarded gold watches rather than its traditional bracelets to event winners that year, historical WSOP records count the Main Event championship toward Straus’s two-bracelet total.
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Jack Straus’s Playing Style
Straus developed a reputation for aggressive and imaginative poker.
The World Series of Poker has described him as an aggressive gambler noted for creative play. That reputation fits the broader style of the road-gambling generation in which Straus developed his game, when players often competed across multiple variants and relied heavily on live reads, pressure and adaptability.
His tournament record supports that versatility. Straus produced major results in no-limit hold’em, deuce-to-seven draw and ace-to-five draw rather than building his career around a single format.
His willingness to apply pressure also became part of the stories surrounding his career. Straus is remembered not simply as the player who survived with one chip, but as an opponent capable of unconventional decisions and high-risk play.
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Jack Straus’s Live Tournament Earnings
As of September 3, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jack Straus with $830,269 in recorded live tournament earnings.
His $520,000 first prize in the 1982 WSOP Main Event accounts for the largest individual cash in that database. Other significant recorded results include his 1973 bracelet victory, his runner-up finish in the 1981 WSOP ace-to-five draw event and a $62,500 runner-up finish in Amarillo Slim’s 1983 Super Bowl of Poker.
Straus continued recording tournament results into 1988. His final result currently listed by The Hendon Mob was a victory in a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event at the 1988 Cajun Cup in Las Vegas, worth $66,444.
Historical poker databases are continually maintained, so totals and rankings can change if additional older results are documented.
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Poker Hall of Fame Induction
Jack Straus was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1988.
The Poker Hall of Fame lists Straus among its 1988 inductees alongside Doyle Brunson. Straus received the honor posthumously.
Hall of Fame recognition reflected more than one famous tournament comeback. By that point, Straus had been part of the WSOP since its early competitive years, had reached three Main Event final tables, won two WSOP titles and become one of the recognizable figures of the road-gambling generation.
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Jack Straus’s Death and Final Years
Straus remained an active poker player through the final year of his life.
He died on August 17, 1988, at age 58 while participating in a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in the Los Angeles area. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year.
His last recorded tournament victory had come only months earlier at the Cajun Cup, underscoring that Straus remained competitively involved in poker until his death.
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Why Jack “Treetop” Straus Matters in Poker History
Jack Straus occupies a distinctive place in poker history because his career connects several important parts of the game’s development.
He was a successful player during the formative years of the World Series of Poker, reached three Main Event final tables, won championships in both draw poker and no-limit hold’em, and ultimately became a Poker Hall of Famer.
Yet his most lasting contribution to poker culture came from the 1982 Main Event. The image of Straus recovering from a single chip and going on to become world champion transformed an extraordinary tournament comeback into a phrase still understood by poker players decades later.
“A chip and a chair” survives because Straus gave the expression its defining example. His 1982 run remains a reminder that tournament survival can sometimes turn on the smallest remaining stack.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many WSOP bracelets did Jack Straus win?
Jack Straus won two World Series of Poker bracelets. He captured a $3,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Draw event in 1973 and won the $10,000 WSOP Main Event in 1982.
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Did Jack Straus win the WSOP Main Event?
Yes. Jack Straus won the 1982 WSOP Main Event, defeating a field of 104 entries and earning $520,000. Dewey Tomko finished runner-up.
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Why was Jack Straus called “Treetop”?
Straus was nicknamed “Treetop” because of his exceptional height. PokerNews lists him at six feet six inches tall.
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What does Jack Straus have to do with “a chip and a chair”?
Straus became the player most closely associated with the phrase after being reduced to a single $500 chip during the 1982 WSOP Main Event and recovering to win the championship.
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How much did Jack Straus earn in live poker tournaments?
As of September 3, 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Jack Straus with $830,269 in recorded live tournament earnings. His largest recorded cash was the $520,000 he earned for winning the 1982 WSOP Main Event.
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Is Jack Straus in the Poker Hall of Fame?
Yes. Jack “Treetop” Straus was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1988, the same year he died.
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When did Jack Straus die?
Jack Straus died on August 17, 1988, at age 58 while playing in a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in the Los Angeles area.