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Jack “Treetop” Straus was an American professional poker player, born on June 16, 1930, in Travis, Texas. He won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1982, a title that came after he had been reduced to a single $500 chip earlier in the event, and the story is the best-known origin of the poker phrase “a chip and a chair”. He won two WSOP bracelets, died on August 17, 1988, while playing poker in Los Angeles, and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame later that year. [1][2][3]
Jack Straus: key facts
| Имя | Jack Straus |
|---|---|
| Прозвище | Treetop [1] |
| Рожденный | June 16, 1930, Travis, Texas, USA [1][4] |
| Умер | August 17, 1988, Los Angeles, California (aged 58) [1][5] |
| Национальность | Соединенные Штаты [1] |
| Известен тем, что | The 1982 WSOP Main Event comeback from one chip; high-stakes short-handed cash games |
| Зал славы покера | Inducted 1988 [3] |
| браслеты WSOP | 2 (4 cashes and 4 final tables on WSOP.com) [2] |
| Главное событие WSOP | Champion 1982 [2] |
| Прибыль от турниров в прямом эфире | $560,950 recorded by Card Player; $597,000 in WSOP earnings on WSOP.com, as of October 5, 2026 [4][2] |
Early life in Texas
Straus was born in Travis, Texas, to his father, also named Jack, and his mother, Mary Anderson. Card Player notes that little is known about his childhood. [5] He told the writer Al Reinert, for a 1973 Texas Monthly article quoted by Card Player, that he learned to play cards from his father when he was six or seven. [5]
He attended Texas A&M. According to a 2005 PokerNews column by Al Moe, he earned a degree in business administration and worked as a teacher before turning to cards. [1][6] Reports that he played basketball for Texas A&M are not supported by evidence, according to Card Player, which found no trace of his name in newspaper archives from 1948 to 1954 or on 1950 stat sheets. [5] His nickname came from his height, given by PokerNews as 6’6″. [1]
Beginning in poker: a Texas road gambler
After teaching for a few years, Straus made the Texas and Oklahoma poker circuit his life, travelling to the biggest games he could find. [5] On those back roads he played against Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim and Byron “Cowboy” Wolford. [6] Card Player describes him as based in Houston before he followed other Texas road gamblers to Las Vegas in the 1960s. [5]
His approach to money became part of gambling folklore. In Самая большая игра в городе, quoted by Card Player, A. Alvarez tells how a bad run in Las Vegas in 1970 left Straus with his last $40. He bet it at blackjack and ran it up to $500, turned that into $4,000 at poker, reached $10,000 at blackjack and then bet the whole sum on the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, winning $20,000. [5]
Away from the table he was a hunter. Al Moe wrote that Straus shot a lion on a trip to Mozambique and wore its paw on a chain, inscribed with the motto “Better a day as a lion than one hundred years as a lamb.” [6]
Стиль игры
Straus was known above all as a cash game player. Card Player describes his reputation in Las Vegas as that of an “uber-aggressive and courageous short-handed specialist”. [5] Doyle Brunson, in his autobiography quoted by Card Player, wrote: “Jack was an excellent player, an action guy. In a two-or three handed game, he was dynamite.” [5] Al Moe called him “the finest short-handed and heads-up player I ever witnessed” and wrote that he made his money in the side games of the World Series rather than in its tournaments. [6]
Величайшие достижения
World Series of Poker results
Straus played his first WSOP Main Event in 1971 and reached the Main Event final table in 1972 and 1973, finishing third in 1973. [1] His paid WSOP results, as listed on WSOP.com, are below. [2]
| Год | Событие | Результат | Приз | Источник |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | WSOP $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event (104 entries) | 1-й | $520,000 | [2] |
| 1983 | WSOP $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (21 entries) | 2-й | $42,000 | [2] |
| 1981 | WSOP $2,500 No-Limit A-5 Draw Lowball (37 entries) | 2-й | $18,500 | [2] |
| 1973 | WSOP $3,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball (11 entries) | 1-й | $16,500 | [2] |
His first bracelet came in Двойка от двойки до семерки, and his second in Безлимитный холдем. Outside the WSOP, Card Player also records a fourth place in a No-Limit Hold’em event at the 1986 Stairway to The Stars, worth $5,950. [4]
1982 Main Event: “a chip and a chair”
The 1982 Main Event was the first to pass 100 entries, and Straus became the first player to win more than half a million dollars in it, taking $520,000 after beating Dewey Tomko heads-up. [1]
Earlier in the event, Straus lost a pot and thought he had been eliminated. As he got up, a single $500 chip was found under a napkin. Because he had not declared himself all-in, he was allowed to continue. [1] Al Moe wrote that Straus collected the blinds on the next hand and doubled up on the one after, and that before long he had more chips than anybody else. [6] The comeback gave rise to the phrase “All you need is a chip and a chair”. [1] Card Player doubts that Straus was the first person to use the phrase, but notes that his run is the reason it is associated with him. [5]
The final table included Doyle Brunson, Dewey Tomko, Berry Johnston, Sailor Roberts, Dody Roach, A.J. Meyers, Buster Jackson and Carl Cannon, with more than $1 million in prize money for the first time. [6] In the final hand, Tomko moved all in with ace-four and Straus called with ace-ten offsuit. A four on the flop put Tomko ahead, and a ten on the river gave Straus the title. [5]
Death and the Poker Hall of Fame
Straus died on August 17, 1988, aged 58, while playing in a high-stakes game at the Bicycle Club in Los Angeles. PokerNews gives the cause as an aortic aneurysm; Card Player describes it as a heart attack. [1][5] Later that year he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, in the same class as Doyle Brunson. [1][3] PokerNews notes that he is one of three Hall of Famers to have died while playing cards, along with Tom Abdo and Wild Bill Hickok. [1]
Brunson’s verdict, quoted by Card Player: “Jack Straus, one of poker’s great raconteurs and characters, was a piece of work.” [5]
По его собственным словам
- “In Texas you grow up playin’ poker, it’s a Texas game.” To Al Reinert for Texas Monthly, 1973. [5]
- “I have only a limited amount of time on this earth, and I want to live every second of it. That’s why I’m willing to play anyone in the world for any amount.” From A. Alvarez, Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats. [5]
- “If they had wanted you to hold onto money they would have made it with handles on.” [1]
- “I can get all the money I need to gamble on, but I have hell paying my rent.” As recalled by Byron “Cowboy” Wolford. [6]
FAQ about Jack Straus
How did Jack Straus die?
He died on August 17, 1988, while playing high-stakes poker at the Bicycle Club in Los Angeles. PokerNews gives the cause as an aortic aneurysm and Card Player as a heart attack. [1][5]
How old was Jack Straus when he died?
He was 58. He was born on June 16, 1930, and died on August 17, 1988. [1]
Why was Jack Straus called “Treetop”?
Because of his height, given by PokerNews as 6’6″. [1]
What does “a chip and a chair” mean?
It means that a player with any chips left still has a chance. The phrase is linked to Straus, who was down to a single $500 chip during the 1982 WSOP Main Event and went on to win it. [1]
How many WSOP bracelets did Jack Straus win?
Two: the $3,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball in 1973 and the Main Event in 1982. [2]
How much did Jack Straus win in the 1982 Main Event?
$520,000, from a field of 104 entries. [2]
What was Jack Straus’s net worth?
There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. His recorded live tournament earnings are $560,950 according to Card Player, and WSOP.com lists $597,000 in WSOP earnings, both as of October 5, 2026. Most of his poker was played in cash games, whose results were not published. [4][2]
Легенды покера (связанные с данной темой)
Подробнее о Дойл Брансон, who sat at the 1982 final table and joined the Hall of Fame in the same year, about fellow Texas road gambler Амарилло Слим, and about Стю Ангар, who won the Main Event in the two years before Straus.
Источники
- PokerNews, Jack “Treetop” Straus player profile, дата обращения: 5 октября 2026 г.
- WSOP.com, Jack Straus player profile, дата обращения: 5 октября 2026 г.
- WSOP.com, Зал славы покера, дата обращения: 5 октября 2026 г.
- Игрок в карты, Jack Straus player profile, дата обращения: 5 октября 2026 г.
- Игрок в карты, Men of Action: Jack ‘Treetop’ Straus, by Bob Pajich, August 13, 2013.
- PokerNews, Legends of Poker: “Treetop” Jack Straus, by Al Moe, June 21, 2005.
Последняя проверка: 5 октября 2026 г. Данные, изменяющиеся со временем, такие как заработок за карьеру, указаны с указанием даты проверки.
