Biggest Poker Comebacks In History

We can all remember some legendary comebacks in different sports from football to tennis. But probably not many of us would think about poker regarding big surprises. Although some great players have also produced shocking wins when everyone thought the game was all over for them. These are the biggest poker comebacks in history. 

Poker has also had its own major tournaments as we already wrote about them in our previous article. Like the World Series of Poker, where players can win huge amounts and become world-famous. In these events though the pressure is on which can make even the best players make mistakes. Or they can just simply have a bad day and find themselves with only one chip left. But the following players could all turn things over and win the tournament even after that. Some of them were truly outsiders and surprised everyone with their victory. While others proved their talent and performed a huge comeback after big breakdowns in their lives. One thing is common in them though. They all become legendary after producing these miracles.  

1. John Strauss’ Win With One Chip

John Strauss was one of the best poker players in the 1980s, but even he needed some miracle to win in the 1982 WSOP Main Event. He played and lost all his chips on Day 1 except one chip that he discovered under a napkin. Strauss was lucky as he didn’t announce all-in so he was allowed to continue the event. With that solo $500 chip, he managed to produce one of the biggest poker comebacks and won the tournament. Amazing story which is still remembered by the phrase “chip and a chair”. Sadly the American died at the early age of 58, in 1988 during a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. 

2. Greg Merson, the Modern-Day Strauss

Similar things happened 30 years later in the 2012 WSOP Main event. When 24-year-old Greg Merson had only a $50,000 chip in front of him. Which meant less than 3 big blinds in the game. But Merson who played with online poker games ahead of the live tournaments was a short-handed specialist.

So he managed to roll back and play at the final table against Jesse Sylvia and Jake Balsiger in a 12-hour long game. Merson kept his focus and won the final battle against Sylvia to earn more than $8 and a half million. If you want to follow his example, just visit one of the online poker sites in the US and practice there before entering a live event. 

3. Olivier Busquet and His Full House

The next American poker player, Olivier Busquet has also been playing both online and at live tournaments. He produced a great comeback at the Borgata Poker Open in the World Poker Tour in 2009. Where he was playing well until the final session when bad luck hit him. Busquet actually had a 20:1 chip disadvantage against Jeremy Brown, but he slowly started to work it off. In the decisive round, he put all-in and was losing until the last card, which turned out to be an Ace. Just what he needed for a better full house than Brown’s. Busquet won $925,000 thanks to that after defeating the largest field in WPT history. 

4. Stu Ungar, the “Comeback Kid”

Another great Texas Holdem and gin player, Stu Ungar won three WSOP Main Events. He is still the only person besides Johnny Moss to do so. Ungar also won the Amarillo Slim’s Super Bowl of Poker three times, which was the second most prestigious tournament in the 1980s. He was one of the best players of his time who won back-to-back titles in the 1980 and 1981 WSOP. Following his great successes came a huge downfall due to his drug addictions.

He didn’t make another WSOP Main Event appearance until 1997 when he could hardly pay the $10,000 buy-in. Ungar had a slow start and even fell asleep at the table. But somehow he managed to carry on and win the whole tournament, earning the nickname of “comeback kid”. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending to his story as Ungar died in the following year, at the age of only 45. 

5. Pius Heinz, The First German WSOP Winner

German poker player Pius Heinz choose to take part in the WSOP in 2011 instead of going to college. It was a gamble but proved to be a good decision after all. As the youngster won more than $8 million at the tournament. First, he reached the final table of 9 players which included Czech top player Marti Staszko and American Ben Lamb. No one thought that Heinz could have any chance of winning against them, especially after having the 7th lowest number of chips. But his preparation and training into people’s facial expressions helped him to go until the very end and defeat Staszko in the final. If you also want to win some great amounts, as Heinz did, just visit the Intertops Poker site which is one of the best online casino sites in the US. 

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