1986 World Series of Poker


The 1986 World Series of Poker was a series of poker tournaments held at Binion's Horseshoe.

Preliminary events

EventWinnerPrizeRunner-up
$1,000 Limit OmahaJim Allen$48,400Jack Keller
$2,500 Pot Limit Omaha with RebuysDavid Baxter$127,000Eddie Schwettman
$1,500 No Limit Hold'emHamid Dastmalchi$165,000Hans Lund
$500 Ladies' Seven Card StudBarbara Enright$16,400Betty Carey
$5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw with RebuysRon Graham$142,000Aubrey Day
$1,500 Limit Hold'emJay Heimowitz$175,800Frank Henderson
$1,000 Seven Card RazzTom McEvoy$52,400Alma McClelland
$1,000 Ace to Five DrawJ. B. Randall$69,200Clifford Roof
$1,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Low SplitTommy Fischer$73,600Carl Lao
$5,000 No Limit Ace to 5 Draw with Joker & RebuysMike Cox$118,000Jack Keller
$1,500 Seven Card studSam Mastrogiannis$80,000Rick Greider

Main Event

There were 141 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. 1985 World Champion Bill Smith made back-to-back Main Event final tables. Johnston, the eventual winner, was at the final table in 1985 when Smith won. Wendeen Ellis became the first female player to finish the main event in the money when she finished in 25th place.

Final table

PlaceNamePrize
1stBerry Johnston$570,000
2ndMike Harthcock$228,000
3rdGary Berland$114,000
4thJesse Alto$62,700
5thBill Smith$51,300
6thRoger Moore$39,900

Other High Finishes

NB: This list is restricted to top 30 finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
PlaceNamePrize\
7thStephen Lott$34,200
8thJim Doman$22,800
10thDewey Tomko$12,500
11thDon Williams$12,500
13thJim Bechtel$12,500
14thLyle Berman$12,500
15thDavid Baxter$12,500
16thBobby Baldwin$12,500
21stGabe Kaplan$10,000
25thWendeen Eolis$10,000
26thJohnny Moss$10,000
28thKen Flaton$7,500