WSOP Legend Perry Green Wins First Poker Tournament in 35 Years!
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The 30th Anniversary Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC) kicked off at The Commerce back on January 13 and is slated to run through March 5. This past week, the $400 Mixed Omaha tournament attracted 91 runners who competed for a $30,030 prize pool. Coming out on top of that tournament was poker legend Perry Green, 86, a three-time bracelet winner from the early days of the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
It marked Green’s first tournament victory in 35 years with his last victory coming back in the 1987 Pot of Gold $225 NLH for $14,130.
$400 Mixed Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perry Green | Anchorage, AK | $7,020* |
| 2 | Robert Tahirovic | N/A | $7,000* |
| 3 | Wayne Palitz | Vista, CA | $3,810 |
| 4 | Jack Maleeh | Brubank, CA | $2,680 |
| 5 | Usmaan Mela | Irvine, CA | $1,960 |
| 6 | Jason Loyd | Edmond, OK | $1,490 |
| 7 | Sean Yu | Los Angeles, CA | $1,180 |
| 8 | Jeff Grimes | Centralia, MO | $970 |
*Denotes heads-up deal.
Others to cash the tournament but fall short of the final table were Eric Hamilton (9th - $840), Emiliano Figueroa (10th - $840), Lisa Clay (11th - $760), Joseph Deluca (12th - $760), and Sirous Baghchehsaraie (13th - $720).
Three Bracelets & Battling Ungar
Born in Seattle in 1936, Green worked as a successful fur trader in Alaska for the vast majority of his life. In 1976, he ventured to the WSOP where he took down Event #4: $1,000 Limit Ace to Five Draw for $68,300 and his first gold bracelet. The next year, Green won Event #6 $5,000 Limit Ace to Five Draw and then returned two years later to win Event #6: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Non-Pro for $76,500.
With three bracelets under his belt, Green made a go at the 1981 $10,000 Main Event, which attracted 75 players including Johnny Moss, Hal Fowler, Betty Carey, “Amarillo Slim” Preston and Jesse Alto. The field was reduced to just 38 players by the end of Day 1, and those 38 were reduced to 17 on Day 2. On Day 3, Doyle Brunson was eliminated, leaving Bobby Baldwin and Ungar, the defending champ, as the only former winners remaining. Both went on to make the final table. Green ultimately finished runner-up to Ungar.
Old School: Perry Green Celebrates Decades of Poker With Big Bet Cash
Green Still Passionate About Poker
Over the past decade, Green has made periodic appearances at the WSOP in Las Vegas. Back in 2015, he made the final table of Event #43: $1,000 Super Seniors, ultimately finishing in eighth place for $24,034, and more recently placed 71st in the 2021 WSOP Event #5: $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better.
"Oh, I think more so," Perry expressed when asked last summer if he's still as passionate about poker as he was in his younger days. "This might be nostalgia coming here to play, but I just like to play against the younger fellas. I don't play golf anymore, I don't do the physical things. But poker is a good stimulus for my brain. When you get to be over 85, you've got to do something to keep abreast of what's going on, especially in this changing world that we have."
Coincidentally, Green finished runner-up to Gabe Kaplan back in the 1980 Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker $10,000 Main Event, good for $62,500. Kaplan recently made headlines for retiring from his long-time commentary gig on High Stakes Poker.
Perry Green’s Top 10 Poker Cashes
| Date | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 1981 | WSOP $10,000 Main Event | 2nd | $150,000 |
| Feb. 1981 | Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker $10,000 Main Event | 2nd | $78,000 |
| May 1979 | WSOP $1,500 NLH | 1st | $76,500 |
| May 1991 | WSOP Main Event | 5th | $69,000 |
| May 1976 | WSOP $1,000 Ace to Five Draw | 1st | $68,300 |
| Feb. 1980 | Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker $10,000 Main Event | 2nd | $62,500 |
| July 2012 | WSOP $10,000 Main Event | 152nd | $52,718 |
| May 1997 | WSOP $3,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em | 3rd | $51,000 |
| Feb. 1979 | Amarillo Slim’s Superbowl of Poker $1,000 hold’em | 2nd | $39,000 |
| June 2010 | WSOP $5,000 PLO8 | 8th | $38,549 |
My First WSOP: Perry Green Talks About the Camaraderie and Staff from the Old Days
*Images courtesy of LAPC.
