Earlier this year on an ordinary Monday afternoon, a bespectacled man walked into the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on Las Vegas Blvd. Tucked under his arm was an uninteresting box that only he knew contained something rather interesting – a pair of gold watches dating back more than 40 years.
These were not your run-of-the-mill wristwear, but rather evidence of a unique and often overlooked time of poker history, a year when the World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet, now the game’s highest accolade, was replaced in favor of watches.
1982 WSOP watches
The man holding the box was David Sklansky, who in 1978 forever changed poker by advocating a mathematical approach to the game in his groundbreaking book The Theory of Poker. Nicknamed “The Mathematician,” he proved his prowess just four years later when he won two WSOP tournaments in five days.
First, he won the 1982 WSOP Event #7: $800 Mixed Doubles Limit Seven Card Stud, a tournament that paired one man with one woman, alongside Dani Kelly, and followed that up by taking down Event #12: $1,000 Limit 5-Card Draw High. A year later, the Binions reverted back to the beloved bracelets players know today, and Sklansky captured his third piece of WSOP hardware by winning Event #11: $1,000 Limit Omaha.
It was a remarkable accomplishment, and for more than four decades he’s kept safe the evidence of his victories, both of which still worked. So, why was Sklansky carrying his 1982 WSOP gold watches, two of only 15 ever awarded, into a pawn shop? Well, he was looking to sell them of course, but not to just any of the dozens of pawn shops spread across Las Vegas. Oh no, he was walking into arguably the most famous pawn shop in the world, the home to the wildly popular television show Pawn Stars, and he was there to do it with cameras rolling.
Justin Liberto completed with an A♠ and another player raised with an A♥ which Liberto called.
Justin Liberto: XxXx/A♠8♠6♠
Opponent: XxXx/A♥J♣8♥(Folded on fifth)
The initial raiser checked over to Liberto who bet and his opponent called.
On fifth street, action checked a second time to Liberto who bet and his opponent folded quickly while Liberto showed 4♠2♠ for a flush and an eight-six on fifth street.
Action was picked up on the turn in a pot between Ari Engel in the cutoff and another player on the button.
With a pot already built and a board reading 2♠3♥K♠7♣, Engel bet and his opponent called.
On the river Q♦, Engel bet once more and his opponent called and then mucked when seeing Engel's A♥K♦Q♥5♣ for kings and queens with a seven-five low, good for the whole pot.
On a 9♥4♥2♣ flop one player checked and Robert Mizrachi bet. A third player called, as did the original player.
The action repeated on the 8♠ turn and the river was the 5♦
It checked to Mizrachi who bet. One player folded but the other called.
Mizrachi tabled A♦9♦5♠4♦ for two pair and an eight-five low. His opponent showed 2x3x for a low but Mizrachi's was best and he moved up to around 170,000 chips.
