Jack ‘Treetop’ Straus

Jack Straus started his short poker career in the early 1970's, but he got his nickname way before that. From childhood he was known as ‘Treetop' for his extraordinary height, and he grew to become 6'6'' tall. His poker style was at least as extraordinary as his height, and he was also known for his wit around the poker table. He coined a number of classic poker phrases, including the famous tournament saying: ‘all you need is a chip and a chair'. His career ended tragically in 1988 when, at the age of 58, he suffered from a heart attack during a high stakes game of poker. Straus died shortly after.

During his short career Straus won two WSOP bracelets, including one in the 1982 main event. That event also won him $520,000 and the title of ‘World Champion'. But his victory was much grater that the sum of his winnings. This game is known as one of the greatest comebacks in poker history, and helped turn Straus into a true modern-day poker legend. Straus was down to his very last chip, but made a miraculous comeback for the title. This is stuff legends are made of.

During an earlier round of the tournament, Straus silently pushed his stack in to the middle of the table. He was called by his opponent, and subsequently lost the round. Thinking he had no chips left, Straus got up to leave the table. As he was getting up, he discovered one last $500 chip under his cocktail napkin. WSOP officials allowed Straus to continue playing on a technicality - since he had never actually declared ‘all-in' he was still alive. Straus went all-in with that single chip again and again and eventually turned it into a WSOP bracelet and a World Champion title a few days later. Many believe it was this game that inspired his famous poker quote ‘all you need is a chip and a chair'.

Another famous Straus moment, a hand that will surely go down in poker history forever, is one of the most celebrated bluffs of all times. During a high-stakes no-limit Texas Hold'em game, Straus had won several large pots in a row. He felt he was on a role, and decided he would raise pre-flop regardless of his cards. When he looked down at his hand, he discovered he was holding a 7-2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in Hold'em, but he raised anyway. The flop came out 7-3-3, a good flop for his hand, so he kept raising. One of his opponents, however, made a large raise, putting him on a likely overpair to the board. Straus knew he was behind, but decided to call the bet, and to keep his bluff going. He was trying to represent the trip threes.

The turn came out to be 2, so now the board was showing 7-3-3-2. Pairing his pocket 2 was no help for Straus, since there was already a higher pair on the board. He was still behind, but decided to make a huge bet anyway. His opponent took several minutes to decide his next move, and Straus knew he was desperate to avoid a call, since it was not very likely that the river card would improve his hand in any way. Straus then made his opponent a proposition: for $25, Straus would let him choose one of his hole cards, and Straus would show it to him. The opponent took the offer, and chose a card. Straus turned it over, and it was the 2. The opponent thought for a moment, and figured that Straus would only make such an offer if both of his cards were 2's, placing him with a full house. The opponent decided to fold. This is just one example of Straus' innovation and originality.

Jack ‘Treetop' Straus was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1988, just a few months after his death.

PrintSend to friend