Drawing to the inside straight was the correct move in the
wsop me in 1980:
With Brunson having set the line on Stuey at 100:1 prior to the tournament, the match up offered the Kid his desired revenge. Brunson was the favorite at 6:5, despite Ungar having the chip lead
$400K- $300K. Ungar wanted a piece of that action; Brunson stepped up and accepted his $50K wager.
The final hand of the tournament started with Doyle limping on the small blind to make the pot almost
$13k. The A-7-2 flop gave Doyle top two pair, while Stuey had only an inside straight draw. Ungar checked and Brunson bet
$17k. Against most players, he’d have taken the pot down there, but Ungar made the call.
The turn brought the Kid’s miracle three, giving him the straight. He immediately bet out for
forty thousand, knowing that a check-raise was more likely to scare the Texan away. Brunson paused for a moment and declared himself all in, pushing
$275k into the pot. He’d later call it “one of the worst plays of my career.” The straight held up, and Stu Ungar had his first world championship win.
Here’s the beautiful thing about this hand: For the call of $17k on the flop to make any sense, Stuey had to figure he’d be getting paid off at 11.5:1. Put another way, he had to be fairly certain he was getting more than $150k from Doyle’s stack into the pot if he hit the turn. Stuey only called because he knew Brunson’s hand was strong enough to ensure an all-in if Stuey caught his straight. For the call to make any sense, Stuey had to have a surefire read on the greatest player of his day in this, the second tournament of his life.
