The Super Bowl of Poker (also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker or SBOP) was the second most prestigious poker tournament in the world during the 1980s.[1] While the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was already drawing larger crowds as many amateurs sought it out, the SBOP "was an affair limited almost exclusively to pros and hard-core amateurs."[2]
Six of the thirteen SBOP Main Events and many of the preliminary events were won by players eventually elected to the Poker Hall of Fame. Numerous events had several future members of the Hall sitting at the final table. For example, the competition at the final table of the 1990 SBOP Main Event included Poker Hall of Famers T. J. Cloutier, Chip Reese, Stu Ungar, Jack Keller, and 1992 WSOP Main Event winner Hamid Dastmalchi.[3] But it was the 1986 Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event that may have had the toughest final three competitors ever. As of 2009, the final three competitors, all members of the Poker Hall of Fame, own a combined twenty-seven WSOP bracelets. Doyle Brunson, a ten-time WSOP bracelet winner, won this event. In order to win, he had to defeat seven time bracelet winner Billy Baxter and ten time bracelet winner Johnny Chan.[4]
In addition to winning three WSOP Main Events, Stu Ungar was the only person to win the SBOP Main Event three times. Stu's first major poker tournament was at the 1980 SBOP.[5] Four years later, having already won two WSOP Main Events, Stu's Main Event victory in 1984 helped establish the SBOP as a premier event while his back-to-back victories in 1988 and 1989, gave the SBOP a publicity boost as one of the premier poker tournaments.[1] Prior to Stu's victory, the top professionals had encountered some difficulty at the SBOP. 1982 was noted for the poor performances of many of the game's top names. By the second break of the second day of the Main Event, all of the tournament favorites had been knocked out.[6]