Hal Fowler became the poker world champion in 1979, beating the eminent professionals. At that time, his victory was a real sensation in the poker world, because Fowler was not a professional player.
A man out of nowhere
The future Texas Hold'em player, Hal Fowler, was born into an ordinary American large family in 1927 in Vermont. The parents of the future champion were able to give all their five children a good education, but Fowler chose to drop out of university. This behavior caused him to break off relations with his parents, so Hal decides to leave to live in California.
He began to show interest in poker at a very young age. Fowler took part in many small tournaments, sometimes even got into the prizes, but all these achievements were so insignificant that he never even dreamed of doing poker professionally.
In California, Fowler started a small business of his own, but the firm was not doing very well. He never had free money to be able to take part in a major tournament.
Fowler loved to gamble at the Horseshoe Casino and was on good terms with the owner of the establishment. At the poker table in this popular place, professional poker players sometimes met, and it was one of them who advised Fowler to try his hand at major tournaments of the world series.
In 1979, Fowler received money to participate in the tournament from the owner of the Horseshoe casino, Benny Bignonay. It was he who helped the future champion to become a participant in this grandiose poker competition. It is worth noting that very few players took part in the championships of this level at that time. For comparison: if in 1979 there were only 54 players participating in the world series tournament, then in 2011 a similar event gathered more than 6,500 people.
To be fair, it should be noted that the competition at the 1979 tournament was unusually high. Celebrities such as Sam Moon, Johnny Moss, Bobby Hoff, Sam Aatrillo, George Haber, Crandall Addington sat at the final table. The fact that the unknown Fowler reached the final was already a big surprise for everyone.
Finally, two players remained at the final table: Bobby Hoff and Hal Fowler. According to the recollections of one of the finalists of the tournament, Cranodoll Addington, Hal was intoxicated throughout the entire competition. It is known that Fowler regularly used Valium, which was then allowed. During the finals, a bottle of pills lay right on the gaming table, as they say at the hand of the future world champion.
Fowler made a lot of mistakes during the final hands, but luck really favored him that day, despite the fact that Bobby Hoff was the undisputed favorite. The final fight dragged on, it was already late evening and Fowler was visibly tired. He proposed to postpone the game to the next day, but this decision was not approved by the tournament organizers. Suddenly, Fowler announced that in this case he would play all the hands so that everything would end as quickly as possible. He kept his word, his rival was crushed. It turned out that now the game will lack logic.
In the decisive hand, Hoff was dealt two aces, and Fowler had 6 and 7 offsuit. Flop: Jack, 4, 3. Hoff bet half of his chips - Fowler called. The turn was a five. Fowler has a straight, and Hoff is left with his pocket aces and, on top of that, no outs. The final outcome was decided. In 1979, an unknown, not very successful businessman who borrowed money for the tournament, Hal Fowler, became the world champion.
Disappearing
After his sensational victory, Fowler disappeared. He never appeared at prestigious tournaments again. It is known that he lost all his money and died in poverty.
During the last years of his life, Fowler was seriously ill. He died in 2000 from hemorrhagic shock. He was 73 years old. He left behind a small inheritance - a pistol and a cassette with a video recording of the 1979 poker tournament finals.
