1978 World Series of Poker

The 1978 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was a series of poker tournaments held in May 1978 at Binion's Horseshoe, and was the first WSOP that was not a winner-take-all prize. Instead the tournament had a progressive prize structure, as follows 50 percent for the Winner then 20 for second, 15 for third, 10 for fourth, and 5 percent for fifth place.

1978 World Series of Poker
Location	Binion's Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada
Dates	May 7 – May 22
Champion
Bobby Baldwin

Preliminary events

Event	Winner	Prize	Runner-up
$10,000 Deuce to 7 Draw	Billy Baxter	$90,000	Unknown
$1,000 7 Card Razz	Gary Berland	$19,200	Unknown
$500 7 Card Stud		$17,100	Unknown
$5,000 7 Card Stud	Doyle Brunson	$68,000	Unknown
$1,000 No Limit Hold'em	Aubrey Day	$42,600	Unknown
$200 Ladies' 7 Card Stud	Terry King	$10,080	Unknown
$5,000 Draw High	Lakewood Louie	$21,000	Unknown
$1,500 No Limit Hold'em	Hans "Tuna" Lund	$46,800	Jesse Jent
$1,000 7 Card Stud Split	David "Chip" Reese	$22,200	Unknown
$1,000 Ace to 5 Draw	Henry Young	$19,200	Gary Berland

Main Event

There were 42 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter the tournament. The 1978 Main Event was the first of its kind to pay prize money to any players other than the winner.

Final table

Place	Name	Prize
1st	Bobby Baldwin	$210,000
2nd	Crandell Addington	$84,000
3rd	Louis Hunsucker	$63,000
4th	Buck Buchanan	$42,000
5th	Jesse Alto	$21,000
6th	Ken Smith	None

Performance of past champions

• Day one: Johnny Moss, Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Walter "Puggy" Pearson, Brian "Sailor" Roberts, Doyle Brunson

Other notable players

• Gabe Kaplan and Barbara Freer (the first woman player).