Blast from the Past Playing Today
Way back at the 1997 World Series of Poker, the poker world watched as Stu Ungar made an unfathomable return to the poker world. The winner of the 1980 and 1981 WSOP Main Events had battled back from drugs and alcohol to claim his record third WSOP title. The media quickly dubbed him the "Comeback Kid" and the rest is history.
While Ungar's win was truly incredible, it happened to overshadow the fact that another man by the name of John Strzemp came awfully close to being crowned World Champion. Strzemp, a highly successful casino executive, played Ungar heads-up in the Las Vegas heat for the $1,000,000 first-place prize (Yes, that year's final table was played outdoors). Strzemp played well, but try as he might, it was ultimately Ungar's day.
Strzemp will have another shot at glory as he is playing in today's PokerStars.net Caribbean Adventure Main Event. He may be an old While of the old school, Strzemp has the experience to make something happen. He has nine WSOP cashes to his credit, his most recent coming this past year in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, for a total of $685,653.