WSOP 1994
Sometimes, when looking back upon a particular year in our recent history, it is helpful to seek out an analogy from which more profound generalities can be drawn. 1994 was a rather memorable year in terms of the cinematic fare offered to us from Hollywood. As you may recall, there were two watershed movies released that year, both of them massively popular but appealing to decidedly different demographics.
On the one hand, you had "Forrest Gump". This heartwarming tale of a simpleton from the South who somehow managed to blunder his way through the most turbulent events from the 1960s to the 1980s and find love along the way, made people laugh and weep by the millions. It was a sentimental fable of the type that American storytellers seem to handle better than anyone else.
On the other hand, you had "Pulp Fiction." This dark, weirdly funny and intensely violent gangster saga was unique for its multileveled story line, ensemble cast of a quirky characters and highly quotable dialogue. It appealed to the hipster in all of us and was the first movie to make Los Angeles seem cool in many a year. If "Gump" was a cinematic incarnation of the Beatles, then "Pulp" was the Rolling Stones. Both were great, it was just a matter of personal taste and partisans argued bitterly about which was the better film.
This type of cultural schism was also in play at the 1994 World Series of Poker because a new generation had emerged to challenge the old guard. It is very difficult to point out exactly when the generational divide started to appear. Some would say it was when Stu "The Kid" Ungar took his first WSOP bracelet back in 1980. Others would argue, no, even though Stu was young at the time, he was still member of the first generation. They've made a case that Johnny Chan's first capturing of the title in '87 opened the doors to a young, international crowd of poker players. (These types of arguments can never be decisively won.)
Whatever the case, at the 1994 tournament, the lines were most definitely drawn. And the question on everyone's mind - or least mine, as best I recall - was: "Will this year's champion be a member of the old guard, or than new vanguard?"
As it turned out, the establishment won this time. Russ Hamilton, a rock-solid player who had been in the game for many years, was the undisputed champion. "Big Russ" beat a massive field of almost 300 competitors to land $1,000,000 in winnings. It seemed certain that the generation war would continue to be fought at future tournaments.
by Mason Raymond
