1990 WSOP: Matloubi Wins

It’s hard to feel too sorry for anyone who comes second in the World Series of Poker, but Hans “Tuna” Lund made for a sympathetic figure. The massive Lund, everyone’s favorite fish, had placed the world championship title on a pedestal. For him, it was the be-all and end-all of the thing he loved most - poker.

It’s hard to value something as much as Tuna did and get as close as he did to getting it without doing so. Tuna had gotten Mansour Matloubi all-in, then hit his five-outer on the turn to take the lead, but Mansour’s pocket tens found one of the two remaining outs in the deck on the river. Tuna was crushed.

To make matters worse, ESPN’s portrayal of the 1990 final table suggested that Tuna went out soon afterwards, a broken and defeated man. The reality was that seven hours of play transpired between the Matloubi suck-out and the next hand shown, the one that would finally see Tuna fall. In between, Lund fought his way back to even before losing a chunk of his stack leading to the finale.

 With Tuna on the button, he went to make a raise, then waved a hand and announced himself all-in. Monsour stood up to survey the situation before finally making the call. With Tuna’s stack at T300,000 to Mansour’s T1,600,000, the Londoner could withstand a loss and still have a commanding lead. With that logic in tow, Mansour made the call with pocket sixes. Tuna, beside himself, turned over 4s-4d.

The Flop came Qc-8c-2h. Tuna was left needing to hit one of two remaining outs, but despite the desperate calls of the audience, it never came. The turn was Kd and the river 2c. Matloubi was the world champion. Tuna would come third two years later, then retire from the game when family responsibilities forced his hand.

Gary Wise

gary@wisehandpoker.com

Powered by WiseHandPoker.com