Forgotten WSOP Champions: Hamid Dastmalchi

It’s tough to say why the World Series of Poker winners of the early nineties aren’t as celebrated as most of their peers; after all, they did win the biggest tournament in the world at a time when it was experiencing record highs.

We’ve already discussed 1990 and 1991 winners Mansour Matloubi and Brad Daugherty. Today, we move on to 1992.

The 1992 Series was unusual for the fact it was the only time in the tournament’s history prior to 2007 where the number of entrants in the Main Event dropped. This can be mostly traced to the stock market crash that lead America to recession and took a lot of expendable cash out of a lot of formerly flowing pockets. Hamid Dastmalchi wasn’t so negatively affected though.

Dastmalchi, who has since become known inside poker circles for high-stakes gambling and a remarkable penchant for chain smoking, should be better remembered than he is.

He’d won his first bracelet in 1985 and would win a third in 1993, sandwiching the one that really mattered. He’d also manage a second Main Event final table in 1995, when he finished fourth.

A professional player living in San Diego, Dastmalchi had the big stack with seven players left, then maintained it by folding pocket kings pre-flop to eventual fourth place-finisher Mike Alsaadi.

Alsaadi confirmed the brilliance of the play by showing the crowd his pocket aces. It was one of the most impressive and important folds in WSOP history, one that would ultimately lead to Hamid winning the title.

Dastmalchi let amateur Tom Jacobs take out fan favorite Hans “Tuna” Lund in third place. Holding the big stack and playing the best poker of his life, Dastmalchi was the prohibitive favorite to take the title.

It didn’t take long for that prognostication to become reality. He hit a gutshot straight on the turn after Jacobs bet too small to force him out of the pot on the flop. The straight would be enough to give Dastmalchi the title.

Gary Wise

gary@wisehandpoker.com

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