Jack Straus

Jack "Treetop" Straus (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1988) was an American professional poker player.

Although accounts vary, the most common story is that he pushed his chips into the pot, was called and lost the hand.

While playing in a high-stakes no limit Texas Hold'em cash game, Straus had won several large pots in a row and so decided that he would raise the next hand pre-flop with any two cards.

When he looked down he found that he had been dealt 7–2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em, but, playing a 'rush', he raised anyway.

Straus knew he was almost certainly behind, but he decided that he might be able to beat his opponent by representing trip threes, so he called the large raise.

Straus knew that he was desperate to avoid a call, as his chances of drawing out to win on the river were very slim.

He reluctantly folded, and Jack Straus entered poker folklore as one of the most creative bluffers of all time.

He died of an aortic aneurysm on August 17, 1988, at the age of 58 while playing in a high-stakes poker game at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.