The Last of the Veterans: How a Fur Trader from Alaska Conquered WSOP Final Tables

May 2026, Las Vegas. At the final table of Event #21: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo sits a very old man. He is 90 years old. Young players in hoodies and headphones look at him with reverence. This is Perry Green — the man who played in the World Series of Poker back when half the players at this table weren't even born.

In 2026, he officially became the oldest player in poker history to reach the final table of an open WSOP tournament, finishing 6th and taking home $30,973. But this veteran is famous not only for his longevity. 45 years ago he was one of the key and dangerous players at the legendary Binion's Horseshoe casino, and he very nearly stopped the greatest genius in poker history.

The Fur Trader

Green never considered himself a poker pro. He lived in Anchorage, Alaska, owned the largest fur company in the state, and traded in furs. Poker for him remained just a hobby, albeit a very expensive one.

Against the backdrop of cowboys in wide-brimmed hats and smoke-clouded high rollers, Perry stood out like a sore thumb. A devout Orthodox Jew, he refused on principle to play on the Sabbath and always sat at the table wearing a traditional kippah. At the same time, he displayed incredibly disciplined, academic, and fearless poker, for which the "old guard" like Doyle Brunson and Johnny Moss sincerely respected him. Green won his first WSOP bracelet in 1976 in a lowball tournament. In 1977 he took a second. And in 1979 he claimed a third
in classic No-Limit Hold'em.

With three gold bracelets under his belt, Green was ready for the biggest challenge of his life.

The Great Showdown of 1981

Photo: Ulvis Alberts

In 1981 the WSOP Main Event with a $10,000 buy-in drew just 75 participants, but it was the elite of world poker. Green fought his way to the final table, knocking out top players along the way. In the top 3 he sent Texan Gene Fisher home: Fisher went all-in with a set of kings, but Green called with a diamond flush draw, caught the card he needed on the river, and eliminated his opponent. In the end Perry Green reached the heads-up of his life against the reigning world champion, the 27-year-old phenom Stu "The Kid" Ungar.

However, this legendary final almost fell apart. A few days before the start, reigning champion Stu Ungar lost big in a cash game and, in the heat of emotion, spat in the dealer's face. The enraged casino owner Benny Binion immediately threw the troublemaker out the door and barred him from playing in the WSOP. The tournament would have been left without its main favorite if the owner's son, Jack Binion, hadn't intervened. He convinced his father that, for the sake of press attention, Ungar should be forgiven.

The billing of the final heads-up looked monumental for the industry of the early '80s. On one side — Ungar: an aggressive and impulsive genius with a photographic memory who, in Johnny Moss's words, had "alligator blood." On the other — Green: a level-headed, cool-blooded 44-year-old businessman from Alaska who had come to play for fun.

The Fatal Hand

Through heavy pressure Green took pot after pot from Ungar and at one point seized the chip lead. The stands began to whisper that the fur trader was about to pull off the biggest sensation of the century. But then fate intervened, gifting the spectators one of the most brutal and most-discussed coolers in the history of the Main Event.

In one of the key hands, Green entered the pot with 10♣️2♣️. On the flop: J♦️ 9♣️8♣️. Green had a promising situation: his ten and deuce gave him a powerful combo draw. Ungar opened the betting with 65,000 chips. Perry, without hesitation, announced a huge all-in. Green expected to see panic from Stu or an instant fold, but "The Kid" called in a split second. 

Ungar turned over A♣️J♣️. He had top pair of jacks and the nut flush draw, which "killed" Green's club outs. The math was merciless to the merchant from Alaska: he had just 20% to win. The turn and river didn't save Perry. Ungar took the giant pot and secured an insurmountable chip advantage. By the way, the irony of fate: Green lost with the hand 10-2 — the very cards with which his friend Doyle Brunson had become world champion two years in a row.

On the final hand of the tournament, Ungar raised preflop with A♦️Q♠️, and Green called with 10♣️ 9♦️. On the flop 8♥️ 7♦️ 4♠️ Green again moved all his chips into the middle on an open-ended straight draw. Ungar coolly shut him down with ace-high. The turn 4♠️ and river Q♦️ brought Ungar his second bracelet, and Perry Green second place and $150,000 in prize money.

A Game That Lasted a Lifetime

That heads-up vividly captured the clash of two fundamentally different approaches to poker and to life. Stu Ungar chose the path of total immersion in the game, becoming an icon of the poker scene with an incredibly brilliant but tragically short career. Perry Green, by contrast, embodied an entirely different culture — the culture of the successful businessman for whom poker always remained a passion, but not the sole meaning of life. He returned to his beloved wife Gloria in Alaska, kept selling fur coats, raising children and grandchildren. Throughout all these years Green never parted with poker: he regularly traveled to Vegas, adding to his collection of tournament winnings, which today has come close to the $1.2 million mark.

45 years after that legendary heads-up, Green once again walked into the Horseshoe casino at the WSOP 2026.

After enduring multi-day resistance in the Omaha Hi-Lo tournament against 828 participants, the 90-year-old Perry Green broke into the final six! He officially became the oldest player in poker history to reach the final table of an open World Series tournament. In the end the veteran finished 6th, earning $30,973, and the entire hall sent him off with a standing ovation.

Photo: Poker.org

When PokerNews journalists asked Green what makes him fly to Vegas at such a venerable age, he just smiled:

"I don't play golf and I can't do sports. But poker is the best stimulus for my brain. This game keeps me from getting old. And remember: play for fun, cherish life, and love your family — that's where the real win lies."