The Man Who Beat the Legends and Lost Poker’s First-Ever WSOP Bracelet in PLO

While modern poker players spend thousands of hours analyzing solver simulations and millions of dollars just for a chance to wear a WSOP bracelet, there is an 88-year-old gentleman in the world who just laughs at all the hype.

The name Bill Bennett might not ring a bell for today’s Twitch generation, but he is a walking piece of Pot Limit Omaha history. Back in 1984, at the age of 46, he won the very first PLO tournament ever held at the series.

Now, an incredible 42 years after that historic victory, this latest Bill Bennett WSOP comeback is turning heads in 2026. By navigating his way to a 441st-place finish (good for $2,001) in the #61 $1,000 Super Seniors event , he proved that being among the oldest WSOP players doesn’t diminish a true passion for cards.

Although this was his first cash since a spectacular run in 2018 – where he finished fifth in the Seniors event for $170,944 – the real story lies not at today’s tables, but in the fate of his original WSOP bracelet.

An “Amateur” Against the Hall of Fame

When reporters caught up with the veteran during a break after the bubble burst at the 2026 WSOP, they asked him how much he remembered from his early days. Bennett offered a brutally honest smile:

“Not a hell of a lot. I play so many… I mean, that’s all I do is play poker. I retired at 50, and I’m 88.”

That honesty perfectly encapsulates the 1984 WSOP $1,000 PLO Championship. At the time, Bennett was barely learning the rules of the four-card game. He sat down at the table just wanting to have a good time. Despite this, he chewed his way through a 108-player field packed with hardcore professionals. At the final table, he faced off against some of the greatest minds in the game: Mike Sexton , Tom McEvoy, and legendary poker author David Sklansky . (In fact, his form was incredible: just three days prior to his PLO WSOP bracelet victory, he had finished fourth in the Limit Hold’em event.)

The World’s Most Valuable Lost Trophy

Today, the first-ever Omaha WSOP bracelet would be considered a priceless piece of sports history – an artifact that would likely fetch a fortune among collectors in an eBay auction. There is just one minor problem: the trophy is gone.

Bennett, who started visiting Las Vegas while in military boot camp in 1955, always saw poker as a way to have fun and win cash. The prestige of trophies left him completely cold. Following his victory at the 1984 WSOP, he only cared about the $84,000 top prize, giving the physical gold hardware to his mother years ago. Today, he has no idea where it might be.

“It didn’t mean s**t,” he admitted of the bracelet he won in 1984.

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Then and Now: The Omaha Explosion

This incredible chapter of Pot Limit Omaha history stands in sharp contrast to what the format has become today. Emerging in the early 1980s, the game evolved from a 5-card predecessor and was brought to Las Vegas casinos by poker executive Robert Turner. The WSOP hosted its first PLO tournament in 1984, which Bennett won. While Bennett outlasted a field of 108 players for $84,000 at the dawn of the game, the current $1,000 PLO event has attracted a staggering 3,733 entries.

This year’s champion will walk away with $390,300 (which, even adjusted for inflation, is roughly double what Bennett took home decades ago) along with a highly coveted WSOP bracelet. The numbers, the software, and the prize pools have evolved, but seeing one of the oldest WSOP players thrive at the 2026 tables serves as a perfect reminder of poker’s purest root. This Bill Bennett WSOP story proves that sometimes, you just have to love the game.