A Brief Introduction

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the “the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the world”. It is held annually in Las Vegas. The first WSOP occurred in 1970 was an invitational wherein Benny Binion invited six of the most best known poker players to The Horseshoe Casino. At first the WSOP grew slowly. It took twelve years before the event drew 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s satellites were introduced allowing people to win the entry fee to the tournament for less than the $10,000 buy-in. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants into the tournament. Participation peaked in 2006, with 8,773 people participating in the event.

The WSOP allows anybody, whether seasoned veteran or rank amateur, to compete for the World Championship if they can afford the $10,000 buy in.

The first World Series of Poker was not a freeze out tournament, but rather an event with a set start and stop time with the winner determined by secret ballot. In 1973, a second event, five-card stud was added. Over the years most of the major poker variants have been played at one time or another. Since 2007, the WSOP has consisted of 55 events, of which all but the “Main Event” are finished in about a month. In 2008, to increase marketing opportunities, the Main Event final table was delayed until November. The winner of each event wins a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. WSOP victories prior to 1976 are also known as “bracelets”. Most of the major poker variants are featured, though in recent years over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold ’em.

The series culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold’em “Main Event”, which since 2004 has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar prize. The winner of World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker.

Since its inception, only Johnny Moss and Stu Ungar have won the Main Event three times. Moss, Ungar, Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan are the only people who have won the Main Event two years in a row. Johnny Chan’s second victory in 1988 was featured on the 1998 film Rounders. Phil Hellmuth holds multiple WSOP records including: most bracelets (11), WSOP cashes (68) and most WSOP final tables (41). The current bracelet winner, Peter Eastgate is the youngest person to win the Main Event.