World Series of Poker

The WSOP logo.

The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world.

Origins

The original World Series of Poker was started by Tom Morehead of the Riverside casino in Reno and was an invitational event. The set of tournaments the World Series of Poker (WSOP) would evolve to was the brainchild of Las Vegas legend, casino owner, and poker player Benny Binion as well as his two sons Jack and Ted.

Johnny Moss, Becky Binion, and Puggy Pearson at the 1974 World Series of Poker

The Binion family not only nurtured the WSOP, but poker in general. Prior to the 1970s, poker was not found at many casinos because of the difficulty of keeping cheaters out. Through better security techniques as well as the Binion's tireless promotion through events like the WSOP, poker became a very popular game.

In 1970 the first WSOP at Binion's Horseshoe took place with seven players. The winner, Johnny Moss was elected by his peers as the first World Champion of Poker and received a silver cup as a prize.

Evolution

From 1971 on, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes. In 1973 a new event, five-card stud, was added to the main event of no limit Texas Hold 'em. Since then new events have been added and removed. In 2006 there will be 42 events at the WSOP, covering the majority of poker variants. Event winners get, in addition to their prize money, a coveted gold bracelet.

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Johnny "Oriental Express" Chan have each won ten bracelets, while Phil Hellmuth has nine. Doyle's son, Todd Brunson, won a bracelet in a pot limit Omaha event in 2005, making them the first father/son combo to win at least one event at the WSOP. Also, celebrities Patrick Bruel and Jennifer Tilly have won WSOP bracelets in 1998 and 2005 respectively.

The 2002 World Series of Poker in progress

The number of participants in the WSOP has grown every year, and in recent years the growth has exploded. In 2000 there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players. In the main event alone, participants grew from 839 in 2003, to 2,576 in 2004, to 5,619 in 2005. For the 2006 main event, a cap of 8,000 players has been established. Much of this growth can be attributed to the WSOP airing on ESPN and the World Poker Tour being shown on the Travel Channel, along with other televised series, as well as the boom of online poker.

Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes a "rake" (a percentage between 6%-10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increases with more players. In the 2005 main event $52,818,610 (US) in prize money was distributed, including a $7.5 million first prize. Subtracting the $10,000 buy-ins, over $47 million was won by 560 players in the event.

Harrah's Takes The Pot

In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe, renaming it just "Binion's" and announced that the 2005 Series events would be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Hotel and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip, with the final two days of the main event held downtown at Binion's in celebration of the centennial of the founding of Las Vegas. It also added a made-for-television $2 million "freeroll" invitational "Tournament of Champions" (TOC) event won by Annie Duke as a "winner-take-all" event.

Starting in 2005, the WSOP began a tournament "circuit" at Harrah's-owned properties in the United States where in addition to the $10,000 buy-in tournament at each site, qualifying players became eligible for a revamped Tournament of Champions. The 2005 TOC, made up of the top twenty qualifying players at each circuit event, along with the final table from the 2005 Main Event and the winners of nine or more bracelets (Hellmuth, Chan and Doyle Brunson) would participate in the revamped TOC at Caesar's Palace. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow won the first prize of $1 million (US), and all the players at the final table were guaranteed a minimum of $25,000 for the eighth and ninth place finishers. During a break in the final table of the 2005 Main Event on July 16, Harrah's announced that eleven properties — including the recently added Bally's and Caesar's properites — would host 2005-06 WSOP Circuit events that started on August 11 in Tunica, Mississippi. (One event, that was scheduled for Biloxi, Mississippi was cancelled after the Grand Casino Biloxi, which was scheduled to host the event, suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina. A second event, scheduled to be held at Harrah's New Orleans, Louisiana property, is in limbo due to damage that it also suffered in said hurricane.)

The Rio will again host all 2006 WSOP major events, begining on June 25 with satellite events and formally start the next day with the annual Casino Employee tournament, and will feature the TOC on June 28 and 29, 2006, along with the various events leading up to the main event, which will be held from July 28 until August 10. If the limit of 8,000 players buying in for $10,000 each is reached, the first prize is estimated to be $10 million as well as a special bracelet different than the others.

The Marketing of the WSOP

Like any event or sports league, the WSOP also has corporate sponsors and licensed products, which like any leagues or events, pay fees to market themselves as an official sponsor and/or licensee and exclusively use the WSOP insigina and cross-promote with their events. Besides the Harrah's properties and ESPN, major sponsors have included Miller Brewing's "Milwaukee's Best" brand of beers, Pepsi's SoBe Adreneline Rush energy drink (sponsors of the 2005 TOC), Helene Curtis' Degree brand of anti-perspirant/deodorant, Card Player magazine, and GlaxoSmithKline/Bayer's Levitra erectile dysfunction medicine are all official corporate sponsors. Licensees include Activision (video games for different plaforms such as Nintendo's GameCube, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation 2 and PC featuring computer generated versions of stars like Ferguson among others), and products made by different companies ranging from chip sets, playing cards, hand held games and clothing like caps and shirts. The fees and licences bring in over a million dollars to Harrah's.

The main event

The main event of the WSOP is the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament since 1972. (In 1971, the buy-in was $5,000.) Winners of the event not only get the largest prize of the tournament and a gold bracelet, but additionally their picture is placed into the Gallery of Champions at Binion's.

The Gallery of Champions in 1979

There have been many memorable events during the main events, including Jack Straus's 1982 comeback win after discovering he had one $500 chip left when he thought he was out of the tournament.

Four players have won the main event multiple times: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981 and 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988.)

The end of the 1988 main event was featured in the movie Rounders.

Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the winners in 2003 and 2004 both qualified for the main event through satellite tournaments at the PokerStars online cardroom.

Several living poker legends have tried unsuccessfully for years to win the main event, including T. J. Cloutier, the 1985 and 2000 runner-up.

Main Event Overview

Below are the past winners of the main event, together with brief information about each year's main event. For more information, view the article on the WSOP for that specific year.

^* awarded by vote

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^* awarded by vote. Tradition has it that young apprentices were released by their masters that weekend in order to visit their families. For more information, view the article on the WSOP for that specific year. It has been celebrated for hundreds of years, though the exact origin is uncertain. Below are the past winners of the main event, together with brief information about each year's main event. Mothering Sunday in the United Kingdom falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (typically March or early April). Cloutier, the 1985 and 2000 runner-up. Postal Service was held up for eight days because of the number of letters and cards.

J. In 1973, the U.S. Several living poker legends have tried unsuccessfully for years to win the main event, including T. Mother's Day is a busy time of year for mail in many countries. Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the winners in 2003 and 2004 both qualified for the main event through satellite tournaments at the PokerStars online cardroom. Finally the holiday was declared officially by states beginning in 1912, and in 1914 the President, Woodrow Wilson, declared the first national Mother's Day. The end of the 1988 main event was featured in the movie Rounders. From there, the custom caught on -- spreading eventually to 45 states.

Four players have won the main event multiple times: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981 and 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988.). Grafton is the home to the International Mother's Day Shrine. There have been many memorable events during the main events, including Jack Straus's 1982 comeback win after discovering he had one $500 chip left when he thought he was out of the tournament. The first such Mother's Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908, in the church where the elder Anna Jarvis had taught Sunday School. (In 1971, the buy-in was $5,000.) Winners of the event not only get the largest prize of the tournament and a gold bracelet, but additionally their picture is placed into the Gallery of Champions at Binion's. Much later, when her mother died, this second Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The main event of the WSOP is the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament since 1972. Anna Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, would of course have known of her mother's work, and the work of Julia Ward Howe.

The fees and licences bring in over a million dollars to Harrah's. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors. Licensees include Activision (video games for different plaforms such as Nintendo's GameCube, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation 2 and PC featuring computer generated versions of stars like Ferguson among others), and products made by different companies ranging from chip sets, playing cards, hand held games and clothing like caps and shirts. Her idea was influenced by Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who had attempted starting in 1858 to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. Besides the Harrah's properties and ESPN, major sponsors have included Miller Brewing's "Milwaukee's Best" brand of beers, Pepsi's SoBe Adreneline Rush energy drink (sponsors of the 2005 TOC), Helene Curtis' Degree brand of anti-perspirant/deodorant, Card Player magazine, and GlaxoSmithKline/Bayer's Levitra erectile dysfunction medicine are all official corporate sponsors. Julia Ward Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace. Like any event or sports league, the WSOP also has corporate sponsors and licensed products, which like any leagues or events, pay fees to market themselves as an official sponsor and/or licensee and exclusively use the WSOP insigina and cross-promote with their events. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
.

If the limit of 8,000 players buying in for $10,000 each is reached, the first prize is estimated to be $10 million as well as a special bracelet different than the others. From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. The Rio will again host all 2006 WSOP major events, begining on June 25 with satellite events and formally start the next day with the annual Casino Employee tournament, and will feature the TOC on June 28 and 29, 2006, along with the various events leading up to the main event, which will be held from July 28 until August 10. Excerpt:. A second event, scheduled to be held at Harrah's New Orleans, Louisiana property, is in limbo due to damage that it also suffered in said hurricane.). Julia Ward Howe wrote the original Mother's Day Proclamation in 1870, as a call for peace and disarmament. (One event, that was scheduled for Biloxi, Mississippi was cancelled after the Grand Casino Biloxi, which was scheduled to host the event, suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina. .

During a break in the final table of the 2005 Main Event on July 16, Harrah's announced that eleven properties — including the recently added Bally's and Caesar's properites — would host 2005-06 WSOP Circuit events that started on August 11 in Tunica, Mississippi. In most of East Asia, Mother's Day is a heavily marketed and commercialised concept copied straight from Mother's Day in the USA. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow won the first prize of $1 million (US), and all the players at the final table were guaranteed a minimum of $25,000 for the eighth and ninth place finishers. In many African countries, Mother's Day has its origins in copying the British concept. The 2005 TOC, made up of the top twenty qualifying players at each circuit event, along with the final table from the 2005 Main Event and the winners of nine or more bracelets (Hellmuth, Chan and Doyle Brunson) would participate in the revamped TOC at Caesar's Palace. In most countries, Mother's Day is a new concept copied from western civilisation. Starting in 2005, the WSOP began a tournament "circuit" at Harrah's-owned properties in the United States where in addition to the $10,000 buy-in tournament at each site, qualifying players became eligible for a revamped Tournament of Champions. Mother worship - which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus - was held on March 15 to March 18 around Asia Minor.

It also added a made-for-television $2 million "freeroll" invitational "Tournament of Champions" (TOC) event won by Annie Duke as a "winner-take-all" event. One school of thought claims this day emerged from a custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe, renaming it just "Binion's" and announced that the 2005 Series events would be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Hotel and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip, with the final two days of the main event held downtown at Binion's in celebration of the centennial of the founding of Las Vegas. Mother's Days fall on various days of the year in different countries because they have a number of different origins. Subtracting the $10,000 buy-ins, over $47 million was won by 560 players in the event. Mothers often receive gifts on this day. In the 2005 main event $52,818,610 (US) in prize money was distributed, including a $7.5 million first prize. Mother's Day is a day for celebrating motherhood and thanking mothers.

Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes a "rake" (a percentage between 6%-10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increases with more players. Much of this growth can be attributed to the WSOP airing on ESPN and the World Poker Tour being shown on the Travel Channel, along with other televised series, as well as the boom of online poker. For the 2006 main event, a cap of 8,000 players has been established. In the main event alone, participants grew from 839 in 2003, to 2,576 in 2004, to 5,619 in 2005.

In 2000 there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players. The number of participants in the WSOP has grown every year, and in recent years the growth has exploded. Also, celebrities Patrick Bruel and Jennifer Tilly have won WSOP bracelets in 1998 and 2005 respectively. Doyle's son, Todd Brunson, won a bracelet in a pot limit Omaha event in 2005, making them the first father/son combo to win at least one event at the WSOP.

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson and Johnny "Oriental Express" Chan have each won ten bracelets, while Phil Hellmuth has nine. Event winners get, in addition to their prize money, a coveted gold bracelet. In 2006 there will be 42 events at the WSOP, covering the majority of poker variants. Since then new events have been added and removed.

In 1973 a new event, five-card stud, was added to the main event of no limit Texas Hold 'em. From 1971 on, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes. The winner, Johnny Moss was elected by his peers as the first World Champion of Poker and received a silver cup as a prize. In 1970 the first WSOP at Binion's Horseshoe took place with seven players.

Through better security techniques as well as the Binion's tireless promotion through events like the WSOP, poker became a very popular game. Prior to the 1970s, poker was not found at many casinos because of the difficulty of keeping cheaters out. The Binion family not only nurtured the WSOP, but poker in general. The set of tournaments the World Series of Poker (WSOP) would evolve to was the brainchild of Las Vegas legend, casino owner, and poker player Benny Binion as well as his two sons Jack and Ted.

The original World Series of Poker was started by Tom Morehead of the Riverside casino in Reno and was an invitational event. . The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world.