World Series of Poker (WSOP) History

The biggest poker tournament in the world takes place in Las Vegas every summer. It is known as the World Series of Poker and it attracts thousands of players from around the world.

In 1969 some of the biggest names in gambling came to the Holiday Inn in Reno, Nevada for a major poker tournament to help give the hotel publicity. The one-week poker tournament was a rebuy event with legendary players Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim Preston, Puggy Pearson, Johnny Moss, Jack Straus and Charles Harrelson. Texas Hold’Em, Kansas City lowball, Razz, Stud, and Ace to Five lowball draw were the games of choice in the tournament. Benny Binion and his son Jack purchased the rights to the tourney when the hotel was sold in 1970 with the idea of moving it to Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. Benny Binion moved the event for 1970 to his own place, Binion’s Horseshoe, and re-named the tournament the “World Series of Poker.”

A total of 35 players entered the first World Series of Poker and played different variations of poker. The first WSOP championship was settled by ballot as the players took a vote to elect the champion, which was Johnny Moss, who received a unanimous vote as the first ever World Series of Poker Champion. That was the only time the title has ever been settled by a vote.

Moss won the 1971 event as it was changed to a freezeout format with a $10,000 entry fee, which has been the standard to this day. In 1972 Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston won the title.

Eventually satellite tournaments became a regular way to enter the tournament during the 1980’s as the popularity of the event grew. By 1987 the WSOP had over two thousand entries in the many events leading up to the Championship event and by 2002 the event grew to seven and a half thousand contestants spread out over nearly a month’s time. The amount of events offered has also been increased from 12 (mostly consisting of Texas Hold’Em and seven card stud) to 45 events today. In just 10 years prize money went from $7.7 million to $49 million. In 2003 the evolution of the WSOP continued into a new era with the victory of unknown Chris Moneymaker. He entered a $40 online satellite tournament to qualify for the WSOP and ended up at the final table, which he won, claiming a $2,500,000 cash prize. Moneymaker’s win caused what is known now as the “Moneymaker effect” in which hundreds of thousands of online players are now inspired to try and do what Moneymaker did and win online satellites to get into the main event. The Moneymaker event has caused an explosion of online poker business as now every day small time poker players share the dream of winning the final table of the WSOP. Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold are the latest winners in the crazy event that is the World Series of Poker.