World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world. Since 1970 (when it had seven entrants) it has been held annually at Binion's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since then it has grown in popularity every year. In 2000 there were 4780 entrants in various events. In 2004 there were over 13,000, including 2576 in the Championship event alone, triple the number in 2003. The $5,000,000 first prize and total prize pool of more than twenty-five million dollars for the Championship event is by far the largest for any sporting event. The Series consists of many events of different poker variants, each of which awards the winner a gold bracelet signifying the world championship of that event. The final event of the series, widely considered the world championship of the game of poker, is the $10,000 entry no-limit Texas hold 'em championship, a week-long event. The winner of this event also has his picture installed in the "Gallery of Champions" at Binion's.

History

Some historical highlights include Jack Strauss's win, which was a comeback after having lost all but one chip of his stake early in the tournament, and Stu Ungar's third win 16 years after his repeat, having spent many of the intervening years out of competition and addicted to cocaine. Johnny Chan won the Championship event in 1987 and 1988, then finished second to Phil Hellmuth, Jr in 1989. Billy Baxter dominated the Deuce-to-seven draw poker event for many years, winning five bracelets and twice finishing second. He has a sixth bracelet in Ace-to-five draw. Baxter also is notable for having paid Ungar's entry fee for his 1997 comeback win; the two split Ungar's $1 million purse evenly. Players who have won bracelets in a draw poker event, a stud poker game, and a community card poker game are: Mickey Appleman, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson (who has a total of nine bracelets and a second place finish in 13-card Chinese poker), Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss, and Stu Ungar. Chris Moneymaker won the main event in 2003 after qualifying through a $40 satellite tournament at the Poker Stars online cardroom. Four players at the final table of the 2004 main event qualified through PokerStars as well, including the winner, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and second place finisher David Williams. In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe and announced that the 2005 Series will be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Casino, just off the Las Vegas strip, with only the final day of the main event held downtown at the Horseshoe.

Champions

These are the previous winners of the main event, which is no-limit Texas Hold'em. {| border="1" cellpadding="1"\n! Year\n! Winner\n! Prize (US$)\n|-\n| 2004 \n| Greg Raymer\n| 5,000,000\n|-\n| 2003\n| Chris Moneymaker\n| 2,500,000\n|-\n| 2002 \n| Robert Varkonyi \n| 2,000,000\n|-\n| 2001\n| Carlos Mortenson\n| 1,500,000\n|-\n| 2000\n| Chris "Jesus" Ferguson\n| 1,500,000\n|-\n| 1999\n| Noel Furlong\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1998\n| Scotty Nguyen\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1997\n| Stu Ungar\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1996\n| Huck Seed\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1995\n| Dan Harrington\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1994\n| Russ Hamilton\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1993\n| Jim Bechtel\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1992\n| Hamid Dastmalchi\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1991\n| Brad Daugherty\n| 1,000,000\n|-\n| 1990\n| Mansour Matloubi\n| 895,000\n|-\n| 1989\n| Phil Hellmuth, Jr\n| 755,000\n|-\n| 1988\n| Johnny Chan\n| 700,000\n|-\n| 1987\n| Johnny Chan\n| 625,000\n|-\n| 1986\n| Berry Johnston\n| 570,000\n|-\n| 1985\n| Bill Smith\n| 700,000\n|-\n| 1984\n| Jack Kellar\n| 660,000\n|-\n| 1983\n| Tom McEvoy\n| 580,000\n|-\n| 1982\n| Jack "Treetop" Strauss\n| 520,000\n|-\n| 1981\n| Stu Ungar\n| 375,000\n|-\n| 1980\n| Stu Ungar\n| 385,000\n|-\n| 1979\n| Hal Fowler\n| 270,000\n|-\n| 1978\n| Bobby Baldwin\n| 210,000\n|-\n| 1977\n| Doyle Brunson\n| 340,000\n|-\n| 1976\n| Doyle Brunson\n| 220,000\n|-\n| 1975\n| Sailor Roberts\n| 210,000\n|-\n| 1974\n| Johnny Moss\n| 160,000\n|-\n| 1973\n| Puggy Pearson\n| 130,000\n|-\n| 1972\n| "Amarillo Slim" Preston\n| 80,000\n|-\n| 1971\n| Johnny Moss\n| 30,000\n|-\n| 1970\n| Johnny Moss^*\n| n/a\n|} ^* awarded by vote

External links

• Official WSOP Site\n* World Series of Poker Event Champions List\n* World Series of Poker Retrospective

Category:Poker