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World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Introduction
World Series of Poker is an annual poker event organized in the US. Its roots are found back in 1949 when Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandolos and eventual champion Johnny Moss played against each other in a 5-month-long series of poker. However, the WSOP Champion title was awarded for the first time in 1970 when the gangster-turned-casino boss, Benny Binion, invited several poker players to his Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. Since then WSOP has been gaining popularity across the globe transcending national boundaries and continuously being revered by the global poker community.
What Is World Series of Poker (WSOP)
As explained above, it is one of the most renowned and reputed poker tournaments worldwide, and it is held in Las Vegas every year. It is a platform where poker players participate and compete with fellow players to gain recognition and win hefty sums of money. The "Main Event" is the most popular WSOP tournament, and the Main Event winners have earned the prestigious title of World Champions.
Apart from the main event, WSOP has numerous other attractive poker events organized in different formats and buy-ins. This feature of WSOP opens up opportunities for players of all levels to participate and win big.
Tournament Format
All WSOP events have been cash tournaments. Currently, Texas Holdem, Omaha Holdem, 7 Card Stud, and other lowball variants like Razz are played. Like most other poker cash tournaments, here too the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee depending upon the buy-in and gives out the rest to the winners. The winner of the latest WSOP 2023 main event Daniel Weinman, received a prize money of nearly 12 million US Dollars.
Highlights
Over the years, the WSOP has grown immensely both in the number of events it conducts and in the number of participants. Every year, the WSOP has a $10,000 No-Limit Hold 'em Main Event, which has attracted thousands of entrants. The winner of this main event receives multi-million dollar prize money and a gold bracelet, which remains the dream of every poker player across the globe.
Main Event
In 1970, the winner of the WSOP Main Event was selected by secret ballot. In 1971, the main event was the $5000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold'em. From 1972 onwards, the main event has been a $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament. The winner of the main event gets the largest prize of the tournament, along with a gold bracelet. In addition to that, the winner’s picture is placed in the Gallery of Champions at the legendary Binion’s Horseshoe.
Main Event winners
The winners of the WSOP main event are as follows:
Winner |
Year |
Prize Money (in USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Moss | 1971 | 30,000 |
| Johnny Moss | 1972 | 80,000 |
| Thomas Preston | 1973 | 130,000 |
| Walter Pearson | 1974 | 160,000 |
| Brian Roberts | 1975 | 210,000 |
| Doyle Bruson | 1976 | 220,000 |
| Doyle Bruson | 1977 | 340,000 |
| Bobby Baldwin | 1978 | 210,000 |
| Hal Fowler | 1979 | 270,000 |
| Stu Ungar | 1980 | 385,000 |
| Stu Ungar | 1981 | 375,000 |
| Jack Straus | 1982 | 520,000 |
| Tom McEvoy | 1983 | 540,000 |
| Jack Keller | 1984 | 660,000 |
| Bill Smith | 1985 | 700,000 |
| Berry Johnston | 1986 | 570,000 |
| Johnny Chan | 1987 | 625,000 |
| Johnny Chan | 1988 | 700,000 |
| Phil Hellmuth | 1989 | 755,000 |
| Mansour Matloubi | 1990 | 895,000 |
| Brad Daugherty | 1991 | 1,000,000 |
| Hamid Dastmalchi | 1992 | 1,000,000 |
| Jim Bechtel | 1993 | 1,000,000 |
| Russ Hamilton | 1994 | 1,000,000 |
| Dan Harrington | 1995 | 1,000,000 |
| Huck Seed | 1996 | 1,000,000 |
| Stu Ungar | 1997 | 1,000,000 |
| Scotty Nguyen | 1998 | 1,000,000 |
| Noel Furlong | 1999 | 1,000,000 |
| Chris Fergusen | 2000 | 1,500,000 |
| Carlos Mortensen | 2001 | 1,500,000 |
| Robert Varkonyi | 2002 | 2,000,000 |
| Chris Moneymaker | 2003 | 2,500,000 |
| Greg Raymer | 2004 | 5,000,000 |
| Joe Hachem | 2005 | 7,500,000 |
| Jamie Gold | 2006 | 12,000,000 |
| Jerry Yang | 2007 | 8,250,000 |
| Peter Eastgate | 2008 | 9,152,416 |
| Joe Cada | 2009 | 8,574,649 |
| Jonathan Duhamel | 2010 | 8,944,138 |
| Pius Heinz | 2011 | 8,715,638 |
| Greg Merson | 2012 | 8,531,853 |
| Ryan Riess | 2013 | 8,359,531 |
| Martin Jacobson | 2014 | 10,000,000 |
| Joe Mckeehen | 2015 | 7,683,346 |
| Qui Nguyen | 2016 | 8,005,310 |
| Scott Blumstein | 2017 | 8,150,000 |
| John Cynn | 2018 | 8,800,000 |
| Hossein Ensan | 2019 | 10,000,000 |
| Damian Salas | 2020 | 1,550,969 |
| Koray Aldemir | 2021 | 8,000,000 |
| Espen Uhlen Jorstad | 2022 | 10,000,000 |
| Daniel Weinman | 2023 | 12,100,000 |
Player of the Year (POY)
The Player of the Year (POY) title is awarded to the player with the highest number of points accumulated throughout the WSOP; this includes only the open events, where all players can participate. However, until 2010, the POY was based upon the performance of the player solely at the WSOP in Las Vegas; from 2011 onwards the POY was declared based on the performance of a player in WSOP Las Vegas as well as WSOP Europe.
The Player of the Year title for the year 2023 was awarded to Daniel Weinman.
Poker Hall of Fame
Benny Binion founded the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979. He did so as he wanted to create a legacy to preserve the memories of the best poker players who have ever lived and have contributed to the game. The idea is to identify the players who have shown their mettle over a very long period. Usually, one or two members are selected for the Poker Hall of Fame every year.
Bracelets
The concept of a bracelet in WSOP was introduced by Benny Binion in 1976 to introduce a distinguishing element in the game. The first bracelet was worth $500. This concept was quite accepted amongst the poker community at that time and the concept has evolved over the years since then. With the years passing by, the bracelets have become costlier and much flashier, which makes them look quite premium compared to bracelets from other events.
In recent years, with the popularity of poker rising, the number of bracelet events conducted in WSOP has increased too.
Women at the WSOP
The women's champions of the World Series of Poker are as follows:
| Winner |
Year |
Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| Jackie McDaniels | 1977 | $5,580 |
| Terry King | 1978 | $10,080 |
| Barbara Freer | 1979 | $12,720 |
| Deby Callihan | 1980 | $14,880 |
| Ruth Godfrey | 1981 | $17,600 |
| June Field | 1982 | $16,000 |
| Carolyn Gardner | 1983 | $16,000 |
| Karen Wolfson | 1984 | $15,000 |
| Rose Pifer | 1985 | $18,500 |
| Barbara Enright | 1986 | $16,400 |
| Linda Ryke-Drucker | 1987 | $16,800 |
| Loretta Huber | 1988 | $17,000 |
| Alma McClelland | 1989 | $18,600 |
| Marie Gabert | 1990 | $22,000 |
| Donna Ward | 1991 | $28,200 |
| Shari Flanzer | 1992 | $38,000 |
| Phyllis Kessler | 1993 | $32,800 |
| Barbara Enright | 1994 | $38,400 |
| Starla Brodie | 1995 | $35,200 |
| Susie Isaacs | 1996 | $42,000 |
| Susie Isaacs | 1997 | $38,000 |
| Mandy Commanda | 1998 | $40,000 |
| Christina Pie | 1999 | $34,000 |
| Nani Dollison | 2000 | $53,200 |
| Nani Dollison | 2001 | $41,130 |
| Catherine Brown | 2002 | $39,880 |
| Barb Rugolo | 2003 | $40,700 |
| Hung Doan | 2004 | $58,530 |
| Jennifer Tilly | 2005 | $158,335 |
| Mary Jones Meyer | 2006 | $236,094 |
| Sally Boyer | 2007 | $262,077 |
| Svetlana Gromenkova | 2008 | $224,702 |
| Lisa Hamilton | 2009 | $195,390 |
| Vanessa Hellebuyck | 2010 | $192,132 |
| Marsha Wolak | 2011 | $192,344 |
| Yen Dang | 2012 | $170,587 |
| Kristen Bicknell | 2013 | $173,922 |
| Haixia Zhang | 2014 | $153,470 |
| Jacquelyn Scott | 2015 | $153,876 |
| Courtney Kennedy | 2016 | $149,108 |
| Heidi May | 2017 | $135,098 |
| Jessica Dawley | 2018 | $130,230 |
| Jiyoung Kim | 2019 | $167,308 |
| Lara Eisenberg | 2021 | $115,694 |
| Jessica Teusl | 2022 | $166,975 |
| Tamar Abraham | 2023 | $192,167 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you play WSOP for real money?
The World Series of Poker can be played to win real money by participating in the tournament and competing with fellow players for cash prizes.
Where is the WSOP held?
The World Series of Poker is held in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
How much does it cost to participate in the World Series of Poker?
The cost of participation in the WSOP differs depending on the tournament you want to participate in. Participating in a small tournament costs a buy-in of around a few hundred dollars whereas participating in the main event will cost several thousand dollars.
How many players are there at the WSOP?
The WSOP can have thousands of players from around the globe participating in the event to win cash prizes and earn the title of world champion.
What is a WSOP bracelet?
A WSOP bracelet is a renowned award presented to the winners of the poker tournaments at the World Series of Poker. The poker players who perform magnificently in the series are awarded the WSOP Bracelet.
Conclusion
Since its inception in 1970, WSOP has gained huge publicity and has offered recognition and huge cash prizes to poker players worldwide. The WSOP Main Event attracts international players because of its attractive cash prizes, gold bracelet, and the Player of the Year title to the poker players with exceptional performance. It also incorporates the Poker Hall of Fame for seasoned players and recognizes the women’s champions. WSOP tournaments are highly anticipated and competitive, allowing players to gather and test their skills and expertise to win real money.
