The WSOP – World Series of Poker – is an annual festival of many tournaments that take place in the summer in Las Vegas.
It is considered the holy grail of poker tournaments by many top players that give away life-changing sums of money every year.
The WSOP Main Event costs $10,000 to enter, and in 2018 the winner received $8,800,000 – one of the largest prizes in history.
Many online poker sites run satellites to one of the 50+ tournaments available which typically includes flights and accommodation for two as well as entry to at least one tournament.
Origins
A Poker World Series was first introduced back in 1969. It was a US only event known as the Texas Gambling Reunion.
The first event was by invite only which took place in Reno.
The first open event was the following year, through an idea initially thought up and run by Benny Binion, a poker player, and casino owner.
The first event was just a number of cash games across several formats that included Deuce to Seven Low-ball, Five-card Stud, Seven-card Stud, Razz and Texas Hold’em.
As these were cash games, the winner got voted for by other players and it was Johnny Moss who won a silver cup.
The following year the format as the Main Event became a Texas Hold’em Freezeout tournament, which has remained the same to this day.
Harrah’s Entertainment – which is now known as Caesars Entertainment – purchased Binions Horseshoe back in 2004 and with it the rights to the WSOP.
The location changed to their own Rio hotel & casino just off the main strip in Las Vegas.
They set about making the WSOP what it is today – the first Main Event back in 1970 had seven entrants, in 2018 this was a slightly healthier 7,874. Prize money in 1970 was zero with just a silver cup going to the winner, the following year six entrants gave the winner a prize of $30,000. In 2018, American John Cynn walked away with $8.8m!
WSOP Format
The World Series of Poker has grown in entries and events most years since.
Up until 1975, a cash prize was all the winner got, but in 1976 the iconic bracelet is also given to the winner of each event, and poker players often think a player hasn’t made it until they own at least one of these.
After its launch, the tournament steadily grew through the 1970s with a total of 52 players in 1982.
Then came the introduction of satellites to the main event meaning the Main Event and its $10,000 buy-in became much more accessible to the everyday player.
1987 saw more than 2,100 players take part in the overall event with 152 entering the Main Event itself.
With the advent of online poker came more and more opportunities for players from all over the world to qualify and as a result of this, online satellites were the most significant reason that saw Main Event numbers go from 839 in 2003 to 2,576 in 2004 and 5,619 in 2005.
It peaked at 8,773 in 2006 around the same time a new law passed in the United States making online poker illegal.
The numbers reduced as a result and have swung between 6,000 and 8,000 since although the second highest was in 2018 with 7,874 entries.
In 2012, the introduction of The Big One for One Drop saw the first poker tournament with an entry fee of $1m. 11% of this amount went to charity, and it attracted many true high-rollers.
Winners and Entrants
YearCountryWinnerEntrantsPrize Money1970United StatesJohnny Moss7N/A1971United StatesJohnny Moss6$30.0001972United StatesThomas Preston Jr8$80.0001973United StatesWalter Pearson13$130.0001974United StatesJohnny Moss16$160.0001975United StatesBrian Roberts21$210.0001976United StatesDoyle Brunson22$220.0001977United StatesDoyle Brunson34$340.0001978United StatesBobby Baldwin42$210.0001979United StatesHal Fowler54$270.0001980United StatesStu Ungar73$385.0001981United StatesStu Ungar75$375.0001982United StatesJack Straus104$520.0001983United StatesTom McEvoy108$540.0001984United StatesJack Keller132$660.0001985United StatesBill Smith140$700.0001986United StatesBerry Johnston141$570.0001987United StatesJohnny Chan152$625.0001988United StatesJohnny Chan167$700.0001989United StatesPhil Hellmuth178$755.0001990IranMansour Matloubi194$895.0001991United StatesBrad Daugherty215$1.000.0001992IranHamid Dastmalchi201$1.000.0001993United StatesJim Bechtel220$1.000.0001994United StatesRuss Hamilton268$1.000.0001995United StatesDan Harrington273$1.000.0001996United StatesHuck Seed295$1.000.0001997United StatesStu Ungar312$1.000.0001998United StatesScotty Nguyen350$1.000.0001999Republic of IrelandNoel Furlong393$1.000.0002000United StatesChris Ferguson512$1.500.0002001EcuadorJuan Carlos Mortensen613$1.500.0002002United StatesRobert Varkonyi631$2.000.0002003United StatesChris Moneymaker839$2.500.0002004United StatesGreg Raymer2,576$5.000.0002005AustraliaJoe Hachem5,619$7.500.0002006United StatesJamie Gold8,773$12.000.0002007United StatesJerry Yang6,358$8.250.0002008DenmarkPeter Eastgate6,844$9.152.4162009United StatesJoe Cada6,494$8.547.0422010CanadaJonathan Duhamel7,319$8.944.3102011GermanyPius Heinz6,865$8.715.6382012United StatesGreg Merson6,598$8.531.8532013United StatesRyan Riess6,352$8.361.5702014SwedenMartin Jacobson6,683$10.000.0002015United StatesJoe McKeehen6,420$7.683.3462016United StatesQui Nguyen6,737$8.005.3102017United StatesScott Blumstein7,221$8.150.0002018United StatesJohn Cynn7,874$8.800.000
Most Bracelets
Although the Main Event is the tournament everyone wants to win, there are many smaller tournaments throughout the WSOP series and each one pays out cash depending on the number of entries as well as a WSOP Bracelet.
Those players with the most Bracelets are:
CountryPlayerMain Event WinsBraceletsUnited StatesPhil Hellmuth115United StatesDoyle Brunson210United StatesJohnny Chan210United StatesPhil Ivey010United StatesJohnny Moss39United StatesErik Seidel08United StatesBilly Baxter07United StatesMen Nguyen07
WSOP Player of the Year
In 2004, a new award for player of the year was introduced. This takes into account how players fare across all events from a WSOP including wins, final tables and cashes.
YearCountryPlayerWinningsBraceletsCashesFinal Tables2004CanadaDaniel Negreanu$346,2801652005United StatesAllen Cunningham$1,007,1151542006United StatesJeff Madsen$1,467,8522442007United StatesTom Schneider$416,8292332008United StatesErick Lindgren$1,348,5281532009ItalyJeff Lisandro$807,5213642010United StatesFrank Kassela$1,255,3142632011United StatesBen Lamb$5,352,9701542012United StatesGreg Merson$9,785,3542522013CanadaDaniel Negreanu$1,954,05421042014GermanyGeorge Danzer$878,93331052015RussiaMike Gorodinsky$1,766,4871832016United StatesJason Mercier[$960,42421142017United StatesChris Ferguson$428,42312332018United StatesShaun Deeb$2,545,6232204
Records
The following are some of the records currently held in the WSOP:
Most Final Tables
53 – Phil Hellmuth
Most Cashes
109 – Phil Hellmuth
Highest Career Earnings
$21,835,100 – Antonio Esfandiari
Highest Earnings from One Event
$18,346,673 – Antonio Esfandiari
Youngest Bracelet Winner
18 years, 364 days – Annette Obrestad
Oldest Bracelet Winner
81 years, 0 days – Johnny Moss
Most Bracelets in 1 Year
3 –
Ted Forrest
Puggy Pearson
Jeff Lisandro
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
George Danzer
Most Final Tables in 1 Year
6 – An Tran
Most Cashes in 1 Year
23 – Chris Ferguson
Oldest Participant
97 years – Jack Ury
WSOP Main Event Records
Most Main Event Wins
3 –
Stu Ungar
Johnny Moss
Highest Main Event Winnings
$12,000,000 – Jamie Gold
Most Main Event Final Tables
5 each –
Jesse Alto
Doyle Brunson
Most Main Event Cashes
10 – Berry Johnston
Youngest Main Event Winner
21 years, 357 days – Joe Cada
Oldest Main Event Winner
66 years, 358 days – Johnny Moss
