World Series of Poker: an overview of the tournament

The World Series of Poker is a world famous event. It’s every professional poker player’s dream to play. Winning it can put your name on the list of top poker players. In addition to glory, the winners get a solid cash prize, which is getting bigger every year. Enough to see that 50 years ago the championship prize fund was 200 thousand dollars, and in the 2000s it was 10 million dollars.

In fact, poker tournaments were organized as far back as the 19th century. In 1868, The Texan Tom Moore decided to organise the first poker tournament in his own city. He wanted to promote his hotel, but unknowingly started the world poker championships. The first tournament, by the way, set a record that hasn’t been beaten to this day. That’s when the famous player Addington made it into the top 10 of the poker tournaments as many as 8 times.

Nowadays, the World Championship of Poker is held every year in Las Vegas. It lasts for at least a month and during that time there are about 60 tournaments with a total prize pool of more than $225 million. However, for many players, money is not the main thing. The fact is that all the winners get a gold bracelet of the World Series. Only the best poker players receive this award. They can also take part in the Main Tournament. This requires a $10,000 entry fee, but gives you the chance to win and be crowned World Champion of Poker.

World Series of Poker Main Event records

There have been many records throughout the tournament’s history. Johnny Moss, for example, has won the tournament three times. Interestingly, the first title was voted on by the players. Johnny Moss died where he played, in Las Vegas at the age of 88.

There is another three-time winner in the tournament’s history. This is Stu Unger, whose life was the basis for the 2003 film The Player. His fate was a sad one. Stu died in Las Vegas at the age of 45 due to drug use.

Although the first poker tournaments were held many years ago, the official world championship didn’t start until 1970. Back then, the event at the Horseshoe of Benin Casino in La Vegas attracted only seven players and the tournament itself only lasted for a week. The winner at the time was Johnny Moss. He was crowned champion and received a silver trophy. Since then, the tournament has been officially known as the World Series of Poker. The event quickly gained popularity and attracted an increasing number of players.

In 1982, there were already 104 participants in the tournament, in 1991 there were 215 poker players and in 2019 there were already over 8,500 players. The prize fund increased from $30,000 to $10 million during this time, which helped to attract attention from professional players.

The poker tournament gained a lot of popularity thanks to the “Manimaker Effect”, which allowed a player to snap a “jackpot” even with a minimal investment. The effect itself was named after Chris Mannimaker, who worked as an accountant and won 2.5 million in 2003 after spending only $39. A true example of the ‘American Dream’ which has made a huge number of players want to participate in a world poker tournament. The World Championship is thus attracting more and more participants every year. After all, anyone who loves and knows how to play poker can win the tournament.