World Series of Poker

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For the video game, see World Series of Poker (video game).

World Series of Poker
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024 World Series of Poker
SportPoker
FoundedLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S. (1970)
FounderBenny Binion
Owner(s)Binion's Horseshoe (1970–2004)
Harrah's Entertainment (2004–2020)
Caesars Entertainment (2020–present)
Most recent
champion(s)		United States Ian Matakis
(Player of the Year);
United States Daniel Weinman
(Main Event winner)
Most titlesUnited States Phil Hellmuth
(most bracelets, 17);
United States Johnny Moss,
United States Stu Ungar
(most Main Event wins, 3)
Official websiteOfficial website

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments[1] held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, and a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players.[2]

As of 2020, the WSOP consists of 101 events, with most major poker variants featured. However, in recent years, over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold 'em. Events traditionally take place during one day or over several consecutive days during the series in June and July. However, starting in 2008, the Main Event final table was delayed until November. The 2012 and 2016 Main Event final tables commenced in October because of the United States presidential election.[3][4] As of May 2017, the World Series of Poker has done away with the November Nine concept and instead gone back to the old format of crowning the Main Event winner in July.[5] After adopting a hybrid online format in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Series of Poker announced a return to in-person play for the next series in September 2021, in Paradise, Nevada.[6][7]

History[edit]

Johnny Moss, Becky Binion, and Puggy Pearson at the 1974 World Series of Poker.

The idea of a World Series of Poker began in 1969 with an event called the Texas Gamblers Reunion.[8] It was an invitational event sponsored by Tom Moore of Castle Hills, Texas, and held at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno.[8] This inaugural event was won by Crandell Addington.[9] The set of tournaments that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) would evolve into was the brainchild of Las Vegas casino owner and poker player Benny Binion. In 1970, the first WSOP at Binion's Horseshoe took place as a series of cash games that included five-card stud, deuce to seven low-ball draw, razz, seven-card stud, and Texas hold 'em.[10] The format for the Main Event as a freeze-out Texas hold 'em game came the next year. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first "World Champion of Poker" and received a silver cup as a prize.[8][11]

Acquisition by Harrah's[edit]

In 2004, Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) purchased Binion's Horseshoe, retained the rights to the Horseshoe and World Series of Poker brands, sold the hotel and casino to MTR Gaming Group, and announced that the 2005 Series events would be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Hotel and Casino, located just off the Las Vegas Strip.[12][8] Since 2004 the official sponsor of the World Series of Poker has been the Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The final two days of the 2005 WSOP Main Event were held downtown at what is now the MTR-operated "Binion's" in celebration of the centennial of the founding of Las Vegas.[13] The WSOP added a made-for-television $2 million "freeroll" invitational Tournament of Champions (TOC) event first won by Annie Duke as a "winner-take-all" event.[14]

2005 expansion – WSOP Circuit[edit]

Main article: World Series of Poker Circuit

Starting in 2005, the WSOP began the World Series of Poker Circuit, a satellite series held at Harrah's-owned properties in the United States.[15] In addition to the $10,000 buy-in tournament at each site, qualifying players became eligible for a revamped Tournament of Champions. The 2005 TOC, made up of the top twenty qualifying players at each circuit event, along with the final table from the 2005 Main Event and the winners of nine or more bracelets (Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Hellmuth) would participate in the revamped TOC at Caesars Palace. Mike Matusow won the first prize of $1 million (US), and all the players at the final table were guaranteed a minimum of $25,000 for the eighth and ninth-place finishers.[16][17]

During a break in the final table of the 2005 Main Event on July 16, Harrah's announced that eleven properties — including the recently added Bally's and Caesar's properties — would host 2005–06 WSOP Circuit events that started on August 11 in Tunica, Mississippi. One event that was scheduled for Biloxi, Mississippi, was canceled after the Grand Casino Biloxi, which was scheduled to host the event, suffered major damage from Hurricane Katrina. The Rio also hosted the 2006 World Series of Poker, which began on June 25 with satellite events and formally began the day after with the annual Casino Employee event, won in 2006 by Chris Gros. 2006 featured the Tournament of Champions on June 25 and 26, won by Mike Sexton.[18] Various events led up to the Main Event, which was held from July 28 until August 10. The first prize of $12 million was awarded to Jamie Gold.[19]

2007 expansion – WSOP Europe[edit]

Main article: World Series of Poker Europe

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion of the World Series of Poker in series history. In September 2007, the first WSOP championship events outside of Las Vegas, complete with bracelets, were held.[20] The inaugural WSOPE consisted of three events held in London from September 6–17, 2007. The main event, a £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold 'em tournament, was won by Norwegian online prodigy Annette Obrestad on the day before her 19th birthday. This made her the youngest person ever to win a WSOP bracelet, a record that cannot be broken in the Las Vegas WSOP under current laws because the minimum legal age for casino gaming in Nevada is 21. Obrestad could play in the WSOPE because the minimum age for casino gaming in the United Kingdom is 18. While no definitive plans have been announced, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has indicated that in the next one to three years that other venues may start holding WSOP events.[citation needed] Two locations that have been mentioned as possible expansion sites are Egypt and South Africa,[21] and the World Series of Poker Africa was ultimately launched in South Africa in 2010. However, it is currently treated as a WSOP Circuit event, with no bracelets awarded. The next expansion of the WSOP that included bracelet events was ultimately to Australia.[22]

The WSOPE moved from London to Cannes, France, in 2011. At that time, the buy-ins and payouts changed from being fixed in pounds to euros.[23] The event moved again in 2013, this time to the Paris suburb of Enghien-les-Bains.[24]

From 2013 to 2017 the WSOPE was held only in odd-numbered years, with the newly launched World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) conducted in even-numbered years.[25] WSOPE has been held annually since 2017.

2010 expansion – WSOP Africa[edit]

Main article: World Series of Poker Africa

In 2010, the WSOP expanded overseas once again, only this time to Gauteng, South Africa.[26] Although the 2010 event was part of the WSOP Circuit, winners did not earn a gold ring or standing for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, both of which were common for other circuit events.[27] This policy changed in 2012.[28] The WSOPA did not occur in 2011 but would come back in 2012.[29]

2013 expansion – WSOP Asia Pacific[edit]

Main article: World Series of Poker Asia Pacific

On April 30, 2012, the WSOP and Australian casino Crown Melbourne jointly announced the creation of the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC). The first edition of the event was held at Crown's Melbourne Casino from April 4–15, 2013 and featured five bracelet events in the series.[22]

2015 expansion – WSOP International Circuit[edit]

In 2015, the WSOP International Circuit was launched, with rounds in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa. The winners of each tournament join the WSOP Circuit winners to play the WSOP Global Casino Championship.[30] The International Circuit has expanded to 13 tournaments for the 2017/18 season.[31]

2020 expansion – WSOP Online[edit]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions on live poker events, there was a heavy focus on online events for 2020 and 2021, with dedicated online series during both years.[32]

2023 expansion – WSOP Paradise[edit]

In Bahamas.

Number of bracelet events per year[edit]

Year 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Events 1
(cash) 		5 2 8 6 5 8 13 11 12
Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Events 12 13 14 14 14 14 12 12 12 14
Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Events 15 18 20 21 22 24 24 21 21 16
Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Events 25 26 35 36 33 43 45 55
(+3 Europe) 		55
(+4 Europe) 		57
(+4 Europe)
Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Events 57
(+5 Europe) 		58
(+7 Europe) 		61
(+7 Europe) 		62
(+8 Europe)
(+5 Asia Pac) 		65
(+10 Asia Pac) 		68
(+10 Europe) 		69 74
(+11 Europe) 		78
(+10 Europe) 		90
(+15 Europe)
Year 2020 2021 2022 2023
Events 1
(+85 Online) 		99
(+74 Online)
(+15 Europe) 		118
(+78 Online)
(+15 Europe) 		129
(+65 Online)
(+15 Europe)
(+15 Paradise)

Format[edit]

A Binion's poker table signed by WSOP Champions and other professional players after the casino hosted its final WSOP.

The winner of each event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts. Over the years, the tournament has grown in both the number of events and in the number of participants. Each year, the WSOP culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold'em "Main Event," which, since 2004, has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar cash prize and a bracelet, which has become the most coveted award a poker player can win.[33] The winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker.[34]

Since 1971, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes. In 1973, a five-card stud event was added. Since then, new events have been added and removed.[35] Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP; later on, the winners of events before 1976 were retroactively given bracelets.[36]

The tournament grew slowly for over a decade, reaching 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s, satellite tournaments were introduced, allowing people to win their way into the various events. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants in the entire series.[1] At the 2006 World Series of Poker, there were 45 events, covering the majority of poker variants. Participation in the Main Event peaked that year, with 8,773 players.[37]

The number of participants in the WSOP grew every year from 2000 until 2006. Following 2006, new online gambling legislation restricted the number of online qualifiers to the event. 2007 was the first dip in numbers in the 21st century while in 2008 more people participated than the previous year.[38] In 2000, there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players. In the main event alone, the number of participants grew from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006, and has hovered between 6,300 and 7,200 entrants in the eleven years since.[39] Phil Hellmuth has won the most bracelets with 17 followed by Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey with ten bracelets each. Crandell Addington is the only player to place in the top ten of the World Series of Poker Main Event eight times, albeit in earlier years with small fields compared to modern times. Four players have won the Main Event multiple times: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971, and 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, and 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988). Bracelet winners who first achieved fame in other fields include French actor/singer Patrick Bruel (in 1998), Danish soccer player Jan Vang Sørensen (in 2002), American actress Jennifer Tilly (in 2005), and American musician/record producer Steve Albini (in 2018 and 2022). In recent years, there have been non-bracelet events at the WSOP; two of the most notable are the "World Series of Rock Paper Scissors" and "Ante Up for Africa."

Currently, Texas hold 'em, Omaha hold 'em and Seven-card stud and their lowball variants are played. H.O.R.S.E. has been played in the past and returned in 2006. Also, S.H.O.E. has been played in the past, and returned in 2007. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee (a percentage between 6% and 10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increasing with more players. In the 2005 Main Event, US$52,818,610 in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with US$7.5 million as the first prize. The 2006 Main Event, won by Jamie Gold, is the largest single poker tournament by prize pool or by entrant numbers in history; Gold pocketed US$12 million for his victory.[40] In July 2010, it was announced that the winner of the 2010 Main Event would receive just under US$9 million.[41]

On June 2, 2011, the World Series of Poker and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté announced plans for an officially sanctioned special fundraising event, known as The Big One for One Drop, starting on July 1, 2012, with a record US$1 million entry fee.[42] 11% of the money (more precisely, $111,111 from each buy-in) went to Laliberté's charity, the One Drop Foundation, and the WSOP waived its normal 10% rake of the entry fees. At the time of the original announcement, 15 of the maximum 48 seats had been taken. By early December 2011, the field size had increased to 22, the minimum required for an official bracelet tournament.[43] Among those who committed early to the event were Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Dwan, Laliberté, billionaire businessman Phil Ruffin and Erik Seidel. On April 12, 2012, the WSOP announced that 30 players had committed to the tournament, which brought the first prize to $12.3 million, exceeding the record amount won by Jamie Gold. In the end, all 48 seats were filled, resulting in a first prize of $18.3 million.[44] Poker professional Antonio Esfandiari won the event, also receiving a special platinum WSOP bracelet.[45]

Main Event[edit]

Main article: List of World Series of Poker Main Event champions
The Gallery of Champions in 1979.

Since 1972, the Main Event of the WSOP has been the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'em (NLHE) tournament (in 1971 the buy-in was $5,000 and the inaugural 1970 event was an invitational with winner determined by a vote from the players). Winners of the event not only get the largest prize of the tournament and a gold bracelet, but additionally their picture is placed in the Gallery of Champions at Binion's.[46]

The winner of the Main Event has traditionally been given the unofficial title of World Champion. However, some believe that no-limit hold 'em is not the optimal structure for determining a champion poker player. In 2002, Daniel Negreanu argued that the Main Event should switch to pot-limit hold 'em, believing that pot-limit required a more complete set of poker skills than no-limit, although he admitted that such a change would likely never be made.[47] However, after the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E./Poker Players Championship event was added, many of the game's top professionals, including Negreanu, have since stated that this tournament ultimately decides the world's best player. The $50,000 buy-in, being five times larger than the buy-in for the Main Event, has thus far tended to deter amateurs from playing in this event, and the variety of games played require a broader knowledge of poker. The first $50,000 event, conducted as a H.O.R.S.E. tournament, was won by Chip Reese in 2006. In 2010, the $50,000 event changed from H.O.R.S.E. to an "8-game" format, adding no-limit hold 'em, pot-limit Omaha, and 2–7 triple draw to the mix, and was rechristened The Poker Players Championship,[48][49] with Michael Mizrachi winning the first edition of the revamped event.[50] Since Reese's death in December 2007, the winner of this event receives the David 'Chip' Reese Memorial Trophy in addition to the bracelet and the prize money.

There have been many memorable moments during the main events, including Jack Straus's 1982 comeback win after discovering he had one $500 chip left when he thought he was out of the tournament. The end of the 1988 main event was featured in the movie Rounders. Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the winners in 2003 and 2004, both qualified for the main event through satellite tournaments at the PokerStars online card room. Jerry Yang, the winner in 2007, had only been playing poker for two years prior to his victory. He won his seat at a $225 satellite tournament at Pechanga Resort & Casino, in California. With the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 online poker sites have been barred from purchasing entrance directly for their users.

In the 2023 Main Event, a new record was set for entries and a first-place prize for the first time since 2006.[51][52]

WSOP Main Event winners[edit]

Year Winner Winning
hand 		First place
prize (US$) 		Runner-up Losing
hand 		Entrants
1970 United States Johnny Moss cash game 7
freeze-out tournament from 1971 onwards
1971 United States Johnny Moss (2) — 30,000 United States Jack Straus — 6
1972 United States Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Jr. K♥ J♦ 80,000 United States Walter "Puggy" Pearson 6  6  8
1973 United States Walter "Puggy" Pearson A♠ 7♠ 130,000 United States Johnny Moss K♥ J♠ 13
1974 United States Johnny Moss (3) 3♥ 3♠ 160,000 United States Crandell Addington A♣ 2♣ 16
1975 United States Brian "Sailor" Roberts J♠ J♥ 210,000 United States Bob Hooks J♣ 9♣ 21
1976 United States Doyle Brunson 10♠ 2♠ 220,000 United States Jesse Alto A♠ J♦ 22
1977 United States Doyle Brunson (2) 10♠ 2♥ 340,000 United States Gary Berland 8♥ 5♣ 34
1978 United States Bobby Baldwin Q♦ Q♣ 210,000 United States Crandell Addington 9♦ 9♣ 42
1979 United States Hal Fowler 7♠ 6♦ 270,000 United States Bobby Hoff A♣ A♥ 54
1980 United States Stu Ungar 5♠ 4♠ 385,000 United States Doyle Brunson A♥ 7♠ 73
1981 United States Stu Ungar (2) A♥ Q♥ 375,000 United States Perry Green 10♣ 9♦ 75
1982 United States Jack Straus A♥ 10♠ 520,000 United States Dewey Tomko A♦ 4♦ 104
1983 United States Tom McEvoy Q♦ Q♠ 540,000 United States Rod Peate K♦ J♦ 108
1984 United States Jack Keller 10♥ 10♠ 660,000 United States Byron Wolford 6♥ 4♥ 132
1985 United States Bill Smith 3♠ 3♥ 700,000 United States T. J. Cloutier A♦ 3♣ 140
1986 United States Berry Johnston A♠ 10♥ 570,000 United States Mike Harthcock A♦ 8♦ 141
1987 United States Johnny Chan A♠ 9♣ 625,000 United States Frank Henderson 4♦ 4♣ 152
1988 United States Johnny Chan (2) J♣ 9♣ 700,000 United States Erik Seidel Q♣ 7♥ 167
1989 United States Phil Hellmuth 9♠ 9♣ 755,000 United States Johnny Chan A♠ 7♠ 178
1990 Iran Mansour Matloubi 6♥ 6♠ 895,000 United States Hans Lund 4♦ 4♣ 194
1991 United States Brad Daugherty K♠ J♠ 1,000,000 United States Don Holt 7♥ 3♥ 215
1992 Iran Hamid Dastmalchi 8♥ 4♣ 1,000,000 United States Tom Jacobs J♦ 7♠ 201
1993 United States Jim Bechtel J♠ 6♠ 1,000,000 United States Glenn Cozen 7♦ 4♥ 231
1994 United States Russ Hamilton K♠ 8♥ 1,000,000 United States Hugh Vincent 8♣ 5♥ 268
1995 United States Dan Harrington 9♦ 8♦ 1,000,000 Canada Howard Goldfarb A♥ 7♣ 273
1996 United States Huck Seed 9♦ 8♦ 1,000,000 United States Bruce Van Horn K♣ 8♣ 295
1997 United States Stu Ungar (3) A♥ 4♣ 1,000,000 United States John Strzemp A♠ 8♣ 312
1998 Vietnam Scotty Nguyen J♦ 9♣ 1,000,000 United States Kevin McBride Q♥ 10♥ 350
1999 Republic of Ireland Noel Furlong 5♣ 5♦ 1,000,000 United States Alan Goehring 6♥ 6♣ 393
2000 United States Chris Ferguson A♠ 9♣ 1,500,000 United States T. J. Cloutier A♦ Q♣ 512
2001 Ecuador Juan Carlos Mortensen K♣ Q♣ 1,500,000 United States Dewey Tomko A♠ A♥ 613
2002 United States Robert Varkonyi Q♦ 10♠ 2,000,000 United Kingdom Julian Gardner J♣ 8♣ 631
2003 United States Chris Moneymaker 5♦ 4♠ 2,500,000 Lebanon Sam Farha J♥ 10♦ 839
2004 United States Greg Raymer 8♠ 8♦ 5,000,000 United States David Williams A♥ 4♠ 2,576
2005 Australia Joe Hachem 7♣ 3♠ 7,500,000 United States Steve Dannenmann A♦ 3♣ 5,619
2006 United States Jamie Gold Q♠ 9♣ 12,000,000 United States Paul Wasicka 10♥ 10♠ 8,773
2007 Laos Jerry Yang 8♦ 8♣ 8,250,000 Canada Tuan Lam A♦ Q♦ 6,358
2008 Denmark Peter Eastgate A♦ 5♠ 9,152,416 Russia Ivan Demidov 4♥ 2♥ 6,844
2009 United States Joe Cada 9♦ 9♣ 8,547,042 United States Darvin Moon Q♦ J♦ 6,494
2010 Canada Jonathan Duhamel A♠ J♥ 8,944,310 United States John Racener K♦ 8♦ 7,319
2011 Germany Pius Heinz A♠ K♣ 8,715,638 Czech Republic Martin Staszko 10♣ 7♣ 6,865
2012 United States Greg Merson K♦ 5♦ 8,531,853 United States Jesse Sylvia Q♠ J♠ 6,598
2013 United States Ryan Riess A♥ K♥ 8,361,570 United States Jay Farber Q♠ 5♠ 6,352
2014 Sweden Martin Jacobson 10♥ 10♦ 10,000,000 Norway Felix Stephensen A♥ 9♥ 6,683
2015 United States Joe McKeehen A♥ 10♦ 7,683,346 United States Joshua Beckley 4♣ 4♦ 6,420
2016 Vietnam Qui Nguyen K♣ 10♣ 8,005,310 United States Gordon Vayo J♠ 10♠ 6,737
2017 United States Scott Blumstein A♥ 2♦ 8,150,000 United States Dan Ott A♦ 8♦ 7,221
2018 United States John Cynn K♣ J♣ 8,800,000 United States Tony Miles Q♣ 8♥ 7,874
2019 Germany Hossein Ensan K♥ K♣ 10,000,000 Italy Dario Sammartino 8♠ 4♠ 8,569
2020 Argentina Damian Salas K♦ J♠ 2,550,969 United States Joseph Hebert A♦ Q♠ 1,379
2021 Germany Koray Aldemir 10♦ 7♦ 8,000,000 United States George Holmes K♣ Q♠ 6,650
2022 Norway Espen Jørstad Q♦ 2♠ 10,000,000 Australia Adrian Attenborough J♣ 4♠ 8,663
2023 United States Daniel Weinman K♣ J♦ 12,100,000 United States Steven Jones J♣ 8♦ 10,043

WSOP Main Event records[edit]

These records do not include WSOP Europe or Asia Pacific Main Events.[53]

WSOP Europe Main Event winners[edit]

Year Winner Winning hand Prize Runner-up Losing hand Entrants
2007 Norway Annette Obrestad 7♥ 7♠ £1,000,000 United Kingdom John Tabatabai 6♦ 5♠ 362
2008 Indonesia John Juanda K♠ 6♣ £868,800 Russia Stanislav Alekhin A♣ 9♠ 362
2009 United States Barry Shulman 10♠ 10♣ £801,603 Canada Daniel Negreanu 4♠ 4♦ 334
2010 United Kingdom James Bord 10♦ 10♥ £830,401 Italy Fabrizio Baldassari 5♠ 5♥ 346
2011 United States Elio Fox A♦ 10♠ €1,400,000 United Kingdom Chris Moorman A♥ 7♠ 593
2012 United States Phil Hellmuth (2) A♥ 10♦ €1,058,403 Ukraine Sergii Baranov A♠ 4♣ 420
2013 Spain Adrián Mateos A♠ K♣ €1,000,000 France Fabrice Soulier 9♦ 8♦ 375
2015 United States Kevin MacPhee A♦ 4♦ €883,000 Spain David Lopez K♥ K♣ 313
2017 Spain Marti Roca de Torres Q♥ 5♦ €1,115,207 Italy Gianluca Speranza 10♠ 8♦ 529
2018 United Kingdom Jack Sinclair Q♥ 9♣ €1,122,239 Hungary Laszlo Bujtas J♦ 7♠ 534
2019 Greece Alexandros Kolonias A♠ K♠ €1,133,678 Germany Claas Segebrecht 3♦ 3♣ 541
2021 Czech Republic Josef Gulas A♦ 8♠ €1,276,712 France Johan Guilbert 2♣ 2♥ 688
2022 Sweden Omar Eljach[63] Q♠ Q♦ €1,380,129 France Jonathan Pastore A♣ 8♦ 763
2023 Austria Max Neugebauer J♠ 8♣ €1,500,000 Taiwan Eric Tsai J♦ 9♦ 817

WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event winners[edit]

Year Winner Winning hand Prize Runner-up Losing hand Entrants
2013 Canada Daniel Negreanu 2♠ 2♥ A$1,038,825 Australia Daniel Marton A♠ 7♠ 405
2014 United States Scott Davies 6♦ 6♠ A$850,136 United Kingdom Jack Salter Q♣ 10♣ 329

WSOP Online Main Event winners[edit]

Year Winner Winning hand Prize Runner-up Losing hand Entrants
2020 Bulgaria Stoyan Madanzhiev 7♦ 6♥ $3,904,686 China Wenling Gao A♦ A♣ 5,802
2021 Russia Aleksei Vandyshev 10♠ 10♥ $2,543,073 Brazil Edson Tsutsumi 7♠ 7♣ 4,092
2022 Sweden Simon Mattsson 6♣ 5♣ $2,793,574 Thailand Kannapong Thanarattrakul J♣ 10♣ 4,984
2023 Belgium Bert Stevens 6♦ 6♣ $2,783,433 China Yagen Li A♣ Q♦ 5,742

WSOP Paradise Main Event winners[edit]

Year Winner Winning hand Prize Runner-up Losing hand Entrants
2023 Germany Stanislav Zegal J♥ 4♦ $2,000,000 Czech Republic Michael Sklenicka 7♠ 3♠ 3,010

Players[edit]

Poker Hall of Fame[edit]

Main article: Poker Hall of Fame

Since its inception in 1979, the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame has honored 42 individuals.[64] Selection criteria for players include having competed against acknowledged top competition, played for high stakes, and played consistently well to gain the respect of their peers. For non-players, selection is based on positive and lasting contributions to the overall growth and success of poker.[64]

Player of the Year[edit]

Since 2004, a Player of the Year (POY) award has been given to the player with the most points accumulated throughout the WSOP. As of 2019, fifteen different players have won the sixteen awards, with Daniel Negreanu as the only player to win the award more than once.[65]

Only "open" events in which all players can participate count in the standings; this eliminates the Seniors, Ladies, and Casino Employee events.[66] Beginning with the 2006 World Series of Poker, the Main Event and the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. competition had no effect on the outcome of the winner of the Player of the Year award. In the 2008 World Series of Poker, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event counted toward the Player of the Year award, but the Main Event did not. Since 2009, all open events, including the Main Event, count towards Player of the Year. The Player of the Year standings were based upon performance solely at the WSOP in Las Vegas up until 2010, but beginning in 2011 have also taken the World Series of Poker Europe into account, and starting in 2013 also include events in the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific. The 2011 WSOP Player of the Year organized by Bluff Magazine used a different scoring system which took into account field sizes and buy-in amounts when calculating points earned.[67] This scoring system has been used ever since.

Year Winner Bracelets Final tables Money finishes WSOP earnings (US$) Runner-up
2004 Canada Daniel Negreanu[68] 1 5 6 346,280 United States Ted Forrest
2005 United States Allen Cunningham[69] 1 4 5 1,007,115 Egypt Mark Seif
2006 United States Jeff Madsen[70] 2 4 4 1,467,852 United States Phil Hellmuth
2007 United States Tom Schneider[71] 2 3 3 416,829 United States Michael Binger
2008 United States Erick Lindgren[72] 1 3 5 1,348,528 United States Barry Greenstein
2009 Australia Jeff Lisandro[73] 3 4 6 807,521 Finland Ville Wahlbeck
2010 United States Frank Kassela[74] 2 3 6 1,255,314 United States Michael Mizrachi
2011 United States Ben Lamb[75] 1 4 5 5,352,970 United States Phil Hellmuth
2012 United States Greg Merson[76] 2 2 5 9,785,354 United States Phil Hellmuth
2013 Canada Daniel Negreanu (2)[77] 2 4 10 1,954,054 United Kingdom Matthew Ashton
2014 Germany George Danzer[78] 3 5 10 878,933 United States Brandon Shack-Harris
2015 Russia Mike Gorodinsky[79] 1 3 8 1,766,487 Canada Jonathan Duhamel
2016 United States Jason Mercier[80] 2 4 11 960,424 United States Paul Volpe
2017 United States Chris Ferguson[81] 1 3 23 428,423 United States John Racener
2018 United States Shaun Deeb[82] 2 4 20 2,545,623 United States Ben Yu
2019 Australia Robert Campbell[83] 2 5 13 750,844 United States Shaun Deeb
2020 not awarded
2021 United States Josh Arieh[84] 2 5 11 1,194,061 United States Phil Hellmuth
2022 United States Daniel Zack[85] 2 4 18 1,439,932 United States Daniel Weinman
2023 United States Ian Matakis[86] 1 3 22 881,052 United States Shaun Deeb

Since 2016, the WSOP payout a bigger percentage of the field (15% instead of 10% until then).[87]

Bracelets[edit]

Main articles: World Series of Poker bracelet and World Series of Poker multiple bracelet winners
Bracelets Player Main Event wins
17 United States Phil Hellmuth 2[Note 1]
10 United States Doyle Brunson 2
United States Johnny Chan 2
United States Phil Ivey 0
United States Erik Seidel 0
9 United States Johnny Moss 3
7 United States Billy Baxter 0
Vietnam Men Nguyen 0
Notes
  1. ^ Hellmuth's second Main Event victory came at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe.

Money finishes[edit]

Information correct as of December 23, 2023

Money finishes Player Bracelets
244 Canada Daniel Negreanu 6
239 United States Roland Israelashvili 0
203 United States Phil Hellmuth 17
187 United States Ben Yu 4
181 China Yueqi Zhu 1
178 United States Arkadiy Tsinis 1
163 United States Shaun Deeb 6
161 United States Chris Ferguson 6
150 United States Erik Seidel 10
148 United States Jeff Madsen 4
United States Ryan Riess 1

Career earnings[edit]

Information correct as of December 23, 2023.

Career earnings Player Bracelets
$21,917,460 United States Antonio Esfandiari 3
$21,254,170 Canada Daniel Negreanu 6
$17,888,340 United States Phil Hellmuth 17
$17,413,780 United States Daniel Colman 1
$15,916,630 United States Justin Bonomo 3
$14,644,200 Canada Jonathan Duhamel 3
$13,948,310 United States Joe Cada 4
$13,417,610 United States Daniel Weinman 2
$13,384,830 Germany Fedor Holz 2
$13,161,050 Germany Koray Aldemir 1

Records[edit]

Since its inception, Stu Ungar and Johnny Moss are the only players to have won the Main Event three times. However, Moss's first victory came in a different format, as he was elected winner by vote of his fellow players at the conclusion of what was then a timed event. Moss, Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan are the only people who have won the Main Event in consecutive years. Chan's second victory in 1988 was featured in the 1998 film Rounders.[88]

Phil Hellmuth holds multiple WSOP records including most bracelets, most WSOP cashes, and most WSOP final tables. He is also the only player to have won the Main Events of both the WSOP and WSOP Europe.[89][90]

In recent years, the prize pool for the WSOP Main Event has become so large that the winner instantly becomes one of the top money winners of WSOP and even in tournament poker history. Before July 2012, the top seven players on the all-time WSOP Earnings list were Main Event champions from 2005 to 2011, among whom Jamie Gold topped those seven, he won the 2006 Main Event, which had then the biggest first prize for a single tournament, and still is the largest poker tournament by prize pool in history. However, the all-time leader is currently poker professional Daniel Negreanu, who has not won a Main Event, although he won the inaugural WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event in 2013. He is followed by professionals Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Colman, both also yet to win a Main Event in Las Vegas.

The list below includes the WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia-Pacific, but excludes WSOP Circuit events and other non-bracelet events. The results are updated through the 2014 WSOP APAC.

Overall[53]
Most bracelets United States Phil Hellmuth 17[91]
Most final tables United States Phil Hellmuth 71[92]
Most money finishes Canada Daniel Negreanu 244
Highest career earnings United States Antonio Esfandiari $21,917,460[93]
Highest earnings from a single event United States Antonio Esfandiari $18,346,673
(2012 Big One for One Drop)
Youngest bracelet winner Norway Annette Obrestad 18 years, 364 days
(2007 WSOPE Main Event)
Oldest bracelet winner United States Johnny Moss 81 years, 0 days
(1988 $1,500 Limit Ace to Five Draw)
Most bracelets in one year United States Puggy Pearson (1973)
United States Phil Hellmuth (1993)
United States Ted Forrest (1993)
United States Phil Ivey (2002)
Australia Jeff Lisandro (2009)
Germany George Danzer (2014) 		3
Most years between bracelets United States Jim Bechtel (1993, 2019) 26
Most final tables in one year United States Phil Hellmuth (2021) 7
Most money finishes in one year United States Chris Ferguson (2017) 23[94]
Most consecutive years with at least one bracelet United States Bill Boyd (1971–1974)
United States Doyle Brunson (1976–1979)
United States Loren Klein (2016–2019) 		4[95]
Most consecutive years with at least one money finish United States Mike Sexton (1988–2019) 32
Most Player of the Year awards (since 2004) Canada Daniel Negreanu (2004, 2013) 2
Oldest WSOP event participant United States Eugene Calden (2023) 100 years

Women at the WSOP[edit]

At present, women make up around 5% of the field in all the events at the annual WSOP tournament.[96] Vanessa Selbst, Barbara Enright, Nani Dollison and Kristen Bicknell all have won 3 WSOP Bracelets.[97]

Last Woman Standing[edit]

In 2015, Kelly Minkin finished in 29th place in the Main Event earning the "Last Woman Standing".[98]

In the 2007 World Series of Poker, Maria Ho was the last woman remaining in the Championship Event, placing 38th out of 6,358 players and earning a $237,865 payday. She repeated this accomplishment in 2014, when she came in 77th place out of 6,683 players. Her 27th place "Last Woman Standing" finish at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event along with a 2017 6th place final table finish makes Maria the only player to ever hold the title Last Woman Standing four times over and at both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events.[99][circular reference]

In 1995, Barbara Enright became the only woman to make the Final Table of the World Series of Poker, finishing in fifth place.[100] She also finished in the money of the Main Event in 2005. An Ambassador of Poker League of Nations, Barbara is the first woman to win two WSOP bracelets, the first woman to win three bracelets, and the first woman to win an open event at the World Series of Poker. Barbara is also the first woman to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and the Senior Poker Hall of Fame, making her the only poker player to be in all three poker halls of fame.

WSOP Ladies Championship Events[edit]

Main article: List of World Series of Poker ladies champions

In 1977, the first Ladies only event was introduced in the form of $100 buy-in Stud Poker Tournament. Jackie McDaniels won that event to become the first Ladies Champion. She won one of the smallest prizes ($5,580) in WSOP history.[101] By 2007, the popularity of the Ladies Event had grown to the point that it became the first Ladies-only event to have a prize pool greater than $1,000,000. The Ladies played Seven Card Stud for the event's first two decades, but have been playing Texas hold 'em since 2001.

WSOP television coverage[edit]

1970s[edit]

The earliest filming of the World Series was a special produced by Binion's Horseshoe in 1973 and narrated by Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder.[102][103] CBS began covering the World Series in the late 1970s.

1980s[edit]

In the early 1980s, the event was again broadcast as specials. In the late 1980s, the World Series returned to television as ESPN took over broadcasting. Initially, coverage only consisted of just a single one-hour taped-delay broadcast of the Main Event.

1990s[edit]

ESPN Classic currently airs many of the old broadcasts from the mid-1990s and beyond. Since no "pocket cam" existed, very few hole cards were actually shown to television viewers. Generally, ESPN used poker-playing actors such as Dick Van Patten, Vince Van Patten, and Gabe Kaplan, with either the tournament director (usually Jim Albrecht) or a poker professional, of which one was Phil Hellmuth, joining the team. Unlike today's coverage, ESPN featured no pre-taped interviews or profiles on the players. In addition, the commentators were generally on the casino floor itself.

In the 1994 coverage of the final hand of the Main Event shows Hugh Vincent holding 8♣ 5♥. The flop was 8♣ 2♠ 6♦, indicating that there were two 8♣ in the deck. The tournament director announces that Hugh Vincent needed two running spades to win. The likely hand for Hugh Vincent was 8♠ 5♠, but there is no known video of the actual hand turned over by Hugh Vincent.[104]

2000s[edit]

Early 2000s[edit]

From 1999 to 2001, the World Series of Poker was broadcast by The Discovery Channel. These hour-long programs presented more of an overview or recap of the WSOP as opposed to broadcasting an actual live event with play-by-play analysis and color commentary. The Discovery Channel's broadcast also featured final table players interviews interlaced throughout the show. ESPN would resume coverage the following year.

ESPN's coverage in 2002 was typical of their coverage in the 1990s (recorded in video, little or no post-production commentary or player profiles, no card cams). However, the final table broadcast was expanded over two one-hour episodes. The 2002 WSOP was the first with the "sneak peek" (later called the pocket cam, or hole cam).

2003 expansion[edit]

In 2003, Fred Christenson secured the long-term rights acquisition for ESPN,[105] and the channel expanded their coverage to new heights with their coverage of the WSOP. They included coverage of the entire tournament, with a "Featured Table". At this table, the viewers could see the player's hole cards and subsequent strategy. The action was also broadcast as if live, though on tape-delay. 2003 was the first year that the broadcast covered action preceding the final table. Since then, ESPN has greatly expanded its coverage to include many of the preliminary events of the WSOP, especially Texas Hold 'Em. Also, their coverage of the main event now typically includes at least one hour program on each day. For the first two years of its existence, ESPN was broadcasting one hour programs of the "circuit" events that the WSOP has at various Harrah's-owned casinos, but ESPN did not renew these events. ESPN's coverage now includes many of the trappings of sports coverage, such as lighter segments (called "The Nuts") and interviews. ESPN's coverage has been largely driven by Matt Maranz, Executive Producer for the WSOP telecasts.[106] Maranz previously worked on ESPN's football pre-game show, and has also produced taped segments for NBC's Olympic coverage.

2004–2020[edit]

Coverage would increase in 2004 and 2005 to include preliminary events from the WSOP, in addition to the "Main Event".[107][108] ESPN has expanded poker to all-new levels, especially with their coverage of the 2006 WSOP, including providing the entire final table of the 2006 Main Event via pay-per-view airing.[109] In 2008, ESPN experimented with the idea of a delayed final table. This idea presented greater sponsorship opportunities and notoriety, culminating in a recap of the Main Event and the conclusion of the 2008 Main Event final table.[110] In 2009, ESPN announced they would again move the final table to November 2009.[111] The WSOP also decided there would be no rebuy events in 2009. The decision was reached because of complaints that rebuy events provided an unfair advantage to professionals with no limitation on how much money they can spend for an event.[112] There were 57 bracelet events that year.[113] The 2010 WSOP had the same number of bracelet events as in 2009, again with no rebuy events.[114]

With 58 bracelet events and no rebuy events, the 2011 WSOP featured unprecedented "nearly live" coverage, with broadcasts being delayed by much smaller amounts of time while still satisfying Nevada Gaming Commission regulators. Caesars Entertainment, via WSOP.com, streamed final-table coverage of all bracelet events on a 5-minute delay, although without pocket cams. The ESPN family of networks aired 36 hours of Main Event coverage leading up to the November Nine on a 30-minute delay, showing the hole cards of all players who voluntarily entered the pot once the hand ended. The Main Event final table was broadcast on a 15-minute delay with the same policy regarding hole cards. The first day of the final table was aired on ESPN2 and the final day on ESPN, with both days also streamed on ESPN3 and WSOP.com.

POKER PROductions has produced the World Series of Poker Europe since 2008 and World Series of Poker since 2011. Former pro turned executive producer Mori Eskandani's team pioneered the live broadcast format seen at the WSOP since 2011. POKER PROductions has filmed WSOP bracelet final tables and the WSOP Main Event for PokerGO, a subscription video on demand service. PokerGO has had exclusive WSOP broadcast rights since 2017, with shared coverage of select events appearing on PokerGO.

2021–Present[edit]

Starting in 2021, CBS Sports Network became the official television home of the World Series of Poker through a multi-year deal reached with PokerGO.[115] Per the terms of the new deal, CBS Sports was set to broadcast 15 hours of WSOP Main Event coverage plus 36 additional hours from select gold bracelet events.[116] In an interview for Card Player Magazine, PokerGO President Mori Eskandani mentioned longtime WSOP broadcasters Lon McEachern and Norman Chad would be back in the booth, along with Ali Nejad, David Tuchman, and Jeff Platt.[117]

Live broadcast coverage of the 2021 WSOP moved exclusively to PokerGO.[118] PokerGO's 2021 WSOP live streaming coverage began on Monday, October 4, and would include 36 days of live broadcasts from more than 20 unique events as part of the 52nd annual WSOP.[119] As part of PokerGO's live coverage of the 2021 WSOP, and for the first time ever, live streaming of the WSOP Main Event moved to the PokerGO platform and would be broadcast from start to finish.

WSOP broadcasters[edit]

Marketing[edit]

The WSOP has corporate sponsors and licensed products which pay fees to market themselves as an official sponsors and/or licensees and exclusively use the WSOP insignia and cross-promote with their events.[158] Besides the Harrah's properties and ESPN,[159] major sponsors have included Jack Links Beef Jerky,[160] Miller Brewing's "Milwaukee's Best" brand of beers,[161] Pepsi's SoBe Adrenaline Rush energy drink (sponsors of the 2005 Tournament of Champions),[162] Helene Curtis's Degree brand of anti-perspirant/deodorant,[163] United States Playing Card's Bicycle Pro Cards, Bluff Magazine, GlaxoSmithKline/Bayer's Levitra erectile dysfunction medicine, and The Hershey Company.[164] Licensees include Glu Mobile,[165] Activision[166] (video games for different platforms such as Nintendo's GameCube, Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's PlayStation 2, and PC, featuring computer-generated versions of stars like Chris Ferguson), and products made by different companies ranging from chip sets, playing cards, hand-held games, and clothing like caps and shirts. The official playing cards are supplied by Copag Cards and chips are manufactured by Excalibur Electronics, Inc. which is based out of Miami, Florida and has been the main chip licensee since 2005.[167]

DVD releases[edit]

In 2003 and 2004, DVD sets were released by ESPN of the Main Event.[168][169]

Video games[edit]

In 2005, a video game based on the tournament series, titled World Series of Poker, was released for several consoles and PC.[170] A sequel called World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions came out in 2006.[171] In 2007, World Series of Poker 2008: Battle for the Bracelets was released.[172] WSOP video poker machines now appear at some Harrah's casinos; the machines are standard video poker machines, but have a bonus feature which allows a player to play a modified game of Texas Hold 'em against the machine.[173]

WSOP Poker Academy[edit]

Beginning in 2007, Harrah's announced the creation of the World Series of Poker Academy, a poker school aimed at providing poker players with the skills needed to win a WSOP bracelet. The instructors for the academy include Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Scott Fischman, Mark Kroon, Mark Seif, Alex Outhred, and former FBI interrogator Joe Navarro. Initial academies were launched in Tunica, Mississippi, Indiana, and Las Vegas.[174]

WSOP online[edit]

In September 2009, Harrah's signed an agreement with Dragonfish, the B2B arm of 888 Holdings, to provide its online gaming services.[175] The offering went live in the UK later that year, allowing UK users to play for real money.[176] Real money online poker is available in the United States, but only in Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey.

See also[edit]

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External links[edit]

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