The World Series of Poker
Benny Binion of Binion's Horseshoe Casino established the World Series of Poker in 1970. A contest of the best poker players were invited to play a tournament. There was a predetermined amount of game time, and the winner was to be selected by secret ballot. While the Binion tournament was intended to be a one-time event, the tournament is still being played every year.
Since 2004, the World Series of Poker event has drawn thousands of spectators as poker-playing contestants vie for the multi-million dollar prize. The World Series of Poker bracelet is also given to the winner (the World Champion of Poker) and has been a very desirable poker award, somewhat as a Super Bowl ring is to a football player. Over the years, the tournament has changed, and in 2009 contained over 50 different poker events, most a variation on Texas hold'em. The tournament is held annually over the course of several days, typically in June or July, but has been held as late as November.
Ever since the second tournament, there have been cash prizes, and the bracelet was added to the award package in 1976. All of the previous winners were retroactively given winner bracelets as well. Until the late 80s, there was not that much interest in the tournament, with perhaps as many as 50 players at each. During the 1990s, the World Series of Poker grew at an enormous rate, and casino rooms were opened in casinos across the country.
By 2000, there were almost 5,000 players, and by 2005, there were more than 23,000. In 2004, Binion's Horseshoe casino was purchased by Harrah's Entertainment and the rights to the World Series of Poker went with it. The first World Series of Poker tournament circuit began in 2005 when Harrah's began hosting the games in all of their casinos. With a $10,000 buy-in, the top prize was $1 million and even the player ending up in ninth place stood to win $25,000. Each qualifying player became eligible to play at the new Tournament of Champions.
The World Series of Poker continues to draw more interest each year as well as more participants. Stu Ungar and Johnny Moss are the only two players to have ever won the Main Event of the tournament three times. Johnny Moss was the original timed tournament winner and won by a secret ballot vote. Joe Cada became the youngest World Series of Poker champion, and Phil Hellmuth has won the most bracelets, eleven.
Poker fever has been spreading globally, as the World Series of Poker Europe was spawned in 2007 from the original tournament. The World Series of Poker has also been talking about venues around the world that might host a tournament, such as Egypt or even South Africa. Check out sanriot.com to find out more about global tournaments. There are many corporate sponsors of the World Series of Poker. For example, ESPN, Milwaukee's Best beer, Pepsi's energy drink SoBe, Degree antiperspirant, and more are official sponsors of the World Series of Poker. There are even licenses for video games, clothing, chips, and playing cards.