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History of WSOP
In 1970 the
World Series of Poker
(WSOP) officially launched. It was first held at Binion's Horseshoe and only had
7 players this year. Johnny Moss won the 1970 WSOP and took home a silver cup
for the prize. Since 1971 WSOP the winner has always took home a cash prize.
Throughout the years there have been several games that been added to the WSOP
but most of them have been either replaced or subtracted off the schedule, but
the 3 main events are Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hold'em, and Seven Card Stud. These
three games are played in 42 separate events. Bought now a days the winners get
a cash prize and a gold bracelet. The gold bracelet is just as big as getting a
SuperBowl NFL ring, if not bigger.
The WSOP poker legends throughout the years
have been Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan. They both have won 10 bracelets each
over the years. Phil Hellmuth is closely in second place with 9 bracelets. Todd
Brunson, Doyle Brunson’s son, won the golden bracelet in a Omaha event during
the 2005 WSOP, this makes them the only father and son to win as a team. There
have been quite a few amount of celebrities flocking to Poker Tournaments and
the WSOP, just to name a few who have won over the years are Patrick Bruel,
Jennifer Tilly, and Jan Sorensen.
The World Series of Poker started out very small, but this has changed
dramatically. Actually, there had a be a cap of only 8,000 players for the 2006
WSOP poker year because it was growing too fast to keep up with. The cause was
the coverage that Poker received through ESPN and other channels, not to mention
the popularity the celebrities brought. To get into the World Series of Poker
there is a buy in of $10,000. But with all the Online Poker rooms offering the
2008 WSOP satellites
it is possible to get in for free. The poker players must also qualify through
the lower poker events. These games can not only be played as WSOP satellites
but as actual events held in Las Vegas.
Past winners have also included Joseph Hachem, Greg Raymer, and Chris
Moneymaker. In 2003, the year that Chris Moneymaker won, there were only 839
entrants. This jumped the following year to over 2500, a little more than three
times the previous year. And as the number of players expands so does the top
prize. Of course, the hosting casino takes a percentage, usually 6-10%, of the
total buy-in amount.
|
Year |
Winner |
Prize US$ |
| 2007 |
Jerry Yang |
8,250,000 |
| 2006 |
Jamie Gold |
12,161,719 |
| 2005 |
Joseph
Hachem (Australia) |
7,500,000 |
 |
| 2004 |
Greg "Fossilman"
Raymer |
5,000,000 |
|
|
| 2003 |
Chris
Moneymaker |
2,500,000 |
|
|
| 2002 |
Robert
Varkonyi |
2,000,000 |
|
|
| 2001 |
Juan Carlos
"The Matador" Mortensen (Spain) |
1,500,000 |
|
|
| 2000 |
Chris
"Jesus" Ferguson |
1,500,000 |
|
|
| 1999 |
Noel Furlong
(Ireland) |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1998 |
Scotty
Nguyen |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1997 |
Stu Ungar |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1996 |
Huck Seed |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1995 |
Dan
Harrington |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1994 |
Russ
Hamilton |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1993 |
Jim Bechtel |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1992 |
Hamid
Dastmalchi |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1991 |
Brad
Daugherty |
1,000,000 |
|
|
| 1990 |
Mansour
Matloubi (Welsh) |
895,000 |
|
|
| 1989 |
Phil
Hellmuth, Jr. |
755,000 |
|
|
| 1988 |
Johnny Chan |
700,000 |
|
|
| 1987 |
Johnny Chan |
625,000 |
|
|
| 1986 |
Berry
Johnston |
570,000 |
|
|
| 1985 |
Bill Smith |
700,000 |
|
|
| 1984 |
Jack Keller |
660,000 |
|
|
| 1983 |
Tom McEvoy |
580,000 |
|
|
| 1982 |
Jack
"Treetop" Straus |
520,000 |
|
|
| 1981 |
Stu Ungar |
375,000 |
|
|
| 1980 |
Stu Ungar |
385,000 |
|
|
| 1979 |
Hal Fowler
|
270,000 |
|
|
| 1978 |
Bobby
Baldwin |
210,000 |
|
|
| 1977 |
Doyle "Texas
Dolly" Brunson |
340,000 |
|
|
| 1976 |
Doyle "Texas
Dolly" Brunson |
220,000 |
|
|
| 1975 |
Brian
"Sailor" Roberts |
210,000 |
|
|
| 1974 |
Johnny Moss |
160,000 |
|
|
| 1973 |
Walter "Puggy"
Pearson |
130,000 |
|
|
| 1972 |
"Amarillo
Slim" Preston |
80,000 |
|
|
| 1971 |
Johnny Moss |
30,000 |
|
|
| 1970 |
Johnny Moss |
Silver Cup |
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