WSOP Main Event Looms Large

The World Series of Poker Main Event is nearly upon us so we thought we’d take a look at just what makes this event so special with a brief retrospective through time at some of the legends of the WSOP.

The World Series of Poker Main Event originated as an event called the texas Gambling Reunion held in 1969 in Reno. In 1970 the birth of the World Series of Poker was complete as Benny Binion took this idea and made the World Series at Binion’s Horseshoe casino. It started as a series of cash games featuring multiple variants of the game and was won by Johnny Moss who was elected by his peers as the inaugural World Champion of Poker.

The real explosion for the World Series of Poker came in the 21^st Century after a period of slow but steady growth. With the popularity of internet poker growing Chris Moneymaker in 2003 won the Main Event as an online qualifier from PokerStars and catapulted the tournament into the headlines and the minds of millions around the world.

The following year saw an increase of over 300% in the field for the Main Event and this was to continue rising until 2006 when gambling restrictions started to curtail the growth. In 2003 when Moneymaker won there were 839 entrants but by 2006 when Jamie Gold won $12,000,000 for finishing first there were 8,773 entrants which marked a ten fold increase in attendance in just three years.

In recent years the numbers have remained between six and seven thousand and with a field this size many professionals are dubious to the virtue of the tournament often stating that the previously named $50k H.O.R.S.E. tournament which is now the Players Championship is a much better barometer for the skill of a player. In fields so large due to the relatively affordable buy-in – unchanged since 1972 – professionals feel there is too much luck involved to reach the latter stages – though this has not prevented Phil Ivey and English pro James Akenhead getting there in 2009.

A few records from the World Series of Poker:

Most Main Event Bracelets: Stu Ungar and Johnny Moss – 3

Youngest Main Event Champion: Joe Cada – 21 years, 11 months and 21 days

Most bracelets: Phil Hellmuth – 11

Most cashes: Phil Hellmuth – 78

Most final tables: Phil Hellmuth – 42

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