A Brief History of the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker
made its debut in 1970. It was established by Benny Binion in an attempt
to crown a "World Champion" and capitalize on the public's interest in watching
no limit poker. The World Series of Poker
has been held every year at Binion's Horseshoe Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas
ever since. The original World Series of Poker
games were invitational and 'winner takes all' as compared to today's game
(which is open to anyone with the $10,000 buy-in fee and the prize pool
is split amongst a number of the top finishers). The first World Series
of Poker
had only 7 players. In recent years that number has grown to over 7,500
entrants, with more than 800 playing in the main event - No Limit Texas
Holdem. The major change to the World Series of Poker
this decade has been the introduction of internet satellite tournaments,
which allow poker
players who have the skill, but not the $10,000, to join for the cost of
a satellite buy-in. Some online poker rooms have been known to offer freeroll
satellite tournaments as promotional gimmicks. In an unprecedented feat,
last year's winner of the World Series of Poker
garnered $2.5M after learning tournament poker
on the internet and winning his seat from a $40 buy-in at poker stars online
poker site.
Past Winners
2004 Greg Raymer $5M
2003: Chris Moneymaker $2.5M
2002: Robert Varkyoni $2.0M
2001: Carlos Mortensen
2000: Chris Ferguson
1999: Noel Furlong
1998: Scotty Nguyen
1997: Stu Unger
1996: Huck Seed
1995: Dan Harrington
1994: Russ Hamilton
1993: Jim Bechtel
1992: Hamid Datsmalchi
1991: Brad Daugherty
1990: Mansour Matloubi
1989: Phil Hellmuth
1988: Johnny Chan
1987: Johnny Chan
1986: Berry Johnston
1985: Bill Smith
1984: Jack Keller
1983: Tom McEvoy
1982: Jack Straus
1981: Stu Ungar
1980: Stu Ungar
1979: Hal Fowler
1978: Bobby Baldwin
1977: Doyle Brunson
1976: Doyle Brunson
1975: Sailor Roberts
1974: Johnny Moss
1973: Puggy Pearson
1972: Amarillo "Slim" Preston
1971: Johnny Moss
1970: Johnny Moss
