The World Series of Poker in Focus

The world series of Poker is the largest collection of poker matches in the world. Held yearly in Las Vegas for more than one month, the winner in each of the more than fifty events involving all the major variations of poker gets to win a bracelet. The culminating event is the $10,000 No-Limit Hold-em with the winner getting multi-million dollars prize money.

This world championship poker event was started by Tom Moore in 1968 by Tom Moore of Texas at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno. Entry to the event was by invitation. The pioneer event was won by Crandell Addington who made it to the top ten in the Main Event eight times, a record still unmatched as of 2007. The matches that led to the World Series of Poker were the idea of Benny Binion, a casino magnate and poker player, and his sons Jack and Ted.

The inaugural WSOP played at Binion's Horseshoe in 1970 consisted of cash games such as Five Card Stud, Razz, Deuce to Seven Low-Ball Draw, and Texas Hold'em. The following year, the current format was adopted. The 1970 winner Johnny Moss was chosen by his colleagues as the inaugural World Champion of Poker and was awarded a silver cup.

Since 1971, all the events of the WSOP were money tournaments. Two years later, Five-Card Stud was included in the Main Draw of No Limit Texas Hold'em. New events were included and scrapped. The winner per event received a gold bracelet on top of the top prize money which is paid in cold cash.

Every year, the number of entries in the WSOP continues to grow and has recently exploded. The world championship poker event attracted 8,773 entries in 2006 from 839 in 2003. This was called the "Moneymaker Effect," derived from Chris Moneymaker, an unheralded first timer, who bagged the top prize in the Main Event after qualifying from a satellite tournament for just $39. Another factor that led to the increase in participants is the televised coverage of the WSOP.

As in most tournaments, the host casino will collect a certain percentage from the buy-in fee and then divides the remaining amount. Thus the more entries, the higher the cash prize. In 2005, the winner got $7.5 million.

Since 1972, the winner of the Main Event was declared World Champion. Likewise, they get the distinction of being included in the Gallery of Champions. However, recently, it was the winner of the newly-included H.O.R.S.E. (Hold 'em, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Eight-or-better) is the yardstick for determining the top player.