First appearing in 1970, the World Series of Poker are this year celebrating the fifty-annual series. While the games originally began when a small group of seven players were brought to the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas for a single game in which the winner was determined by a secret ballot, today’s world poker series consists of more and more events across the globe every year. As of 2019, there were 90 bracelet events, whereas there were just 25 in the year 2000.
As a commemoration of the fiftieth series of World Poker, this year there will be some special awards, including ‘Best overall WSOP performance’, ‘WSOP’s favourite bad boy’ and ‘WSOP’s most memorable TV hand’. In light of this, let’s look back at some of the best moments in the World Series of Poker so far.
What is the format of the Word Poker Series?
The Word Poker Series has been growing each year, in which there are now a record number of tournaments, compared to just one when It began fifty years ago. Depending on the number of participants and how much buy-in there is, the winner will receive a cash prize and a World Series poker bracelet. The winner of the overall tournament will receive a multi million-dollar cash prize and a bracelet, as well as becoming known as the World Champion of Poker.
The giving of bracelets has been customary since 1976, in which before this, players were given a bracelet before the games had taken place.
Growth of the event
The World Series of Poker may have began in Las Vegas, however, after there was a record amount of growth with over 52 participants by 1982, the WSOP introduced satellite tournaments which took place locally in different regions of the world. The winners of this tournament would make it on to the next, and eventually the final tournament. While the World Series of Poker has grown in both size and popularity since the tournaments began back in 1970, there was a peak in the amount of people who registered to take part in 2006, with 8,773 players wanting to take part.
After this event, a new gambling legislation was brought in which restricted the number of online participants in the event. While there was a decline in the next year’s world series after this legislation was brought in, it picked up again the next year and has remained as one of the most popular gaming tournaments in the world today. In fact today, it has become so popular that there are now also a series of tournaments that do not award a poker bracelet – which is considered the most honourable prize.
The best moments
- Chris Moneymaker
Chris Moneymaker is an American Poker player that won the World Series of Poker in 2003. He is best known for becoming the first World Poker Champion to have qualified at an online poker site, setting history in the WSOP books.
At the time of winning the tournament in 2003, the Tennessee born player accountant was actually considered an amateur player, however his performance later proved that it’s entirely possible to go up against the big players and come out with a victory. After defeating Sammy Farha in what is know as the ‘bluff of the century’ where Moneymaker managed to get Farha to fold, Moneymaker changed the history of the WSOP.
What’s most memorable about this performance is that Moneymaker’s poker background was developed by playing in an online poker room. It goes to show that with a lot of practice and determination, anything is possible.
- Johnny Chan
The 1988 tournament that featured Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel is best known for later appearing in the movie Rounder’s, featuring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. In the movie, Damon’s character – Mike McDermott was seen to be watching the tournament between Chan and Seidel as they went head to head.
While Seidel was already known as a WSOP champion, Chan had his work cut out for him in this tournament as a new comer. After going up against the WSOP Hall of Fame champion, Chan managed to get Seidel to fall for his tactics and got him to go all in, before he was crowned champion.
- Jennifer Tilly
Just fifteen years ago in 2005, the World Series of Poker experienced another historic moment as Academy Award Winning Actress, Jennifer Tilly, not only took part in the World Series of Poker but also won. After devoting most of her life to the theatre, Tilly won the Women’s Series and walked away with a renowned WSOP poker bracelet.
Since the tournament in 2005, Tilly has participated in a number of high stakes games that were televised and has managed to walk away with some impressive cash prizes. Tilly’s partner, Phil Laak, is also known as one of the most accomplished poker players in history.
While this year’s events may have been delayed, the fiftieth WSOP has certainly given us a reason to look back on some of the greatest moments in WSOP history.
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