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The World Series of Poker is the most prestigious set of poker
tournaments in the world. Since 1970
(when it had seven entrants) it has been held annually at Binion's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since then it has grown in popularity every year. In
2000 there were 4780 entrants in various events. In 2004 there were over 13,000, including 2576 in the Championship event alone, triple the number in 2003. The $5,000,000
first prize and total prize pool of more than twenty-five million dollars for the Championship event is by far the largest for
any sporting event.
The Series consists of many events of different poker variants, each
of which awards the winner a gold bracelet signifying the world championship of that event. The final event of the series, widely
considered the world championship of the game of poker, is the $10,000 entry no-limit Texas hold'em championship, a week-long event. The winner of this event also has his picture installed in
the "Gallery of Champions" at Binion's.
History
Some historical highlights include Jack Strauss's win, which was a comeback after having lost all but one chip of his stake
early in the tournament, and Stu Ungar's third win 16 years after his repeat, having spent many of the intervening years out of
competition and addicted to cocaine.
Johnny Chan won the Championship
event in 1987 and 1988, then finished second to Phil Hellmuth in
1989.
Billy Baxter dominated the Deuce-to-seven draw poker event for many years, winning five bracelets and twice finishing second.
He has a sixth bracelet in Ace-to-five draw.
Players who have won bracelets in a draw poker event, a stud poker game, and a community card poker game are Mickey Appleman, Bobby Baldwin, Doyle Brunson (who has a total of eight
bracelets in six different events, and a second place finish in 13-card Chinese poker), Johnny Chan, Johnny
Moss, and Stu Ungar.
Chris Moneymaker won the main event in 2003 after qualifying through a $40 satellite tournament at the Poker Stars
online cardroom. Four players at the final table of the 2004 main event qualified through PokerStars as well, including the
winner, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer and second place finisher David Williams.
Problems at Binion's
On January 9, 2004, agents from the
United States Marshals Service, the
Internal Revenue Service and Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Dept. raided the Binion's Horseshoe and seized less than $1 million dollars of $1.9 million dollars owed
to the Culinary Workers Union. The Nevada Gaming Control Board also met in an Emergency session on January 10, 2004 and suspended the gaming
license of Binion's Horseshoe until such time as owners Becky Binion Behnen and her husband Nick can show that they have
sufficient funds to operate and cover all wagers and bills incurred by the property. On January 12, the Horseshoe was purchased by Harrah's Entertainment and then in turn shortly after was sold by Harrah's to MTR Gaming a West Virginia company who has retained Harrah's to manage the Horseshoe for a
five year period after which MTR's license to use the Horseshoe name will expire (Harrah's still owns the Horseshoe name) at
which time MTR will change the name of the property.
Harrah's has announced that the 2005 Series will be held at the Harrah's-owned Rio Casino, just off the Las Vegas strip, with
only the final day of the main event held downtown at the Horseshoe.
Champions
These are the winners of the final "championship" event, which is No-limit Texas Hold'em.
- 2004 Greg "Fossilman" Raymer ($5 million)
- 2003 Chris Moneymaker ($2.5 million)
- 2002 Robert Varkonyi ($2 million)
- 2001 Carlos Mortenson
- 2000 Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (The first time that first prize was $1.5 million)
- 1999 Noel Furlong
- 1998 Scotty Nguyen
- 1997 Stu Ungar
- 1996 Huck Seed
- 1995 Dan Harrington
- 1994 Russ Hamilton (Also won his weight in silver as a "WSOP Silver Anniversary" bonus)
- 1993 Jim Bechtel
- 1992 Hamid Dastmalchi
- 1991 Brad Daugherty (The first time that first prize was $1 million)
- 1990 Mansour Matloubi
- 1989 Phil Hellmuth, Jr. (Youngest ever winner)
- 1988 Johnny Chan
- 1987 Johnny Chan
- 1986 Berry Johnston
- 1985 Bill Smith
- 1984 Jack Kellar
- 1983 Tom McEvoy
- 1982 Jack "Treetop" Strauss
- 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 (Won in competition, as are all subsequent)
- 1970 Johnny Moss (Awarded by peer vote)
External links
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