| THIS YEARS WORLD
SERIES |
 |
|
Venue |
|
 The tournament has been held
every year from 1971 inside Binion's Horseshoe at 128 Fremont Street Las Vegas,
NV 89101. This to everyone in the know of Vegas is the heart of Downtown.
Downtown is the original Vegas, built close to the railroad station.
The Horseshoe was originally the the El Dorado Club but
Benny Binion bought that in 1951 when
it then became the Horseshoe Club and later the Binion's Horseshoe that is
known the world over. |
|
| Background |
|
|
Nicholas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos -
considered by many to be the finest poker player in the world during the
1950s—longed for some heads-up action. Benny called his old Dallas friend,
Johnny Moss, and the game was on. This legendary match graduated into
staggering stakes as the two lions took turns attacking and retreating. Crowds
seemed to come from nowhere, and the publicity cascaded. Many in the crowd
stuck around to try their luck at the casino games. The publicity, Benny noted,
was free. Johnny Moss ultimately won the five-month marathon dubbed "The
biggest game in town"—an estimated $2 million. When "The Greek" lost his
last pot, he rose from his chair, bowed slightly, and uttered the now-famous
phrase, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." Dandolos then went upstairs to bed.
The crowd buzzed and stayed.
The idea for a World Poker Championship
was born. But it wasn't until 1970 that Binion decided to re-create this
excitement and stage a battle of poker giants--dubbed the "World Series Of
Poker"--to determine who would be worthy of the title "World Champion." Some of
the best players in the country were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on
top. The decision was democratic in that the champion was decided by popular
vote.
The following year, the winner was determined by a freezeout
competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one player had
all the chips. Moss again was declared the World Champion. In 1972, when Thomas
"Amarillo Slim" Preston won the title and went on the talk-show circuit, the
WSOP began to gain a wider following. |
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| History |
|
|
Since "Amarillo Slim" won in 1972, the freezeout format has remained
with the championship event and the game is still No-Limit Holdem. The buy-in
has always been $10,000 and those 8 players in 1972 created a first prize of
$80,000 for Slim. Johnny Moss got $30,000 the year before. The Championship
event was "winner-takes-all" until 1978!
From 1972 into the nineties
the number of players steadily rose. Closing in on the millenium however saw a
massive increase. In 2000 there were 512 players in the main event creating a
first prize of $1,500,000.
In 1971 there was only the championship
event. In '72 a 5-card stud championship was introduced and in '73 there were
five individual championships other than the main event. In the forthcoming
2001 event there will 24 seperate championships besides the final $10,000
event.
In 2000 a record-smashing 4,922 entries paid $15,392,500 to play
in a month-long poker festival. In 2001 that record is expected to be beaten.
|
|
| Schedule |
|
|
| Date |
Event |
Buy-in |
| 21/04 |
Texas Hold'em (limit) |
$2,000 +
$100 |
| 22/04 |
Omaha
Hi-Lo Split |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 23/04 |
Seven
Card Stud |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 24/04 |
Texas
Hold'em (no-limit) |
$2,000 + $100
|
| 25/04 |
Omaha
(limit) |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 26/04 |
Seven
Card Stud Hi-Lo Split |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 27/04 |
Omaha
(pot-limit) Rebuys First Two Hours |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 28/04 |
S.H.O.E.
7 Stud + Hold'em + Omaha 8/B + Stud 8/B |
$2,000 + $100
|
| 29/04 |
Texas
Hold'em (limit) |
$3,000 + $120
|
| 30/04 |
Seven
Card Stud |
$2,500 + $100
|
| 01/05 |
Texas
Hold'em (pot-limit) |
$2,000 + $100
|
| 02/05 |
Razz
|
$1,500 + $90
|
| 03/05 |
Omaha
(pot-limit) Rebuys First Two Hours |
$2,500 + $100
|
| 04/05 |
Seven
Card Stud Hi-Lo Split |
$2,500 + $100
|
| 05/05 |
Ace to
Five Draw Lowball |
$1,500 + $90
|
| 06/05 |
Omaha
Hi-Lo Split |
$2,500 + $100
|
| 07/05 |
Deuce to
Seven Rebuys First Three Hours |
$5,000 + $150
|
| 07/05 |
"The
Seniors Championship" Texas Hold'em (no limit) |
$1,000 + $75
|
| 08/05 |
Texas
Hold'em (pot-limit) |
$3,000 + $120
|
| 09/05 |
Seven
Card Stud |
$5,000 + $150
|
| 10/05 |
Texas
Hold'em (no-limit) |
$3,000 + $120
|
| 11/05 |
Omaha
Hi-Lo Split |
$5,000 + $150
|
| 12/05 |
Texas
Hold'em (limit) |
$5,000 + $150
|
| 13/05 |
Women's
Championship (1/2 Hold'em 1/2 Stud) |
$1,000 + $75
|
May 14-18 Monday-Friday
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT TEXAS HOLD'EM (NO-LIMIT)
BUY-IN $10,000 Based on 450
Entrants - First Place $1,500,000 |
| ALL TOURNAMENTS BEGIN AT
NOON |
Texas Hold'em has
been the major game since the WSOP inception but many other poker variants have
been played as regular individual championships. Some odd tournaments have been
played in the past, like Chinese Poker and Mixed Doubles tournaments but the
main poker variants fill out what has become a month long event.
The
buy-in differences give an extra level to each discipline beside the betting
variations. So for Texas Hold'em there are 9 unique tournaments, 3 limit, 2
pot-limit and 4 no-limit (including the Seniors and the Championship).
The amount seen next to the buy-in figure is the registration fee which
is one way that Binions are able to make money from holding WSOP. There is also
a 3% deduction from the Championship event ($10,000 event) to be shared out
amongst casino staff as some sort of compensation for the loss of tips during
the long event. If 600 people enter, thats $180,000.
The Championship
event decides who is the World Champion Poker Player and is this year run over
five days, previously four. Each day reduces the field until the final six come
out to play on the last day. A crowded room will watch and listen as the
tournament director calls each hand and often each card in a suspense build up
to the final $1,500,000 hand.
Each of the disciplines,
Holdem,
Omaha,
7-Card Stud,
7-Card Hi-Lo,
Omaha 8/B,
Razz,
Deuce-to-Seven and
Ace-to-Five can be
found in the major games section.
The winner of every event gets a
coveted gold bracelet and the finalsits all get leather WSOP jackets.
|
|
| Champions |
|
|
| Most Titles at the World Series |
| Johnny Moss (8)
|
Doyle Brunson (8)
|
Phil Hellmuth (7)
|
Billy Baxter (6)
|
| |
| Most World Championships |
| Johnny Moss (3)
|
Stu Ungar (3) |
Doyle Brunson (2)
|
Johnny Chan (2)
|
| |
| Most often placed (received
money) |
| Berry Johnston (40)
|
Mike Sexton (36)
|
T.J. Cloutier (35)
|
Dewey Tomko (33)
|
| |
| All Time Top Money Winners at the WSOP |
| 1. Phil
Hellmuth Jr. |
$2,844,845 (32 cashes) |
6. Erik
Seidel |
$2,037,401 (26)
|
| 2. T.J.
Cloutier |
$2,818,046 (35)
|
7. Berry
Johnston |
$1,777,959 (21)
|
| 3. Johnny
Chan |
$2,797,134 (23)
|
8. Doyle
Brunson |
$1,692,244 (16)
|
| 4. Stu Ungar
|
$2,081,478 (16)
|
9. Huck Seed
|
$1,863,647 (14)
|
| 5. Chris
Ferguson |
$2,038,822 (22)
|
10. Hamid
Dastmalichi |
$1,600,700 (10)
|
| |
| The World Champions |
| 1970 - Johnny
Moss |
1979 - Hal Fowler
|
1988 - Johnny
Chan |
1997 - Stu Ungar
|
| 1971 - Johnny
Moss |
1980 - Stu Ungar
|
1989 - Phil
Helmuth, Jr. |
1998 - Scotty
Nguyen |
| 1972 - Amarillo "Slim" Preston |
1981 - Stu Ungar
|
1990 - Mansour
Matloubi |
1999 - Noel
Furlong |
| 1973 - Puggy
Pearson |
1982 - Jack
Straus |
1991 - Brad
Daugherty |
2000 - Chris
Ferguson |
| 1974 - Johnny
Moss |
1983 - Tom
McEvoy |
1992-Hamid Dastmalchi |
2001-Carlos
Mortenson |
| 1975 - Sailor
Roberts |
1984 - Jack
Keller |
1993 - Jim
Bechtel |
|
| 1976 - Doyle
Brunson |
1985 - Bill Smith
|
1994 - Russ
Hamilton |
|
| 1977 - Doyle
Brunson |
1986 - Berry
Johnston |
1995 - Dan
Harrington |
|
| 1978 - Bobby
Baldwin |
1987 - Johnny
Chan |
1996 - Huck Seed
|
|
|
|
| Famous Faces |
|
|
T.J.
Cloutier |
Johnny
Chan |
Chris
Ferguson |
|
|
| Results |
|
|
The first event saw a 23% increase in players over last year.
Carrying that through to the Championship event we predict 630 players!
For the $10,000 championship event we will have daily reports from
Jesse May. Even before the action gets going
we'll report the sights and sounds from the biggest show on earth. The British
hopefuls and the established American stars will shed light on their hopes. See
Detailed Results. |
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