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Venue |
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 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. |
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| Background |
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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 |
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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 2001 there were 613 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
2002 event there will 33 seperate championships besides the final $10,000
event.
In 2001 a record-smashing 5738 entries paid $17,720,482 to play
in a month-long poker festival. In 2002 we reached $19,473,840 (-9% in like for
like tournaments) and the player total 7324 (-6% in like for like tournaments).
Of course this huge expansion is down to the explosion of the online gambling
scene. |
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| Schedule |
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| Date |
Event |
Buy-in |
| 16/04 |
Texas Hold'em
(limit) |
$2,000 |
| 17/04 |
7-Card Stud |
$1,500 |
| 18/04 |
Omaha Hi Lo (limit) |
$2,000 |
| 19/04 |
No Limit Hold'em |
$2,000 |
| 20/04 |
Pot Limit Hold'em |
$1,500 |
| 21/04 |
Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split
|
$1,500 |
| 22/04 |
Pot Limit Omaha |
$1,500 |
| 23/04 |
H.O.R.S.E. (Holdem, Omaha
Hi-Lo, Razz, 7-Stud & 7-Stud Hi-Lo) |
$2,000 |
| 24/04 |
1/2 Limit Hold`em - 1/2 7 Card
Stud |
$2,000 |
| 25/04 |
No-Limit Hold`em |
$2,500 |
| 26/04 |
Hold'em (limit) |
$2,500 |
| 27/04 |
7 Card Stud |
$2,500 |
| 28/04 |
Deuce to Seven No-Limit |
$5,000 |
| 29/04 |
No-Limit Hold`em |
$5,000 |
| 30/04 |
Omaha (Limit) |
$1,500 |
| 01/05 |
Limit Hold`em |
$1,500 |
| 02/05 |
Omaha Hi Lo (limit) |
$2,500 |
| 03/05 |
Pot-Limit Hold`em |
$2,000 |
| 04/05 |
Senior's No Limit Hold`em |
$1,000 |
| 05/05 |
Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo |
$2,500 |
| 06/05 |
No-Limit Hold`em |
$1,500 |
| 07/05 |
S.H.O.E. (7-Stud, Holdem, Omaha
Hi-Lo & 7-Stud Hi-Lo) |
$1,500 |
| 08/05 |
Pot-Limit Omaha |
$5,000 |
| 09/05 |
Limit Hold`em Shootout |
$1,500 |
| 10/05 |
Limit Hold`em |
$1,000 |
| 11/05 |
Ladies 1/2 Hold`em 1/2
Stud |
$1,000 |
| 12/05 |
Omaha Hi-Lo |
$1,500 |
| 13/05 |
Pot Limit Hold`em |
$3,000 |
| 14/05 |
7-Card Stud |
$5,000 |
| 15/05 |
No-Limit Hold`em |
$3,000 |
| 16/05 |
Pot Limit Omaha |
$2,500 |
| 17/05 |
Limit Hold`em |
$5,000 |
| 18/05 |
Ace to Five Draw Low-Ball |
$1,500 |
| 18/05 |
Media Charity No Limit
Hold`em |
$0 |
May 19-24 Monday-Friday
CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT TEXAS
HOLD'EM (NO-LIMIT)
BUY-IN $10,000 Based on 650 Entrants - First Place
$2,000,000 |
| 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).
There is a 6% deduction from all the events to be shared out amongst
casino staff as some sort of compensation for the loss of tips and the rest as
profit for Binions. Based on $20million entry fees that will be $1.2million.
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.
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| Results |
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| For the $10,000 championship event we will have daily reports from
Jesse May. For all other events see
Daily Report and
List of Results. |
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