History

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has its roots in the late 1940s. As the story goes, a high states gambler by the name of Nicholas “Nick the Greek” Dandolos approached the owner of Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino with an idea to hold a marathon poker match up between himself and another great player of the time, Johnny Moss. Benny Binion agreed to allow his hotel and casino to be the host for the event and as the Moss and Dandolos’s poker marathon lasted for approximately five months, Binion noticed that his casino business prospered as a result of the large influx of people that had come to watch the high stakes match up. Moss defeated Dandolos in the event but the beginnings of the World Series of Poker had begun.

Evolution of a Tournament

In 1970, Benny Binion decided to host another high stakes tournament similar to the one played by Moss and Dandolos. The tournament was entitled the World Series of Poker and after many hand of poker had been played the winner was decided by a vote amongst the players. Johnny Moss once again emerged victorious and claimed the title of World Champion. The 1971 tournament saw a change in format. Gone was the voting process by which the 1970 winner was determined. In its place was an elimination style format in which the last player standing won the title. The early years saw small playing fields with tournaments generally having no more than 20 players. However, in the 1980s the amount of entries into the World Series of Poker grew dramatically. In 1987, there were 2,141 entries into the WSOP and in the year 2002 there were 7,595. As the number of participants increased, so did the prize money. In 2002, the prize money for the WSOP totaled $19,599,230, a sharp increases from the $7,769,000 that was handed out during the 1992 WSOP. The number of events is also increasing for the WSOP. In 1988 there were 12 events but in 2004 there were 33 events in all. Benny Binion only saw the beginnings of the growth of his tournament as he passed away in 1989, but the WSOP continues to grow as television giants such as ESPN have begun to broadcast WSOP events.