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World Series Of Poker
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The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is undoubtedly the most prestigious tournament in the world of professional poker. It is unequalled by any other poker event in the world today and is considered by all to be the ultimate achievement in any poker player’s career – to be crowned the coveted title of World Champion.
The World Series of Poker was founded by Lester Ben Binion, affectionately known as ‘Benny’, who in 1951 opened what became the world famous Benny Binion’s Horseshoe casino. Prior to this in 1949, famous gambler Nicholas ‘Nick the Greek’ Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual request – to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion arranged a match between Dandolos and Johnny Moss, a poker marathon which lasted five months with breaks only for sleep. The two men played every form of poker imaginable. The poker marathon (which Johnny Moss eventually won) inspired Benny Binion to later start the World Series of Poker because he noticed big crowds gathering outside the casino every day to watch the game. Binion decided to start a friendly tournament in 1970 with a few good friends to see who was the best of them, and so it was in 1970 the first World Series of Poker took place with seven players, the winner Johnny Moss was elected by his peers as the World Champion of Poker and received a silver cup as a prize.
Today the World Series of Poker is an annual event running for five weeks between April and May, the main event of which lasts for five days. Every year the number of participants continues to grow – anyone aged over 21 can enter and compete. Events played during the tournament include: no limit hold ‘em, limit hold ‘em, seven card stud, Omaha hi/lo, H.O.R.S.E, seven card razz, seven card split and the now famous $10, 000 Championship Event. The winner of each event receives a precious (and most coveted) WSOP solid gold bracelet. Past winners include Doyle Brunson who is the proud owner of 10 WSOP bracelets, Johnny Chan (10 bracelets), Phil Hellmuth (9 bracelets), Phil Ivey (5 bracelets), Ted Forrest (5 bracelets) and Kathy Liebert (one bracelet).
Today, over 30 years since that first tournament, the World Series of Poker is the tournament that every poker player strives to enter, after all everybody wants to be the top of their game and you can’t get much higher than World Champion. The World Series of Poker is a well renowned poker event with players travelling the globe to try and prove they are the best of the best. And it’s not just the players that love the tournament, The World Series of Poker has a huge following of fans wishing to catch all of the action and so the WSOP is televised nationally in the USA and shown internationally with the maximum amount of press coverage.
Sadly for some, 2004 marked the end of an era for the Binion family and their ownership of the casino (Binion’s Horseshoe) and also the World Series of Poker. In 2004 the casino was purchased by Harrah’s Entertainment who renamed the casino simply ‘Binion’s’, and announced that the 2005 series would take place at the Harrah’s owned Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. So although the era of Benny Bunion may be over, the spirit of what started as a friendly tournament between a group of friends continues to capture poker players and fans throughout the world.
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