The World Series of Poker is held annually in Las Vegas and is the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. It lasts over one month and its main event, which in recent years has attracted players numbering the thousands, is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Holdem tournament. The winners receive a platinum & diamond bracelet together with the largest cash prize in tournament poker.

The original World Series of Poker started with “The Texas Gamblers Reunion” in 1968 by Tom Moore of San Antonio, Texas, at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno.

The set of tournaments that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) would evolve into was the project of Las Vegas casino owner and poker player Benny Binion, as well as his two sons Jack and Ted.

In 1970, the first WSOP took place at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino and was played as a freeze-out. Seven poker players posted a $5,000 entry fee. Johnny Moss won the winner-take-all prize and, therefore, retained his title as world champion.

Since then the WSOP has grown steadily each year until it simply exploded in 2003 when the amateur poker player Chris Moneymaker (perfect name) won the main-event. Overnight, many professional poker players became celebrities as Poker had captured the public’s imagination, and the World Series became the most prestigious set of poker tournaments in the world.

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