TheBestPokerSite

WSOP – World Series of Poker

 The World Series of Poker is the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. It is held annually in Las Vegas, lasting just over a month. A prized bracelet is awarded to the winner of each of the fifty-plus events which include all the major varieties of poker.  The series culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold'em "Main Event", which in recent years has attracted entry fields numbering in the thousands, with the victor receiving a multi-million dollar prize.

The original World Series of Poker was started in 1968 by Tom Moore of San Antonio, Texas, at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno and was an invitational event. This inaugural event was won by Crandell Addington who went on to place in the top ten of the World Series of Poker Main Event eight times, a record that still stands as of 2007. The set of tournaments of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) was the brainchild of Las Vegas casino owner and poker player Benny Binion as well as his two sons Jack and Ted.

The WSOP is the premier series of poker championships and has continued to gain in popularity.  The amount of players participating has increased each year along with the explosion of on-line poker and Texas Hold ‘em’s overall popularity.  The WSOP now has a lot of younger players winning the Main Event instead of the “Poker Pros”.  Chris Moneymaker was the beginning of this big wave of young talent.  Below are some statistics from the last few years:

Year   Player                               1^st Place $    # participants

2003  Chris Moneymaker   $2,500,000          839

2004  Greg Raymer          $5,000,000          2,576

2005` Joe Hachem            $7,500,000          5,619

2006  Jamie Gold            $12,000,000           8773

2007  Jerry Yang              $8,250,000          6358

As you can see the number of players was down for 2007 – this is primarily due to the ban on gambling on-line with money through U.S. banks.  The other reason the first place money is down is they restructured the payouts to have more money payed out to the lower finishers with less money focused on the final table finishers.

All together there are 55 different tournaments of various kinds of poker games within the WSOP with the Main Event being No-Limit Texas Hold ‘em.  The buy-ins range from $1,000. to $10,000 for the Main Event.  There are many satellite tournaments where you can earn a seat into the WSOP.  Chris Moneymaker made his way into the 2003 WSOP from a $39. satellite – you could too – give it a try !!

We offer several WSOP items in our shopping cart in the “accessories” section.  We have a stainless steel winners bracelet – this is a high end product with diamond accents for $165.  We have a stainless steel poker chip pendant for $115. as well as a dog tag style of pendant/necklace , a money clip and cuff links.  We also have a fantastic book “52 Greatest Moments in World Series of Poker History ”.  This book is being exclusively offered on www.TheBestPokerSite.com  It was previously available on Amazon.com at the full list price of $39.95.  Now that we are offering it here we are selling it at $29.95 for a limited time.  This is a big book that is great for a conversation piece on a coffee table or other display.  You can get it for a friend or yourself or you can suggest someone buy a poker gift for you for your birthday, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day or Christmas !!