The World Series of Poker and a Little History
Even though poker was a game not often featured by casinos prior to the 70s, the first WSOP event took place in 1968. The reasons why poker had not been considered a popular or even reasonable casino game, were obvious back then: cheating ran rampant in everything gambling-related, and nobody could make sure cheaters were kept out of games. The 1968 event in Reno’s Holiday Hotel and Casino was made possible by the fact that entry was only available on an invitational basis. Only trustworthy people had been invited by organizer Tom Moore, and the event was won by eventual record setter Crandell Addington (he went on to place in the top 10 of no less than 10 WSOP main events).
The real “father” of the WSOP is Benny Binion though. The current structure of the event as a set of tournaments representing several different popular poker variants was his idea. Nowadays, the WSOP lasts a little over a month, and it is a true poker-fiesta where some of the biggest names of the professional poker world rub elbows with anyone who can afford to pay the buy-in(s). For each WSOP tournament victory, bracelets are awarded. Phil Hellmuth Jr is the player to possess the most such bracelets, eleven, followed up close by poker legend Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan.
It was due to the Binions’ marketing efforts and the strides the industry made in keeping cheaters at bay, that the WSOP began growing in popularity from one year to another. Not only did Benny Binion, and his sons Ted and Jack make the event itself world-famous this way, their contribution in the launching of the game of poker in general and Texas Holdem in particular towards becoming a mass-phenomenon of the 21st century is also unquestionable.
1971 was the first year the WSOP would offer cash prizes, and John Moss was the first player to be rewarded this way. He earned $30,000. From there on, this practice has taken off, and the main event prize money reached an astonishing $12.000.000 in 2006, when Jamie Gold pocketed the money. To further illustrate the rise in popularity the game has gone through: in 1970, there were 7 participants, and that number would bottom at 6 the following year. In 2006, there were 8,773 players in the main event, hence the incredible prize-pool and humongous first-prize. Even if one is to take the effects of the inflation into account, the 2006 first prize is a huge leap in quantity from the 1970 one.
2004 was the year the effects of online poker and that of different televised events (like the WPT) began to sink in with the poker community. This explains the leap from 839 players in 2003 to 2,576 in 2004. Some attribute this to the fact that the 2003 main event winner, Chris Moneymaker, had earned his main event seat through online poker qualifiers. Not only did online poker itself experience a serious boom on account of this turn of events, but for the following year, thousands more people set out to try to replicate the “moneymaker” effect. Sure enough, another online poker qualifier, Greg Raymer took the prize that year, (having earned his seat via the same poker room Moneymaker had used a year before) creating a virtual online poker hysteria, and setting the industry on fire.
Ever since, legislative restrictions have quelled the enthusiasm of the public somewhat (quite visibly after the 2006 UIGEA), but the effects of these restrictions were meager, and given the fact that they couldn’t hurt the WSOP directly through any means, the future of the world’s biggest live poker event looks assured.
As any highly successful enterprise, the WSOP is set to expand: the WSOPE has just seen its first edition in September last year (2007) and was a huge success with the public. Other locations the WSOP is considering reaching out to, are South Africa and Egypt.
Why is online poker considered superior to live poker when it comes to the odds it offers? Because of promotions, bonuses and rewards like rakeback and cashback. Poker rakeback alone can turn a slight loser into a winner.