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Poker
Tour
World Series Of Poker
Think you’ve got what
it takes to play with the best poker players in the world? The World
Series of Poker Circuit Tournament is coming soon to Harveys Lake Tahoe!
You just might win millions in cash AND a spot in a $2 Million Free-Roll
Tournament of Champions! You’ll also get the chance to appear on ESPN.
World Series of Poker
History
Though the World Series of Poker made its official debut in 1970, the
idea of the Horseshoe's annual tournament was actually conceived more
than two decades earlier.
In the summer of 1949, as the story goes, inveterate gambler Nicholas
"Nick the Greek" Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual
request - to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion
agreed to set up a match between Dandolos and the legendary Johnny Moss,
with the stipulation that the game would be played in public view.
During the course of the marathon, which lasted five months with breaks
only for sleep, the two men played every form of poker imaginable. Moss
ultimately won "the biggest game in town" and an estimated $2 million.
When the Greek lost his last pot, he arose from his chair, bowed
slightly, and uttered the now-famous words, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you
go." Dandolos then went upstairs to bed.
Though significant in its own way as a chapter in poker history, the
five-month marathon took on added importance to Benny Binion. He noted
that the public had gathered outside the casino each day to watch the
game with the fervor of dedicated sports fans, and he was amazed at the
attention the event had attracted. But it wasn't until 1970 that Binion
decided to re-create this excitement and stage a battle of poker giants
- dubbed the "World Series Of Poker" - to determine who would be worthy
of the title "World Champion." Some of the best players in the country
were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on top. The decision was
democratic in that the champion was decided by popular vote.
The following year, the winner was determined by a freezeout
competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one
player had all the chips. Moss again was declared the World Champion. In
1972, when Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston won the title and went on the
talk-show circuit, the WSOP began to gain a wider following.
It was only a year later that Binion participated in the Oral History
Project at the University of Nevada-Reno and discussed the World Series
with interviewer Mary Ellen Glass. "This poker game here gets us a lot
of attention," he told Glass. "We had seven players last year, and this
year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It's even
liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that." Binion
then paused, and as if gazing into the future, prophesied, "It will
eventually."
In the early 1980s, with the introduction of preliminary satellite
competitions with lower buy-ins, Binion's prophesy came to fruition and
the popularity of the World Series of Poker soared. But even Benny
Binion, who passed away on Christmas Day of 1989, would have had
difficulty foreseeing the enormous growth the Horseshoe's annual
tournament has experienced in the past decade or so.
In 1982, nine years after Mr. Binion participated in UNR's Oral History
Project, the tournament drew 52 entrants. Five years later, there were
2,141 participants, and the 2002 event attracted 7,595 entries. The
prize money has increased proportionately, from $7,769,000 a decade ago
to a staggering $19,599,230 in 2002. Whereas only 12 events, mostly
Texas hold'em and seven-card stud, were scheduled as recently as 1988,
the 2004 tournament offers 33 competitions that feature a wide variety
of games.
Today, the legacy Benny Binion left the poker community ranks as the
oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming
competition in the world, and no doubt it holds the promise of an even
brighter future. But equally important, The World Series of Poker has
touched thousands of lives over the years, affording talented players
the opportunity to follow their dreams, reach for the stars, and perhaps
one day achieve greatness in their chosen endeavor.
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