World Series Of Poker Complete Guide

Opened annually at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas, the World Series of Poker is the world's premier poker event featuring all of poker's most prominent players. For more than 50 years, the WSOP has seen many dramas and new poker stars emerge. When it comes to the WSOP, poker enthusiasts have many questions: "how does WSOP work?", "who has won the most WSOP bracelets?", "what do red shoes mean in WSOP", "who is 2019 WSOP winner", "how did Phil Helmut manage to achieve such success at the age of 24?", "how has internet technology influenced the main poker event?".

So, the answers to all these questions and many more are presented below in this post.

WSOP Features and Cost of Participation in the Main Poker Event

To make our story consistent, let's focus on what is WSOP in general. This is the event every poker fan dreams of attending. With such great players at the tables as Negreanu, Helmut and Ivey, the poker festival opens every year at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. In all, the WSOP includes 74 events with different buy-ins and game formats. This means that every player can choose a tournament with the rules and conditions that meet their preferences. Remarkably, all participants in any of the 74 tournaments within the WSOP start the game with the same number of chips. The last player left at the table is the winner, who not only gets the top prize, but also the WSOP bracelet.

The cost to enter the main poker event is $10,000. There are also side tournaments with a lower entry fee starting at $400. In addition, some events offer rebuys, so - for some fee - you can get back in the game if you lose. If you are a high stakes player looking to get in on the action, you can try your hand at the Big One for One Drop event - the tournament with the highest buy-in of $1,000,000.

Top 10 Memorable Events in WSOP History

We have compiled a list of the most iconic events that have taken place during the 50 years of the main poker tournament:

• The WSOP was born in 1970 when the first official tournament was hosted by Benny Binion, a prominent poker player. Remarkably, held at Benny Binion's Horseshoe Casino, this tournament, with an entry fee of $5,000, had only six participants. In the final vote, it was Johnny Moss who was declared the winner of this tournament. Each year, the event attracted more and more players, and the prize pool also increased.
• In the mid-1970s, the expression "the hand of Doyle Brunson" swept the poker community. At 87 years old, Doyle Brunson can now boast 10 WSOP bracelets (tied with Johnny Chan and Phil Ivey for the second-most bracelets won). Doyle was also the first poker player to win a major pot worth over $1 million. One of the WSOP main event winners, he has beaten his rivals at the final table twice in a row with a 10-2.
• It was 1982 when the famous expression "as long as you've got a chip and a chair..." appeared. That means you have a chance to keep fighting for the top prize, even if you've only got one chip left. Just remember the story of how Jack "Treetop" Straus was able to recover from one chip and win the main event to see that the expression does have a practical meaning.
• 1987 and 1988 for the WSOP were marked by the victory of the "Oriental Express," an outstanding player with Asian roots who destroyed his opponents at the table one by one.
• It was 1989, when the "Oriental Express" was on its way to a hat trick, but "some young guy" got in his way. Unfortunately, that guy turned out to be 24-year-old Phil Helmut, who won the 1989 World Series of Poker title.
• If you are asked to name women in poker, Annie Duke, Vanessa Selbst or Liv Bory are likely to come to your mind. However, it was Barbara Enright who made the final table of the WSOP in 1995. Although she only came in 5th place, she paved the way for many women to reach the event, which is still dominated by male poker players.
• In 1997, Stu Ungar became the first player to win three WSOP titles. Having beaten his demons and drug addiction, this card-game prodigy managed to win over $30 million in his career, but he came to the 1997 WSOP penniless. After spending a full 24 hours collecting the $10,000 buy-in, he started shakily. However, the next game day he showed off his outstanding poker strategy in all its glory, destroying one opponent after another. When he faced John Strzemp at the final table, Stu easily knocked him out.
• 2003 was the year the online poker boom was launched. Chris Moneymaker, an accountant and amateur poker player, entered a $39 satellite tournament and made it to the Main Event where he won $2.5 million. Since then, poker enthusiasts' attention to online poker has skyrocketed.
• In 2007, the WSOP Europe was held, the first Main Poker Event outside of America. Notably, the winner of WSOP Europe was Annette Obrestadt, an 18-year-old girl who used aggressive poker strategies to succeed.
• In 2012, the Big One for One Drop was launched with a prize pool of $18 million. Able to pull off the greatest trick of his poker career, Antonio Esfandiari won the major pot despite having Phil Helmut, Brian Rust, and Sam Trickett at the final table.

Notably, the WSOP Momentum feature was recently announced. So, what is momentum (WSOP)? Every time a player plays a hand, he/she gains a momentum and receives new Bracelet Points for every winning hands. However, if you leave the table or select another table, you lose momentum.

WSOP Main Event Winners Over the Last 10 Years

Who Can Participate in the WSOP?

Surprisingly, the World Series of Poker is open to anyone 21 years of age or older. In addition, everyone who wants to participate in the Main Event must have enough money for the buy-in. The fact that the final table can be played by professionals as well as beginners makes this event really exciting and entertaining. If you don't have much money, you can try to replicate Chris Moneymaker's success by joining the sattelite to get to the Main Event with a minimal investment.