WORLD SERIES OF POKERFrom One Table to the World Stage
In the late 1960s, casino magnate Benny Binion aspired to hold an event pitting the best poker players in the world against each other at the poker table. Inspired by similar “invite-only” events that ran at the time, Binion began laying the groundwork for what would eventually become the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The iconic Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas hosted the very first WSOP in 1970. Known for its rich history and vibrant poker culture, this casino laid the foundation for what would become the World Series of Poker, bringing together legendary players and setting the stage for decades of poker excellence.
Inviting Johnny Moss, "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Sailor Roberts, Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson, Crandell Addington, and Carl Cannon to compete in the inaugural event in 1970, the seven participants played in a no-limit hold’em cash game, and afterwards were tasked with voting on who they thought was the best player.
Famously, the first round of voting resulted in each player voting for themselves. Once requested to vote on who they thought was the second-best player in the event, Johnny Moss was selected as the very first WSOP Main Event champion.
During the early days of the WSOP, Benny Binion famously told Doyle Brunson “You know, Doyle, someday we may have a hundred people in this tournament”. While Binion’s prediction would prove accurate, the casino titan likely had no idea just how large the event would eventually grow.
What started as a field of seven in 1970 has grown to an event that draws thousands of poker players from all over the world every year. The most recent WSOP Main Event in 2025 drew a field of 9,735, the third-largest turnout in the history of the tournament.
With the lasting prominence of the biggest poker tournament of the year, the 2026 WSOP Main Event may be the largest in the event’s history.
In 1972, the WSOP established the $10,000 buy-in for the Main Event and made it a freezeout tournament, two stipulations that stand to this day. Famously, Benny Binion covered half of the buy-in for all 8 players that participated in the event.
Prior to the introduction of gold bracelets, WSOP event winners received grey trophies for their accomplishment.
In 1976, the WSOP would begin awarding tournament winners gold bracelets, considered by many to be the most prized trophies in all of poker.
Throughout the years, many famed jewelers have lent their talents to create timeless WSOP bracelets. Jostens Inc., the current manufacturer of WSOP trophies, creates hundreds of bracelets and rings for event winners at not only the WSOP, but also WSOP Paradise, WSOP Europe, and the WSOP Circuit.
The most prized bracelet of them all, the WSOP Main Event bracelet stands above all others in size and value. The 2025 WSOP Main Event bracelet won by Michael Mizrachi is valued at $500,000.
While all-time poker great Johnny Chan won his first WSOP bracelet in a Limit Hold’em event during the 1985 WSOP, his greatest poker accomplishment would begin two years later.
Winning the WSOP Main Event is an incredible achievement, but Chan would do the near impossible, going back-to-back to win the WSOP Main Event in 1987 and again in 1988. The last poker player to pull off back-to-back victories in the WSOP Main Event, Chan achieved poker immortality by continuing to build on his historic WSOP success, becoming the first player to win 10 WSOP bracelets in 2005.
One of the greatest poker players of all time, Chan’s success on the felt transcended poker, as he famously made a cameo in the 1998 poker film Rounders, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The final hand from the 1986 WSOP Main Event, in which Chan defeated Erik Seidel to win the title, was included in the film.
Just when it seemed Johnny Chan would win his third WSOP Main Event in a row, a 24 year-old Phil Hellmuth would deny Chan the three-peat as he became the youngest poker player at the time to win poker’s greatest title.
Since 1989, The Poker Brat has gone on to win 17 WSOP bracelets, and stands as the decisive all-time leader in WSOP victories.
In 1995, Barbara Enright made poker history by becoming the first woman to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. Although she finished in 5th place, Enright solidified herself in WSOP history, and has added three WSOP bracelets to her list of accolades.
Regarded by many as one of the most gifted poker players of all time, Stu “The Kid” Ungar won the 1980 and 1981 WSOP Main Event, joining fellow Poker Hall of Fame inductees Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson as the only poker players at the time to not only win multiple Main Events, but also do so back-to-back years.
Despite Ungar’s success and natural talent on the felt, personal struggles with substance led to a career of great highs but also dramatic lows, as most of the money Ungar won would disappear to fund his addictions.
Essentially broke by the mid-90’s, Poker Hall of Famer Billy Baxter would loan Ungar $10,000 to enter the 1997 WSOP Main Event. Completing one of, if not the greatest career comeback in poker history, Ungar went on to win the 1997 Main Event, joining Johnny Moss as the only two players to win the event 3 times.
During the 2003 WSOP in what may be the most famous Main Event in history, Chris Moneymaker defeated poker pro Sammy Farha heads-up to win $2.5 million and his lone career bracelet.
A recreational poker player who won his $10,000 buy-in through a $86 online satellite tournament, Moneymaker’s Main Event win inspired people around the world to take up the game of poker both online and live, triggering the Poker Boom of the early 2000’s.
Following Chris Moneymaker’s historic win in the 2003 WSOP Main Event, and the “Moneymaker Effect” that came after, the 2004 WSOP Main Event saw record turnouts that not only saw the event draw more than 1,000 entrants for the first time ever, but tripled the record turnout from the previous year.
From the momentum spurred by Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP Main Event in 2003 and the ensuing Poker Boom, the WSOP saw record attendance year after year, culminating in the largest tournaments in the event's history.
In 2006, the WSOP Main Event broke records by hosting its largest field size as well as its largest first-place prize, with 8,773 total entrants producing a top prize worth $12 million.
Displaying one of the greatest hot streaks in WSOP history, TV producer Jamie Gold would cruise through the entirety of the tournament, capturing the 2006 WSOP Main Event title and the largest prize in the event’s history.
In an effort to capitalize on popularity and boost viewership, from 2008 to 2016, the WSOP Main Event would play out during the yearly summer series, but would hold the final table of the event four months later in November. The group of players who reached the final table each year would be dubbed the November Nine, contributing to a significant chapter in WSOP and televised poker history.
The debut of the delayed WSOP Main Event final table in 2008 proved a resounding success, with ratings of the televised event increasing 49 percent from the previous year and garnering 2.4 million viewers, totals that outperformed ESPN’s average viewership of both the NBA and MLB.
In 2009, Michigan native and professional poker player Joe Cada became the youngest poker player in history to win the WSOP Main Event. A successful online player who got his start at only 15 years old, Cada made his first trip to the WSOP in 2009 and left Las Vegas as the youngest world champion in poker history.
Unseating 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate as the youngest WSOP Main Event champion, who at age 22 broke the previously held record by Phil Hellmuth (1989 WSOP Main Event winner at age 24) that stood for nearly 20 years, Cada made history while receiving over $8 million for his efforts.
Continuing to build upon his poker legacy after winning “The Big One”, Cada has won three more WSOP bracelets since his historic victory in 2009, and has over $14 million in career WSOP tournament winnings.
Acknowledging the prominence and impact online poker had on the industry, in 2015 the WSOP offered its first online WSOP bracelet events.
The $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Online WSOP Bracelet event broke new ground for the WSOP, allowing poker players across the state of Nevada to compete for WSOP glory from the comfort of their laptops and computers.
Drawing 905 total entrants, the final six players in the first online WSOP bracelet event played out the conclusion of the tournament live at the former home of the WSOP: The Rio in Las Vegas.
Utilizing years of success and experience playing online poker, professional poker player Anthony Spinella won the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, receiving $197,743 and becoming the first player to win a WSOP bracelet via an online tournament.
Since Spinella’s lone WSOP bracelet victory in 2015, he has gone on to win five WSOP Circuit rings and accrue over $1.7 million in WSOP tournament winnings.
Hosting poker’s biggest yearly event for nearly two decades, The Rio in Las Vegas would host its final summer WSOP in 2021.
Moving to the Horseshoe and Paris in 2022, for the first time in the event’s history, the WSOP would be held on the Las Vegas Strip.
The official home of the WSOP, poker players can find the Poker Hall of Fame within the Horseshoe, just outside of the WSOP Hall of Fame Poker Room.
Every summer since 2022, thousands of poker players from all over the world have made the trip to Las Vegas to compete for WSOP bracelets and life-changing money at Horseshoe and Paris.
Nearly 53 years after the inception of the WSOP, the largest WSOP Main Event in history took place during the second WSOP held at the Horseshoe and Paris in 2023. Drawing 10,043 total entrants and generating a $94 million prize pool, the 2023 WSOP Main Event broke records for having the largest field and first-place prize in history.
Winning the historic 2023 WSOP Main Event, American professional poker player Daniel Weinman took home the record-breaking $12,100,000 top prize and his second career WSOP bracelet.
In 2024, the WSOP Main Event would continue setting records, outperforming the previous Main Event with 10,112 total entrants.
The 2025 World Series of Poker was a historic one, not only by hosting the third largest Main Event in history, but by seeing stunning achievements from some of the game’s best.
After the incredible accomplishment of winning his fourth Poker Players Championship title, a tournament regarded by many as the hardest to win, Michael Mizrachi would go on to win the WSOP Main Event as well.
Winning the two toughest poker tournaments in a single year, an accomplishment many thought was impossible, the governing board of the Poker Hall of Fame held an emergency vote, and unanimously voted Mizrachi into the Hall of Fame.
Further adding to a historic summer, Japanese poker pro Shiina Okamoto made history by becoming the first woman to win the WSOP Ladies Event in back-to-back years. The most impressive part? Prior to her repeat victories, Shiina finished second in the Ladies Event in 2023, being just one spot shy of winning the event three years in a row.
