World Series of Poker
This section is devoted to the World Series of Poker.
On this page we will give you some inside to the Series, how it began and evolved to become the most popular poker tournament in the world. It is definitely an interesting read for those of you who would like to learn more about an event that is captivating millions of viewers around the world. We also included a list of winners since the beginning of the Series, which is located at the bottom of the page. This section will soon be expended to include tournament information and results of the latest World Series of Poker championships.
The original World Series of Poker was an invitational event started by Tom Morehead of the Riverside Casino in Reno.
But it was the Las Vegas legend, poker player and casino owner Benny Binion along with his two sons Jack and Ted that were the misterminds behind poker tournaments that World Series of Poker would later evolve to. Poker could not be found at too many casinos prior to 1970's because it was too difficult to keep cheaters out of the game. The implementation of better security measures as well as the hard work of the Binion family to promote poker through events like the World Series of Poker made the game very popular.
Binion's Horseshoe held its first World Series of Poker tournament featuring 7 players in 1970.
Johnny Moss who won the event was rewarded with a silver cup and the World Champion of Poker title. Since 1971 winners of the World Series have been receiving cash prizes.
In 1973 Texas Hold'em was featured as the main event of the World Series of Poker and 5 Card Stud tournament was also added. Many modifications to the events have been done since. The 2005 World Series of Poker championship featured 42 different tournaments and included Omaha and Razz variations as well as special events for seniors and women. Golden bracelet is an addition to the cash prize awarded to each event winner.
Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horeshoe in 2004 and announced that the 2005 World Series of Poker would be held in Harrah's owned Rio Casino located just off the Las Vegas strip. On March 11th 2004 Horseshoe was sold to MTR Gaming Group, the company that operated the hotel. Harrah's retained the rights to the Horseshoe and the World Series of Poker names and continued to operate the casino under temporary contract until March of 2005. The name was changed from Binion's Horseshoe to Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel on March 11th 2005 when MTR Gaming Group took over its operation. In July of 2005, in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of founding Vegas, the two last days of the main No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament was held at Binion's for the last time.
The World Series of Poker became significantly more popular in recent years and the number of participants has been growing each year. In 2005, the World Series of Poker tournaments featured 23, 000 players compared to 4, 780 players in 2000. The number of players in the main event alone increased significantly from 839 in 2003 to 2, 576 in 2004 and more than doubled to 5, 619 players in 2005.
This major growth in interest can be attributed to the fact that the Series have been aired through major television networks as well as to the growing popularity of online poker rooms, which have been promoting World Series of Poker entry fee as their prize in their ongoing online poker tournaments. Chris Moneymaker who won the main No Limit Texas Hold'em championship in 2003 as well as the winner of that same event in 2004 Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, both earned their seats in the World Series of Poker in online poker tournaments. Three other players who qualified to the final No Limit Texas Hold'em table in 2004, including David Williams who finished in second place also won their entry fee to the Series through an online poker tournament. The main event of the Series can be entered through $10, 000 buy-in fee and in addition to the monetary prize and the golden bracelet, each winner has their picture placed into the Gallery of Champions at the Binion's casino.
Below is the list of winners of the main No Limit Texas Hold'em event of the World Series of Poker.
World Series of Poker Winners
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| Year |
Winner |
Hand |
Prize |
Runner Up |
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| 2005 |
Joseph Hachem, AUS |
7 3 |
7,500,000 |
Steve Dannenmann, USA |
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| 2004 |
Greg Raymer, USA |
8 8 |
5,000,000 |
David Williams, USA |
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| 2003 |
Chris Moneymaker, USA |
5 4 |
2,500,000 |
Sam Farha, USA |
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| 2002 |
Robert Varkonyi, USA |
Q 10 |
2,000,000 |
Julian Gardner, UK |
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| 2001 |
Carlos Mortensen, ESP |
K Q |
1,500,000 |
Dewey Tomko, USA |
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| 2000 |
Chris Ferguson, USA |
A 9 |
1,500,000 |
T. J. Cloutier, USA |
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| 1999 |
Noel Furlong, IRL |
5 5 |
1,000,000 |
Alan Goehring, USA |
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| 1998 |
Scotty Nguyen, USA |
J 9 |
1,000,000 |
Kevin McBride, USA |
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| 1997 |
Stu Ungar, USA |
A 4 |
1,000,000 |
John Strzemp, USA |
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| 1996 |
Huck Seed, USA |
9 8 |
1,000,000 |
Bruce Van Horn, USA |
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| 1995 |
Dan Harrington, USA |
9 8 |
1,000,000 |
Howard Goldfarb, CAN |
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| 1994 |
Russ Hamilton, USA |
K 8 |
1,000,000 |
Hugh Vincent, USA |
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| 1993 |
Jim Bechtel, USA |
J 6 |
1,000,000 |
Glenn Cozen, USA |
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| 1992 |
Hamid Dastmalchi, USA |
8 4 |
1,000,000 |
Tom Jacobs, USA |
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| 1991 |
Brad Daugherty, USA |
K J |
1,000,000 |
Don Holt, USA |
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| 1990 |
Mansour Matloubi, Wales |
10 10 |
895,000 |
Hans Lund, USA |
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| 1989 |
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., USA |
9 9 |
755,000 |
Johnny Chan, USA |
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| 1988 |
Johnny Chan, USA |
J 9 |
700,000 |
Erik Seidel, USA |
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| 1987 |
Johnny Chan, USA |
A 9 |
625,000 |
Frank Henderson, USA |
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| 1986 |
Berry Johnston, USA |
n/a |
570,000 |
Mike Harthcock, USA |
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| 1985 |
Bill Smith, USA |
3 3 |
700,000 |
T. J. Cloutier, USA |
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| 1984 |
Jack Keller, USA |
n/a |
660,000 |
Byron Wolford, USA |
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| 1983 |
Tom McEvoy, USA |
Q Q |
580,000 |
Rod Peate, USA |
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| 1982 |
Jack Straus, USA |
A 10 |
520,000 |
Dewey Tomko, USA |
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| 1981 |
Stu Ungar, USA |
A Q |
375,000 |
Perry Green, USA |
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| 1980 |
Stu Ungar, USA |
5 4 |
385,000 |
Doyle Brunson, USA |
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| 1979 |
Hal Fowler, USA |
7 6 |
270,000 |
Bobby Hoff, USA |
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| 1978 |
Bobby Baldwin, USA |
n/a |
210,000 |
Crandall Addington, USA |
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| 1977 |
Doyle Brunson, USA |
10 2 |
340,000 |
Gary Berland, USA |
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| 1976 |
Doyle Brunson, USA |
10 2 |
220,000 |
Jesse Alto, USA |
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| 1975 |
Brian Roberts, USA |
9 9 |
210,000 |
Bob Hooks, USA |
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| 1974 |
Johnny Moss, USA |
n/a |
160,000 |
Crandall Addington, USA |
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| 1973 |
Walter Pearson, USA |
A 7 |
130,000 |
Johnny Moss, USA |
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| 1972 |
Thomas Preston, USA |
n/a |
80,000 |
Johnny Moss, USA |
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| 1971 |
Johnny Moss, USA |
n/a |
30,000 |
Walter Pearson, USA |
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| 1970 |
Johnny Moss, USA |
n/a |
0 |
n/a |
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