History of the WSOP
History of the World Series Of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP), the oldest, most prestigious poker tournament in the world, was officially started in 1970, though it's origins date back over two decades prior, in 1949. It is said that Nicholas “Nick the Greek” Dandolos approached Benny Binion with a request. He wanted to challenge the best poker player in the world to a marathon style, poker tournament.
Binion was highly intrigued by this idea, and agreed, setting up a high-stakes poker tournament between Dandalos and Binion's old Texas buddy Johnny Moss, a legend among poker players. The only thing Binion required was that they allow the tournament to be held in a public setting. Moss and Dandalos competed in every form of poker you could imagine, with the tournament lasting an amazing 5 months long, breaking only for sleep. In the end, Johnny Moss took the prize of $2 million, noted as “the biggest game in town”. After losing the final pot, Dandalos was quoted, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.” He then walked away and went to bed.
Like any group of dedicated sports fans, great crowds gathered outside the casino every day to watch the two men compete. Binion was amazed at the outstanding popularity of the event, but it wasn't until 21 years later, in 1970, that he set forth in an attempt to re-create this landmark competition.
This time, Binion changed the rules a bit, inviting a number of the country's best poker players to participate. He gave the event a name, “World Series of Poker”, and Johnny Moss again came out on top, earning the title, “World Champion”. In it's first year, the winner was determined by popular vote.
In 1971, the rules were altered, eliminating the vote and determining the winner by “last man standing”. Players were knocked out as their chips dwindled to nothing, until eventually one player held all of the chips. Once again, Johnny Moss won the title “World Champion”. The following year, 1972, Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston took the top honors and became the face of poker making his way to onto the talk-show circuit, appearing on Johnny Carson and many others. It was then the World Series of Poker gained a much more extensive fan base.
Another year later, at the Oral History Project held at the University of Nevada-Reno, Binion spoke of the future of the World Series of Poker in an interview with Mary Ellen Glass. "This poker game here gets us a lot of attention. 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 hesitated thoughtfully, "It will eventually."
Binion's dreams were realized in 1982 as the event drew 52 competitors. The introduction of satellite competitions by Binion in the early 80's most certainly had a hand in the continued success and staggering growth of the event's popularity and level of participation. Satellite competitions allowed players to win their way to the top, the World Series of Poker Main Event, at lower buy-ins, significantly raising the interest of poker players around the country. Only 5 years later, the competition drew 2,141 participants.
Benny Binion passed away on Christmas Day, 1989, but his legacy, as well as his dream, will carry on for infinite years to come. By 2002, the number of participants grew to 7,595 entries, and between the years of 1987 and 2002, the prize-pool jumped from $7,769,000 to an overwhelming $19,599,230. As of 2004, the World Series of Poker tournament consists of 33 competitions, featuring a wide variety of poker games.
Binions creation surpassed his wildest dreams, becoming the most prestigious, media-hyped poker tournament in the world. The future of this tournament holds even more amazing potential as fans and players alike grow more enthralled with every passing year.
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