One of the greatest events in Poker was the establishment of the World Series of Poker.  This not only put Poker on the map of international events, but the popularity of this game increased dramatically when it obtained an international following both online and offline.

The “World Series of Poker”, or also known as WSOP, has its beginnings in 1969 when an event called the Texas Gambling Reunion was held by Tom Moore of San Atonio, Texas at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno.  Benny Binion, owner of Binion’s Horseshoe then took this concept and in 1970 held a series of cash games that included five-card stud, Deuce to Seven low-ball Draw, Razz, Seven card Stud and Texas Hold’em.  The winner of this event was Johnny Moss and he officially became known as the first World Champion of Poker and received a silver cup for his efforts.  Each year thereafter till 1980, winners received a trophy or plaque, but in 1980, the WSOP Bracelet was introduced to all winners of each main event and has since become a very coveted piece of jewellery.

Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) purchased this event from Binion’s Horseshoe in 2004, and held its first official tournament in 2005 which was won by Joe Hachem  who  walked away with prize money of $7,500,000.

Today, the World Series of Poker has a list of record holders.  The person who has won the most money is Jamie Gold, who in 2006 walked away with $12,000,000.  The youngest person to ever win WSOP was Joe Ada (2009) who was 21 years old when he won the championship and took  home $8,547,042 while the oldest Main Event Champion was Johnny Moss who in 1974 who walked away with the title and $160,000.

To date, the person who has won the most bracelets is Phil Hellmuth who has a total of 13 bracelets, the youngest person to win a bracelet is Annette Obrestad who was one day short of her 19 birthday when she won her first bracelet and the oldest person was Paul McKinney who at the age of 80 won the 2005 Seniors No Limit Hold’em, but the oldest person to take part in any WSOP Tournament was Jack Ury who at the age of  97, registered to take part in 2010.

The Word Series of Poker is a much coveted international event with many online and land based casinos offering qualifiers to their more superior players.