The largest, most popular off line poker tournament in the world today. the World Series of Poker is held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada and attracts all the big names in the industry.
The World Series of Poker is assembled of events, each characterized by a variation of the poker game and a definition of limits (if one exists). The final event, the most important event is always a $10,000 no limit Texas Holdem.
Winners of the WSOP events are granted with huge amounts of cash prizes. They also receive a golden bracelet, which is the most prestigious prize in the pro poker world today.
The first WSOP was held back in 1970 in Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, and hosted around 30 players. The WSOP early years left the tournament with little public attention until CBS Sports televised it for the first time in 1973. At the time the tournament included 4 events. In 1982 the tournament expended to 11 events. 52 participated in the tournament that year. Number of events and participation continually increased since then. From 2007 onwards the World Series of Poker includes 55 events and attracts tens of thousands of players from around the globe.
The tournament usually takes place between May-June, but the main event final table has been delayed in recent years in several months. 2010 main event final table will be held in November.
The owner of the World Series of Poker tournament and brand is Harahh’s Entertainment, one of the biggest enterprises in the Global gambling industry and the owner of the leading casinos in Las Vegas: Paris, Creaser’s Palace, Rio and so many others.
Over the years the WSOP expended and added additional tournaments. It has created the WSOP Europe the European branch of the WSOP and the WSOP Circuit which is a $10,000 buy in tournament held in various Harrah’s Casinos in the US. Top players from each circuit are eligible to play the Tournament of the champions, where generous monetary prizes are rewarded to the winners.
This year (2009) the WSOP celebrates its 41th annual tournament.
