The World Series of Poker (or WSOP for short) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. The WSOP is probably the largest and most prestigious poker tournament series in the world, attracting thousands of players from all over the globe to compete for life-changing sums of money, and a chance to win the “Main Event” – an annual $10,000 no-limit hold’em tournament that awards tens of millions in prizes – and poker immortality to the winner!
Beginnings – “Shuffle Up & Deal”
The WSOP was first held in 1970 at the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. It was created by Benny Binion, the owner of the casino, as a way to determine the best poker player in the world. The series started out as a cash-game, moving to a tournament format in 1971.
The tournament has since grown in popularity and size, and now consists of multiple events held over several weeks each summer.
The main event of the WSOP is the no-limit Texas hold’em tournament, which has a buy-in of $10,000 and typically attracts thousands of players. The winner of the main event receives a prize of millions of dollars and the prestigious WSOP bracelet, which is considered to be the most coveted trophy in poker – due to the size of the field of players, and the number of professionals in the field.
In addition to the main event, the WSOP also includes a variety of other tournaments, such as pot-limit Omaha, seven-card stud, and mixed games as well as progressive Knockout (PKO) events and mystery bounty events.
These tournaments generally offer smaller buy-ins and prizes, but are still highly competitive and attract top poker players from around the world.
Status
Overall, the WSOP is a very well renowned festival in the world of poker, and is a major attraction for poker players and fans alike. Winning the WSOP Main Event is the poker-dream for many – becoming the “World Poker Champion” for a year and getting rich!
Other large poker festivals of similar stature include the World Poker Tour (WPT), and the European Poker Tour (EPT) which runs festivals & events worldwide.
The Poker Boom & the “Moneymaker Effect”
The Moneymaker Effect is a term used to describe the surge in popularity of poker that occurred in the early 2000s, following the victory of Chris Moneymaker in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event.
Moneymaker, an accountant, and average-joe amateur poker player, won the WSOP main event after qualifying through an online poker tournament. His victory, which came against a field of professional poker players, was seen as a major upset and sparked widespread interest in the game of poker.
The Moneymaker Effect refers to the influx of new players and the increased popularity of poker that followed Moneymaker’s win. Many people were inspired by his story and saw poker as a way to make money and become a professional player. As a result, the number of people playing poker online and at live tournaments increased dramatically, and the game became more mainstream and widely accepted.
The Moneymaker Effect also had a significant impact on the poker industry, as more people began to play the game and more money was invested in the industry. This led to the growth of the poker economy and the development of new poker products and services. The Moneymaker Effect is still felt today, as poker remains a popular and widely played game around the world.
The 2022 WSOP Champion
Norwegian poker professional Espen Jorstad triumphed in the 2022 $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event, besting a field of 8,663 players to take home the WSOP Gold-bracelet, poker immortality and of course 1st place prize – which came to a staggering sum of $10,000,000.
| Place | Country | Name | Prize USD | Prize EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | Espen Jorstad | $ 10.000.000 | € 9.919.084 |
| 2 | Australia | Adrian Attenborough | $ 6.000.000 | € 5.951.451 |
| 3 | Argentina | Michael Duek | $ 4.000.000 | € 3.967.634 |
| 4 | UK | John Eames | $ 3.000.000 | € 2.975.725 |
| 5 | Croatia | Matija Dobric | $ 2.250.000 | € 2.231.794 |
| 6 | USA | Jeffrey Farnes | $ 1.750.000 | € 1.735.840 |
| 7 | Canada | Aaron Duczak | $ 1.350.000 | € 1.339.076 |
| 8 | UK | Philippe Souki | $ 1.075.000 | € 1.066.302 |
| 9 | USA | Matthew Su | $ 850.675 | € 843.792 |
| 10 | USA | Asher Conniff | $ 675.000 | € 669.540 |
The 2023 World Series of Poker Schedule
Details of the schedule for the WSOP Main event have been made public:
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1a | Monday, July 3 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1b | Tuesday, July 4 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1c | Wednesday, July 5 2023 |
| 2023 WSOP Main Event Day 1d | Thursday, July 6 2023 |
While tournament organizers have not yet released the full finalized schedule for the 2023 WSOP poker festival, dates and info have been released for a number of new and interesting poker tournament events which will run at what will be the 54th year of the WSOP – and make a lot of millionaires!
| Date | Tournament | Buy In | Guarantee |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31 | Mystery Millions | $1,000 | $10,000 – $1,000,000 Bounties Pays at least $1,000,000 for Winner |
| June 7 | Gladiators of Poker | $300 | $3M Guaranteed |
| June 16 | WSOP Monster Stack | $1,500 | |
| June 21 | WSOP Seniors Championship | $1,000 | |
| June 23rd | The Millionaire Maker | $1,500 | $1M Guaranteed for Winner |
| June 29th | WSOP Ladies Championship | $1,000 | |
| June 30th | The Colossus | $400 | |
| July 2nd | WSOP Mini Main Event | $1,000 | |
| July 3rd | 2023 WSOP Main Event | $10,000 | |
| July 7th | Lucky 7’s | $777 | $777,777 Guaranteed for Winner |
| July 11th | Ultra Stack | $600 | |
| July 14th | The Closer | $1,500 |
WSOP Poker Satellites
Players can qualify for all events, including the “Main Event” via small feeder tournaments known as “poker satellite tournaments” for a fraction of the entry cost. Satellites usually run online on WSOP partner poker sites, or live at the WSOP in Las Vegas.