The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest event on the poker calendar. It takes place every June – July in Las Vegas, featuring dozens of tournaments in which players compete for large cash prizes and coveted WSOP bracelets.
The WSOP was established in 1970. It started as a fairly modest event with only a few players. However, it kept growing year after year, becoming a staple name in the poker industry.
On these pages, you’ll find all the information regarding the World Series of Poker, including dates and schedules for the upcoming event, important player profiles, interesting statistics, and much more. This is your one-stop shop for all things WSOP.
The World Series of Poker History
The World Series of Poker is a brainchild of Benny Binion, a Las Vegas icon who hosted the very first event in 1970 at the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino.
The first WSOP was nothing like the event we know and love today. It attracted only a handful of players who played high-stakes cash games (not tournaments). After several days of play, the winner was selected by vote, and Johnny Moss became the first-ever WSOP champion.
The next year, the format changed, as the WSOP was played as a $5,000 freezeout event, with the winner taking all the spoils. Once again, Johnny Moss captured the title.
In 1972, the winner’s honors went to the poker and gambling legend Thomas Austin Preston, much better known as Amarillo Slim. The WSOP was still a small affair, and Slim triumphed in a field of just 12 players, but he went on to become one of the biggest ambassadors for the game.
Slim certainly contributed to the popularity of the World Series. He went around the country talking about it and even appeared on The Tonight Show numerous times.
In 1973, the World Series of Poker was televised for the first time. It wasn’t the extensive coverage that we’re used to today, but it gave the event a big exposure and helped its popularity in the years to come.
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Continued Growth
Although some doubted the WSOP would ever become mainstream, the Series kept growing. It featured four events in 1973, and by 1982, there were 11 events on the schedule.
Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson, and Johnny Moss won numerous titles during the early days of the World Series. In 1979, however, an amateur named Hal Fowler won the championship, much to the surprise and embarrassment of other players.
Fowler’s victory was a catalyst of sorts, inspiring other hobby players to start making their way to Las Vegas. It wasn’t anything close to the Moneymaker effect several decades later, but it helped show that WSOP titles weren’t reserved exclusively for card sharks.
Over the next couple of decades, the World Series of Poker would continue to grow, its popularity boosted by mavericks like Stu Ungar. Ungar was truly one-of-a-kind, and his back-to-back victories helped create the hype around the event.
However, towards the 2000s, the popularity of the WSOP began dwindling. A number of problems and controversies surrounding the event and the venue led to many players boycotting the Series, and the critics were of the opinion that WSOP’s best days were behind it.
And then, Chris Moneymaker happened.
The Poker Dream Restored
The year 2003 was not a remarkable one for the World Series of Poker. In fact, tournament fields were smaller than in previous years, largely because the World Poker Tour emerged as a formidable competitor.
But then, an unknown accountant who won his seat in the Main Event in a small online satellite claimed the victory, forever changing the course of poker history. Chris Moneymaker went on to defeat the legend Sammy Farha in the final skirmish, claiming the title and a cool million for his efforts.
This changed everything. An amateur winning the Main Event inspired people all over the globe. The poker dream was restored, and the World Series of Poker was at the center of it!
Shortly after, in 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment bought the rights to the WSOP. In 2005, the event was moved to a new location – the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino, which would remain the World Series home for many years to come.
In 2006, the WSOP Main Event saw an unprecedented turnout of 8,773 players, a record that remained in place until 2023.
Modern-Day WSOP – The 2020s
For nearly two decades, Rio was the home of the World Series of Poker, but that changed in 2022. The 53rd Annual WSOP was moved to the Strip, taking place at Paris and Horseshoe (formerly Bally’s).
With this move, poker’s biggest competition was moved to the very heart of Las Vegas. With two new venues hosting the tournaments, it could better respond to growing player numbers.
The inaugural event at the new venue was a complete success, but the one that followed in 2023 blew all expectations out of the water. The 2023 Main Event finally broke the attendance 2006 attendance record, and it did so in style, attracting over 10,000 players.
While the World Series of Poker has had its ups and downs, the future certainly looks bright. Year after year, we’ve seen an increase in the number of events and growing interest from the players, and things are likely to improve moving forward with technology enabling various poker streams and other advances.
World Series of Poker Europe
After Harrah’s had purchased the rights to the WSOP, the company decided to expand the tournament to European soil alongsite EPT. This was an interesting experiment, as there were already numerous events in Europe that the tour would have to compete with, including WPT.
The first WSOP Europe took place in 2007 in London at the Casino at the Empire. Although there were only three events, the WSOP Europe attracted attention from the public, in part due to crowning the youngest-ever WSOP bracelet winner.
Namely, Annette Obrestad took down the Main Event at the age of 18.
Since then, the WSOP Europe has been a regular staple, although venues have changed over the years. All WSOPE winners are awarded bracelets, and their winnings are counted towards the cumulative WSOP winnings.
WSOP Paradise
In 2023, the World Series of Poker expanded to add another regular stop to its yearly activities. Dubbed WSOP Paradise, the first festival took place at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas in December, featuring 15 bracelet-awarding events.
The inaugural WSOP Paradise featured over $50,000,000 in guaranteed prizes, with the $5,000 Main Event in the spotlight. That tournament attracted 3,010 entries, and Michael Sklenicka was the last man standing, picking up $2,000,000 for his efforts.
The WSOP Paradise returned for 2024, once again with 15 events on the docket. However, this time around, the series features a $26,000,000 Super Main Event with an unprecedented $50,000,000 guarantee. The 2024 WSOP Paradise festival takes place December 6 – 19, 2024.
Interesting WSOP Stats & Numbers
With a history spanning well over five decades, the World Series of Poker has seen its fair share of records, upsets, and shocking stories. We’re bringing you an overview of some of the most interesting figures.
Record Number of WSOP Bracelets
When it comes to the total number of WSOP bracelets won, one player stands head and shoulders above the rest. That player is Phil Hellmuth.
Hellmuth has been on the bracelet hunt for decades, and he takes great pride in being number one on this list. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t keep any of his bracelets but rather gives them away to friends and family.
The Poker Brat, as he’s known, is well in front of the rest of the pack, and despite some formidable opponents chasing his record, it will take some doing before anyone comes near to threatening Phil’s spot at the top.
| Player | Number of Bracelets | Note |
| Phil Hellmuth | 17 | |
| Phil Ivey | 11 | |
| Erik Seidel | 10 | |
| Johnny Chan | 10 | |
| Doyle Brunson | 10 | Passed away |
| Johnny Moss | 9 | Passed away |
Largest Main Events by Attendance
The 2023 WSOP Main Event set the record for the largest attendance, attracting a grand total of 10,043 individual players. Daniel Weinman, the eventual winner, picked up $12,100,000, which is also the largest first-place prize in the event’s history.
It is interesting that the previous attendance record was set in 2006. That year, there were 8,773 players, and Jamie Gold won $12,000,000.
The writing was on the wall already in 2022, when the Main Event came very close to breaking the record but fell just short, missing some 100 entries.
| Year | Entrants | Winner | First Prize |
| 2023 | 10,043 | Daniel Weinman | $12,100,000 |
| 2024 | 10,012 | Jonathan Tamayo | $10,000,000 |
| 2016 | 8,773 | Jamie Gold | $12,000,000 |
| 2022 | 8,663 | Espen Jorstad | $10,000,000 |
| 2019 | 8,569 | Hossein Ensan | $10,000,000 |
| 2018 | 7,874 | John Cynn | $8,800,000 |
| 2010 | 7,319 | Jonathan Duhamel | $8,944,138 |
| 2017 | 7,221 | Scott Blumstein | $8,150,000 |
Biggest WSOP Earners of All Time
The list of the biggest WSOP winners may be slightly misleading as it is dominated by those who performed well in the several iterations of the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournament.
As of 2024, sitting at the top is Antonio Esfandiari, the winner of the inaugural One Drop event, with $22.3 million. In close second is the Canadian superstar Daniel Negreanu, with $22.1 million. However, given the fact that The Magician is no longer very active and Negreanu puts in a serious grind every Series, we expect the positions to shift already at the 2024 WSOP.
Sitting in third is the WSOP bracelet record holder Phil Hellmuth. With $17.9 million in winnings, Hellmuth doesn’t have any individual huge scores, and his total is a representation of his many years on the WSOP grind.
| Player | Total Winnings | Largest Win | Bracelets |
| Daniel Negreanu | $23,486,621 | $8,288,001 | 7 |
| Antonio Esfandiari | $22,365,690 | $18,346,673 | 3 |
| Phil Hellmuth | $18,092,966 | $2,645,333 | 17 |
| Dan Colman | $17,413,780 | $15,306,668 | 1 |
| Justin Bonomo | $16,552,357 | $10,000,000 | 3 |
| Jonathan Duhamel | $14,666,297 | $8,944,310 | 3 |
| Daniel Weinman | $14,276,242 | $12,100,000 | 2 |