Most people associate the World Series of Poker with its iconic, $10,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event tournament that spans multiple weeks and offers one of poker’s highest prizes.
Chris Moneymaker donned his iconic PokerStars hat and shirt. While Sam Farha donned formal attire.
Origins
At the time of its inaugural World Series of Poker in 1970, poker barely existed as an event. Binion’s Horseshoe casino didn’t even offer poker tournaments but owner Jack Binion recognized an opportunity for publicity by inviting local champions and gamblers to compete in various types of poker games.
Doyle Brunson and Stu Ungar both won in 1972, creating an outpouring of media interest in their victories. Chris Moneymaker then brought about an explosion of participation by beating 839 players for the top prize of $2.5 Million – creating an entirely new era of participation in the series.
Rules
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is widely considered the pinnacle of poker tournaments. Requiring an expensive buy-in, taking place over several weeks and rewarding its winners with some of the game’s most desirable prizes, it draws professional and amateur poker players alike.
Players should always protect their cards and should wait to discuss hands until all actions have concluded. If a player accidentally exposes their cards before all others have taken a turn at acting, those cards will be revealed publicly and that player cannot call or raise.
Variations
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is widely known for its no-limit Texas hold’em tournament – its most renowned and coveted event, considered to be the “world championship of poker.” Additionally, over its 50+ year history more than $4 billion in prize money has been distributed as prize pool awards by this tournament alone!
WSOP events take place throughout the summer and feature different games. Most are heads-up tournaments where each player competes against only one opponent at a time; this process serves to eliminate players until only two are left.
Betting intervals
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has gone from being an intimate gathering of Texas road gamblers at Binion’s to becoming an international spectacle that draws in tens of thousands of visitors annually to Las Vegas. Even major businesses such as beer manufacturers and auto makers are now eager to associate themselves with this vibrant subculture of poker.
Players at World Series of Poker tournaments often enjoy two hour breaks every two hours and, occasionally, dinner breaks. Knowing when these breaks occur will allow players to plan their strategy more strategically while leaving tips for dealers as they work so hard throughout summer tournaments.
Tie hands
Players compete to accumulate an amount of money or chips contributed by all participants, known as the pot. Its size depends on what kind of hand each player holds as well as their predictions about what other players may hold in each hand.
Greg Merson made history at last year’s final table when he and Jake Balsiger engaged in an epic three-handed hand that has gone down as one of the greatest hands ever seen at the WSOP. Though risky at the time, it paid dividends.
High card
High rollers in the casino world are players who seek to bet big, whether at a table or tournament level. Rarely, however, does a high card win a significant pot.
High cards are the lowest ranking poker hand, ranking below One Pair and above Two Pairs, Three of a Kind and Straights. When ranking high cards by kickers rather than suits alone, a hand with a higher kicker may even surpass higher-ranked pairs!
Dealer button
The dealer button is a plastic disc used to identify the player who acts last in every deal. As betting rounds occur, this disc rotates around the table. Whoever is sitting atop it has an advantage since they can observe what other players are doing before making a decision accordingly.
The button serves two additional purposes at a poker table – holding seats for players who aren’t present and preventing mistakes from being made by others; tipping dealers, who earn substantial income from working at the World Series of Poker; and as a means for making purchases or placing bets at the WSOP.