History of the WSOP*

Since it began in 1970, the World Series of Poker* has become the most important poker festival on the planet.

The WSOP* Main Event is the one that every player wants to win. The event where dreams become a reality, and fortunes can be made on the turn of a card. Along with Team PokerStars Pro player Peter Eastgate’s success at the 2008 event, there were also huge cash finishes last year for Team PokerStars Pros Ivan Demidov ($5,809,595), Dennis Phillips ($4,517,773) and Ylon Schwartz ($3,774,974), and Friend of PokerStars Darus Suharto ($2,418,562). Win a prize package and you could follow in their footsteps and become the next star of poker.

The Main Event is a tournament rich in history, and over the years it’s been a memorable competition for PokerStars qualifiers and Team PokerStars Pro alike. We qualify more players to the Main Event than all other poker sites combined - more than 2,000 in 2008 - and it’s business as usual for 2009. This means that for just a few dollars, you could be on your way to earning a multi-million dollar payday.

How it all began

The first Series attracted just seven players and consisted of cash games played across different poker variants. The winner was decided by vote, with the legendary Johnny Moss emerging as the first ever Champion. The format changed in 1971 to the now familiar freezeout tournament structure, a decision that helped make the Series more exciting.

As the years went by, the field sizes began to grow, as did the prizes up for grabs. There were also more events added, in a wider range of poker games. The focus of attention however has always been the Main Event. With a $10,000 buy-in that’s remained since day one, the winner is awarded a huge cash prize and crowned World Champion. It’s here that legends of the game have been made, names like Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan.

By 2003, online poker was gaining popularity and PokerStars was about to change the face of the WSOP* forever. After winning his seat via a $39 satellite, amateur player Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event, taking away prize money of $2,500,000. And so began the ‘Moneymaker Effect’, his victory inspiring thousands of other everyday players to try their luck at World Series glory. The following year, PokerStars qualifier Greg Raymer also went on to win the championship, earning prize money of $5,000,000. The result was massive growth, peaking in 2006 when 8,773 players entered the Main Event, generating first place prize money of $12,000,000. With huge fields again in 2008, the World Series shows no sign of slowing down. The 2008 Main Event marked the first time the final table was paused, with the last remaining nine players returning 117 days later in November to play for the biggest prize in poker.

PokerStars sends more players to the Main Event than any other site. In fact, since 2002 over 6,000 qualifiers have won a seat via our satellites. For your chance to become part of World Series history in 2009, go to our qualifying page. Read about how members of Team PokerStars Pro and many of our qualifiers have performed at the World Series.

* WORLD SERIES OF POKER and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerStars.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.