The World Series of Poker

The popularity of poker at the turn of the 21st century was tied to several factors. It was at this time that poker tournaments began to be regularly televised, partly as a result of the development of the hole-card camera, a device that allowed the television audience to see a player’s hidden cards. This period also saw both the introduction and the expansion of online poker—as well as the rise of amateur player Chris Moneymaker, whose victory in the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP) attracted legions of other amateurs to the sport.

The WSOP stands above all others in both tradition and stature. Its roots extend back to a 1949 match between Johnny Moss, a leading player on the Texas poker circuit, and the leading card personality of the time, Nick (“the Greek”) Dandolos. The games were arranged by Benny Binion and were played near the front window of his Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas. The games gained much publicity as the public observed play that continued for five months, including many variations of the game. Finally, after reportedly being down $4 million, Dandolos stood up and declared, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.”

The idea of a big game with the best players remained in Binion’s mind for two decades. Then, a year after celebrating a reunion of Texas poker players in Reno, he decided to invite the best players to Las Vegas for what he called the World Series of Poker. The initial game in 1970 involved six players who each paid a $5,000 entry fee. Two years later the fee was $10,000, and it was agreed that play would continue until all players had gone “all in” and only one player remained at the table. Johnny Moss won three of the first four tournaments. Slowly the tournament grew as more people were invited to play and anyone could put forth $10,000 and sit with the best poker players in the world. Soon the tournament was split several ways, with contests for the surviving player in seven-card stud, Omaha, high-low stud, and Texas hold’em games and later with special restricted tournaments for seniors and for women. The winner of each event gets an engraved gold bracelet in addition to the prize money. The Texas hold’em game is the most prestigious, with its winner considered the poker world champion. Among early winners were Doyle (“Texas Dolly”) Brunson, Johnny Chan, Thomas (“Amarillo Slim”) Preston, and Stu Ungar.

Many satellite tournaments (or qualifying tournaments) have been spawned by the WSOP, and their winners are given the entry fee to the Horseshoe games. Entry fees for the satellites can be as low as $10. Some cardroom casinos use satellites as publicity draws and occasionally waive the fee. Satellites are accessible to people everywhere, especially as multiple tournaments are held over the Internet.

The WSOP has also been the inspiration for many other large tournaments—in particular, the World Poker Tour. Presented in weekly episodes on a cable television network, the World Poker Tour began in 2003 and consists of a dozen main events. It also conducts satellite tournaments and sponsors games on the Internet.

Internet poker

Poker games are available on hundreds of Internet sites, offering play 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for dozens of poker variants. “Ring” games are ongoing games in which players join the action at any time by purchasing chips, play as long as desired, and are free to leave anytime with their remaining chips. In “on demand” poker tournaments, players choose the poker variant and betting limit, and play begins when enough players (typically 9 or 10) have signed up to complete a table. Players bring a set amount of money to the table, and play continues until only one player survives. For scheduled tournaments players sign up to play for a set amount of prize money. They must pay a “buy-in” fee, and they each receive the same number of chips for play. They play until there is a single winner. These tournaments are common as satellites for large tournaments such as the WSOP.

Poker sites on the Internet are hosted by offshore operators. The U.S. 1961 Wire Act has been interpreted by enforcement authorities, as well as by U.S. courts, as prohibiting gambling through the Internet by patrons in the United States. Foreign Internet betting companies, mostly located in small Caribbean countries, do market to U.S. customers, and authorities find it difficult to stop the practice. However, they have seized operators who have physically gone to the United States. But this matter is far from clear. There are claims, for example, that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting and only to betting over telephone lines. Moreover, an appellate body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled in 2004 that Internet operations in Antigua could serve U.S. customers because the United States permits Internet betting for horse races through the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA) of 1978. U.S. authorities disputed the ruling and sought a review and rehearing of the matter. In 2005 the WTO upheld the gist of its original ruling, including an order that the IHA be amended to no longer discriminate against foreign Internet gambling services, and threatened to impose trade sanctions under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) unless the United States complied with its orders by April 3, 2006. The deadline passed with the U.S. government insisting on the right to ban Internet gambling. Various U.S. states have also passed laws against gambling over the Internet, including playing poker for money.

At the federal level, the U.S. Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in October 2006, a law designed to prevent the passing of gambling revenue by poker sites on the Internet to terrorist organizations. In response, several online poker sites relocated their servers and operations outside the United States. On April 15, 2011, the offices of three of the largest online poker sites that remained in the country—PokerStars, Absolute/UB, and Full Tilt—were raided by Department of Justice agents, and several officials from these companies were charged with money laundering. Starting in 2012, however, the U.S. states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada have legalized state-regulated online poker by issuing licenses to casinos and other parties interested in offering online poker. It is expected that a number of other states, as well as Native American tribal lands, will offer some form of state-regulated online poker in the future.

Winners of the World Series of Poker

Winners in the game of no-limit Texas Hold’em at the World Series of Poker since 1970 are presented in this table.