World Series of Poker

They call it "the challenge heard round the world". The World Series of Poker is the largest poker tournament in the world and is credited for helping revive the popularity of the game in recent years.

World Series History - The Legacy of Benny Binion
In 1949, well-known and respected poker player, Johnny Moss was challenged by Nicholas Dandolos to a poker marathon that would decide who the best player was between the two men. Moss won the game and took home a reported pot of around 2 million dollars. Famous gambler Benny Binion, who promoted the event, was inspired to take the idea to a higher level after the success of game.

In 1970, Binion recreated the original public poker marathon and called it the "World Series of Poker". The event, which drew an extraordinary amount of publicity, was held at Binion's Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament would go on to become an even bigger success through the 70's, 80's and 90's. As the size of the winning pot grew year after year the tournament became more and more established as the premier poker event in the world.

The World Series of Poker Today
In 2004, the World Series of Poker had over 2,500 entries and paid winner, Greg Raymer a record pot of 5 million dollars. With poker being so hot one can only imagine how big the next few installments of the World Series will be.

Past World Series of Poker Winners

The following is a list of the World Series of Poker champions through the years of 1995 and 2004:

2004 - Greg Raymer
2003 - Chris Moneymaker
2002 - Robert Varkonyi
2001 - Carlos Mortenson
2000 - Chris "Jesus" Ferguson
1999 - Noel Furlong
1998 - Scotty Nguyen
1997 - Stu Ungar
1996 - Huck Seed
1995 - Dan Harrington