page_title: World Series of Poker
section_title: Format
hierarchical_section_title: World Series of Poker / Format
caption_attribution_description: English: Commemorative Binion's poker table signed by numerous professional poker players and World Series of Poker Champions; Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel, Las Vegas. Signers include Doyle Brunson, Amarillo Slim, Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Berry Johnston, Jerry Yang, T.J. Cloutier, Barry Greenstein, Erica Schoenberg, Antonio Esfandiari, Mark Seif, Frank Henderson, O'Neil Longson, Max Stern, Todd Brunson, Tom McEvoy, John Bonetti, Gus Hansen, Bruce Van Horn, Marty Wilson, Surinder Sunar, Robert Williamson III, Vanessa Rousso, Noah Boeken, Marcel Lüske, Kenna James, James Van Alstyne, Clonie Gowen, Humberto Brenes, Kathy Liebert, Chad Brown, Minh Ly, Huck Seed, Artie Cobb, Nani Dollison, and more.
context_page_description: The World Series of Poker is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Las Vegas and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, and a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players.
  As of 2020, the WSOP consists of 101 events, with most major poker variants featured. However, in recent years, over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold 'em. Events traditionally take place during one day or over several consecutive days during the series in June and July. However, starting in 2008, the Main Event final table was delayed until November. The 2012 and 2016 Main Event final tables commenced in October because of the United States presidential election. As of May 2017, the World Series of Poker has done away with the November Nine concept and instead gone back to the old format of crowning the Main Event winner in July.
context_section_description: The winner of each event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts.  Over the years, the tournament has grown in both the number of events and in the number of participants. Each year, the WSOP culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold'em "Main Event," which, since 2004, has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar cash prize and a bracelet, which has become the most coveted award a poker player can win. The winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker.
  Since 1971, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes. In 1973, a five-card stud event was added. Since then, new events have been added and removed. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP; later on, the winners of events before 1976 were retroactively given bracelets.
  The tournament grew slowly for over a decade, reaching 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s, satellite tournaments were introduced, allowing people to win their way into the various events. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants in the entire series. At the 2006 World Series of Poker, there were 45 events, covering the majority of poker variants. Participation in the Main Event peaked that year, with 8,773 players.
  The number of participants in the WSOP grew every year from 2000 until 2006.  Following 2006, new online gambling legislation restricted the number of online qualifiers to the event.  2007 was the first dip in numbers in the 21st century while in 2008 more people participated than the previous year. In 2000, there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players.  In the main event alone, the number of participants grew from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006, and has hovered between 6,300 and 7,200 entrants in the eleven years since. Phil Hellmuth has won the most bracelets with 15 followed by Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Ivey with ten bracelets each. Crandell Addington is the only player to place in the top ten of the World Series of Poker Main Event eight times, albeit in earlier years with small fields compared to modern times. Four players have won the Main Event multiple times: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971, and 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981, and 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988). Bracelet winners who first achieved fame in other fields include French actor/singer Patrick Bruel (in 1998), Danish soccer player Jan Vang Sørensen (in 2002), American actress Jennifer Tilly (in 2005), and American musician/record producer Steve Albini (in 2018). In recent years, there have been non-bracelet events at the WSOP; two of the most notable are the "World Series of Rock Paper Scissors" and "Ante Up for Africa."
  Currently, Texas hold 'em, Omaha hold 'em and Seven-card stud and their lowball variants are played. H.O.R.S.E. has been played in the past and returned in 2006. Also, S.H.O.E. has been played in the past, and returned in 2007. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee (a percentage between 6% and 10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increasing with more players. In the 2005 Main Event, US$52,818,610 in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with US$7.5 million as the first prize. The 2006 Main Event, won by Jamie Gold, is the largest single poker tournament by prize pool or by entrant numbers in history; Gold pocketed US$12 million for his victory.  In July 2010, it was announced that the winner of the 2010 Main Event would receive just under US$9 million.
  On June 2, 2011, the World Series of Poker and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté announced plans for an officially sanctioned special fundraising event, known as The Big One for One Drop, starting on July 1, 2012 with a record US$1 million entry fee. 11% of the money (mo
caption: A Binion's poker table signed by WSOP Champions and other professional players after the casino hosted its final WSOP.
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