World Series of Poker • Las Vegas NV

In it's current iteration, the tournament has developed into the most sought after title in the world of poker players. The winners are now regarded as the World Champion of poker, and players come to Vegas by the thousands to participate in hopes of becoming the next poker millionaire. The last tournament was comprised of over 70 events that featured most commonly accepted variations of the game though, the most common is the Texas hold 'em.

A more in-depth tournament background

The idea for this extravaganza came the year before it began when an event called the Texas Gambling Reunion. It was held in Reno at the Holiday Hotel & Casino. This event and it's tournaments would evolve into what it started out as in 1970, and the evolution hasn't stopped since then. It ran under the same guidance of the Horseshoe until 2004 when Harrah's bought out Binion. Starting in 2005, a different format was adopted as Harrah wanted to bring attention to it's numerous properties around the nation. For that reason, they tried out a tour of sorts with events spanning throughout multiple properties of theirs throughout the country. These locales included Biloxi Mississippi, Atlantic City New Jersey, Lake Tahoe California, Reno, and others... The event today is run by the Caesar's group which was acquired by Harrah's in 2005. They now host this multi-million dollar even yearly to which it is provided extensive coverage in the sporting world (mostly by the ESPN network).

Present day WSOP's annual event runs for approximately 50 days, and draws 10,000+ players from all across the globe to the flashy streets of Las Vegas. These days, players can expect a prize pool stretching upwards of $200,000,000.00. That's a lot of dough! Each year, there are refinements to the rules and games that are on deck, always with the goal of refinement and spectator enjoyment.

How to enjoy this spectacular event?

The most obvious answer to this question is to simply attend one of the related events in person. You'll find a listing on their website, and you can also probably get some good information on the primary network provider's site as well. As with any spectator event, you can buy tickets to watch the bigger events in Vegas. This would be a great way to learn about the game, and take part in the excitement without dropping the money required to be an entrant in the tourney.

Of course, if you are a great poker player, you can always buy into the tournament. The easiest way to do this is to buy a seat at one of the ancillary satellite events held throughout the country. In order to participate, you will have to be 21 years of age (as required by the law). As of 2017, there were even options to be able to qualify via the online tournaments. All of the pertinent and current information though, is easily accessible on the World Series of Poker's home page. A quick search via your favorite search engine will give you all the information you need!