For centuries, poker, in one form or another, has been an extremely popular card game. Although the origins of poker cannot be dated back to any set point in time, some believe it to be derived from the Persian game of As Nas, whilst others believe it to have been born from a mixture of other card games and was initially played around the beginning of 18th century in America. Wherever poker has originated from, it is obvious throughout its history that it is a card game in which the more people that play, the better the game is, with poker games featuring many players today being some of the best tournaments around.
Originally, poker was a game that was played with a handful of people, generally in bars or other social venues. Over time, as the popularity of poker increased, these small groups of people playing poker grew bigger and poker tournaments began to be born.
Somewhat surprisingly, the idea of a poker tournament is a relatively new one when compared to the suspected age of poker. It was not until the late 1960s when poker tournaments began to become popular amongst the masses, both players and casinos and 1970 saw the very first major poker tournament be held in Binions Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, the World Series of Poker.
Seen as the most popular poker tournament on todays poker calendar, the World Series of Poker, WSOP, started out as a meagre tournament, with only seven players, albeit the most popular poker players of the time, taking part. Over the following years, the tournament grew slowly but surely and by 1980, there were over 70 participants and the prize money had risen from 30,000 dollars in 1971, no prize money was awarded in the first tournament, to 385,000 pound.
The coming two decades saw the World Series of Poker tournament snowball in popularity. By the start of the 1990s, the prize money had reached 1,000,000 million and entrants rocketed to over 500 prior to the turn of the millennium.
Throughout its existence, the tournament has seen many unforgettable moments at its tables, some of which have helped tremendously to increase the tournaments popularity. One of the most memorable moments in the tournaments history was the final table of the 1982 tournament. Jack Strauss was playing a hand and the time came for him to place all of his chips on the table. Strauss lost the hand and stood up to move away from the table. As he got up, he noticed something under his napkin, a 500 dollar chip. The rest, although a cliche, is history and Strauss went on to win and take home over half a million dollars.
In addition to the WSOP, the World Poker Tour is one of the most favoured poker tournaments to be involved in. The World Poker Tour consists of a numerous games of Texas Hold Em, which are held all over the world. The main difference the tournament has over the WSOP is also the reason why the tournament is so popular, any player, regardless of ability, can buy in to the tournament. The buy in amount can range from 2,500 dollars to 25,000 dollars, but overall, it allows any level of poker player to be involved in one the worlds most popular poker tournaments.
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