Whether you play poker online, in your home, or at the casino, the World Series of Poker has no doubt played a role in your love for the game. And it’s hard to imagine that even Vegas legend Benny Binion had any notion of what he was creating when he invited seven players to duke it out at the Horseshoe Casino back in 1970. Historians among you may point to the origins of the World Series being a year earlier at the Texas Gambling Reunion or the titanic five-month struggle between Nick ‘The Greek’ Dandolos and eventual champion Johnny Moss in 1949. And you’re probably right. But Binion saw the potential in what took place in the inaugural event of 1949, and it was ultimately his vision that set events in motion which would change the face of poker forever.
Since its official launch in 1970, the World Series of Poker has captured the imagination of players and audiences from every corner of the earth by turning paupers into icons and humbling millionaires at the flip of a card. It’s no exaggeration to call it a phenomenon, and you only need to take a look at the rise of online poker to see its influence. Even online casino games have taken a piece of the action, basking in the glow of gaming’s new glamor and making it accessible to anyone with a screen and a dream.
“The biggest game in town’’
The epic face-off between Dandalos and Moss is a fundamental chapter in poker’s history, but it’s also a story with which many have taken a few liberties. These various accounts of when and exactly how everything went down over those five months in 1949 are a topic of some debate, but what isn’t up for discussion is the spectacle it created. Despite casino table games being popular before, this was the first game made open to the public, and they lapped it up, paving the way for poker tournaments as we know them. What we do know is that Nick ‘The Greek’ arrived in Vegas somewhere around 1949, looking for “the biggest game this world can offer.’’ Binion duly obliged by reaching out to his old buddy Johnny Moss and even bankrolling his tussle with the Crete-born real estate mogul, who was quite capable of funding himself.
As the two proceeded to trade blows, mostly in five-card stud, Dandalos seemed to have the upper hand early on but eventually succumbed to Moss near the end and reportedly lost about $4 million, depending on who you believe. There’s no doubt The Greek had a decent poker tournament strategy, but he was facing a force of nature, and Dandalos bowed out of the historic event saying, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.” But the touchpaper had been lit, and the public had their first taste of world-class players going heads up for buckets of cash. Binion had found the blueprint, but it would take almost two decades to bring his ideas to fruition.
The dawn of poker’s golden age
Having seen first-hand the demand for high quality, high stakes duels, Binion set about creating the framework for what we have come to know as the World Series of Poker. Casino games had always held some interest for the casual observer, but he knew that what he had witnessed was something akin to being in the ballpark or the grandstands. The same euphoria that sports lovers all across the country had experienced for decades. In 1970, the stage was set to see which of the big fish would be crowned. Six men entered the first edition of poker’s premium event, yet they all suffered the same fate as Nick The Greek. However, these were under very different circumstances, because popular vote decided the first WSOP winner. The players democratically ordained Johnny Moss as the best player at the tournament, cementing his status as an early Hall of Famer and the bane of anyone taking part in poker tournaments at the time.
But Binion changed the rules for the following year to be a ‘last man standing’ win condition with seven players putting down $5,000 apiece to participate in the more competitive tournament. And again, Johnny Moss took everyone’s lunch money, retaining his title as the undisputed champion.
It was clear that the players were just as big of a draw as the action itself, and nowhere was this more evident than in the arrival of Thomas ‘Amarillo Slim’ Preston onto the scene. Winner of the 1972 World Series of Poker, Preston was the kind of charismatic trash-talker who would have fit like a glove with his modern equivalents and made talk show and media appearances up and down the country. He was a whirlwind and undoubtedly still an inspiration to older generations who play poker online today.
And then there were thousands
1973 saw the first-ever televised WSOP with CBS Sports picking up the rights to the tournament, won by Puggy Pearson out of just 13 other players. Doyle Brunson went back-to-back before another rule change in 1978, which split the pot between the top five players at the final table. It didn’t take very long for an upstart amateur to make a name for themself in a World Series, and Hal Fowler’s win in 1979 still ranks amongst the most impressive giant-killing feats in poker history. His was the first true underdog story and one that would be repeated in the future. Whether you’re a Hold’em traditionalist or just like to play casino games, everyone wants to know they have a chance. People like Hal Fowler remind us we all have one.
By the mid-80s, the tournament had gone global and regularly received over two thousand entrants. Binion pivoted again and realized that to get more pros at the table there would have to be more ordinary folk too. Arguably one of the best things he ever did for the game. By 1987 the Horseshoe was struggling for capacity as the bubble grew and grew until Binion’s passing on Christmas day 1989.
In 1990, the first non-American took the coveted bracelet when Iranian-born Mansour Matloubi clinched the title. In 1997, the first million-dollar prize pot was on the line, and Stu Ungar joined Johnny Moss as the only men to win the World Series three times. As the millennium drew nearer, the Horseshoe faded in influence despite its achievements. The WSOP became divided and under threat from a rival tournament, The World Poker Tour, with numerous quarrels between the organization and players, leading to critics predicting its demise. It wasn’t until 2003 that the watershed moment occurred when Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP against all the odds, living the dream of so many before him.
Even before online casino games, Moneymaker had single-handedly changed the game and broken through the glass ceiling held together by the pros and the math. Everyone loved him, and they loved what he represented: an ordinary guy with the stones to head up against the best in the world and win. By 2006 the WSOP comprised 45 tournaments, with over $100 million worth of prize money won and billions of viewers worldwide, fulfilling the vision Binion had started back in 1949. This gave rise to the online casino and the many forms of gaming now freely available on the internet, making poker a legitimate hobby enjoyed by every demographic known to man.
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