History of the World Poker Tour.

The World Series of Poker is widely reputed to be the greatest Poker Tournament in the world and the event carries immense prestige for all those who take part. With the finest poker players in the world taking part, competing calls for the highest levels of skill, discipline, and nerves.

In the 1960's, Tommy Morehead of the Riverside Casino in Reno launched a poker invitational but failed to generate much interest or excitement. The real father of the World Series of Poker was actually the Las Vegas legend Benny Binion, a man with a somewhat shady past, but who became one of the greatest casino operators in the world.

After spending most of the 1930's running casinos in the Dallas area, Benny Binion finally moved to Las Vegas and by 1949, the world famous The Horseshoe opened. Benny Binion's style was innovative in that he turned gambling into something high profile and stylish. His high rollers would get the VIP treatment when they came to his casinos, and he was also the first operator to introduce No Limit betting. He was also a big promoter of poker rooms, which had previously only enjoyed limited popularity.

In 1970, Benny Binion launche The World Series of Poker at The Horseshoe, with a Main Event of No Limit Texas Hold'em. In 1973, Five Card Stud was added to the tournament. As the years went by, more and more variations were accepted into the WSOP although as recently as 1998, there were still only 12 events. In contrast, by 2006 there were 42 varieties of poker events held giving every player an opportunity to compete in his or her preferred style. The best poker players in the world, both professional and non professional travel to Las Vegas each year to compete in the World Series of Poker, and each winner receives not only a substantial cash prize, but also a coveted World Series bracelet.

The Main Event at the WSOP has always been the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold'em game. It goes without saying that the casino rakes in a percentage of the buy-in from each event, but the rest of the pooled funds goes towards the prizes. Needless to say, with entries increasing year on year, the prize funds keeps increasing, with the winners of the Main Event now taking home in excess of $7 million. In 2006, the entries for the main event was in the region of 8000 players, all with a $10,000 buy-in, clearly showing that the World Series of Poker shows no signs of slowing down or becoming unpopular.

Of course, the World Series of Poker has been boosted by the modern age as the television network ESPN agreed to televise the event. Using an new initiative, ESPN filmed the live games being played, but also made the cards visible to the viewers. Viewers were now able to watch the poker being played with a greater understanding of player strategy, and felt that they had more involvement in the game. In addition, ESPN edited out the more uninteresting games, making room for commentary on the more exciting games being played in the tournament, and thereby making poker not only thrilling to play, but entertaining to watch.

The 2006 World Series of Poker is being hosted by The Rio from the 25th June and with the entries flowing in, the first prize for the main event is already being estimated in the region of $10 million. To celebrate this landmark in the history of the event, the organisers of the WSOP will cast a commemorative WSOP tournament bracelet for the winners of each event.