World Series of Poker (WSOP)

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is unlike any other poker tournament and is to become the World Champion is the greatest achievement that any player can gain. The tournament is presented by Harrah's and is held at the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas each year.

The tournament started in 1970 and was first started by Benny Binion and it included 7 of the top poker players in the world. However, now it is open to others as anyone who is 21 years or old or above is eligible to enter the tournament as long as they pay the required buy-in.

The World Series of Poker is more than just a 2 or 3 day tournament in Las Vegas, it also features a series of tournaments during the year in which players play and get ready for the grand finale.

The 2005 World Series of Poker finale started on June 2, 2005 with its first event, Casino Employee No-limit Hold'em with a $500 buy-in. This is just the first in many games happening each day leading to the Grand Finale on July 7th. The championship which starts this day has a buy-in of $10000 and the game is No-Limit Hold'em.

The first day has close to 6000 players who play against each other and the field is narrowed down to 1500-1950 players by day 2. By day three the field is further decreased to 500-1000, and then by day 4 to 200-400 players.

On day 4 the buy-in is another $1500 and the 200-400 players play down to 100-150 players. Day 5 continues with these players and there is another buy-in of $1000. By the end of the day the total number of players is down to 27 from close to 6000 only 5 days ago.

On the 6th day of the tournament these 27 players buy-in ($1000) and now compete for the final 9 spots at the last table. The finale with these 9 players lasts 2 days (2nd day if necessary) with the winner taking the prize and becoming the World Champion. 6% of the pool will be kept for the house, with another 3% which is withheld for tournament staff.

The total number of entries for this year's tournament was 5619 players and the total prize money available was $52,818,610. The top 560 players were awarded varying cash prizes, with the 561st finishing player awarded a seat at next years tournament. However, the big winner this year was Joseph Hachem from Melbourne, Australia. He became the World Series of Poker Champion with winnings of $7.5 million.

This event is not just something you can see in Las Vegas, it is nationally televised on ESPN every Tuesday starting July 19th and fans from around the world will be tuning in to watch. The tournament is becoming so popular that the ratings for this event are moving up with the other big sporting events.

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