The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is "the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the world". It has been held annually since 1970 in Las Vegas. Since 1972, the Main Event of the WSOP has been the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament. The winner of the WSOP Main Event receives a World Series of Poker bracelet, millions of dollars (with the exact amount based on the number of entrants), and the right to be considered the year's World Champion of Poker. From 2008 to 2016, the nine players who made it to the final table of the Main Event were called the November Nine, a reference to the fact that the final table was completed in November, months after the Main Event's preliminary rounds were completed.
Until 2005, the WSOP was held at Binion's Horseshoe. In 2005, the event moved to the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. The 2005 Main Event was not played completely at the Rio. The final three tables, which comprised the final 27 players, played the conclusion of the event at Binion's Horseshoe. All the Main Events that followed the 2005 event were played completely at the Rio through 2019, as well as in 2021. Consequently, this made Joe Hachem the final player to win the Main Event at the original home of the World Series of Poker.
Milestones Johnny Moss was the first person to win the WSOP. Since then only Moss and Stu Ungar have won the Main Event three times; Ungar is the only one to have won three times in the freeze-out format. Moss, Ungar, Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan are the only people who have won the Main Event two years in a row. Johnny Chan's second victory in 1988 was featured on the 1998 film Rounders. Peter Eastgate was the youngest person to win the Main Event when he won it in 2008, at 22 years of age. He held that record for one year, when 21-year-old Joe Cada became the youngest Main Event champion.
World Series of Poker Main Event
Elected to the Poker Hall of Fame. †Denotes player who is deceased. Hand The two hole cards the winner held on the final hand. Prize (US$) WSOP Main Event prize money. Entrants The number of players in that year's Main Event. Winnings Lifetime winnings in WSOP and WSOP Circuit events as of April 15, 2013. Bracelets WSOP victories are counted in terms of bracelets, as of April 15, 2013.
Image Year Winner Nickname Hand Prize (US$) Entrants Total tournamentearnings (US$) WSOP bracelets Runner-up Ref. 1970 † The Grand Old Man of Poker 9N/A 1971† The Grand Old Man of Poker 9 † 1972 † Amarillo Slim 4 † 1973 † Puggy 4 † 1974 † The Grand Old Man of Poker 9 † 1975 † Sailor 2 Bob Hooks 1976 † Texas Dolly 10 † 1977 † Texas Dolly 10 † 1978 The Owl 4 † 1979 † — 1 † 1980 † StueyorThe Kid 5 † 1981 † StueyorThe Kid 5 1982 † Treetop 2 1983 Grand Rapids Tom 4 1984 † Gentleman 3 † 1985 † — 1 1986 — 5 1987 Orient Express 10 1988 Orient Express 10 1989 The Poker Brat 17 1990 — 1 † 1991 — 1 1992 — 3 Tom Jacobs 1993 — 2 1994 — 1 Hugh Vincent 1995 Action Dan 2 1996 — 4 1997 † StueyorThe Kid 5 1998 The Trainor The Prince of Poker 5 Kevin McBride 1999 † — 1 2000 Jesus 6 2001 El Matador 2 2002 — 1 2003 — 1 2004 Fossilman 1 2005 — 1 2006 — 1 2007 The Shadow 1 2008 Isser 1 2009 — 4 † 2010 Jonathan Duhamel — 3 2011 MastaP89 1 2012 — 2 Jesse Sylvia 2013 Riess the Beast 1 Jay Farber 2014 NosbocajM 1 2015 — 3 Joshua Beckley2016 Tommy Gun 1 Gordon Vayo 2017 — 1 Dan Ott 2018 — 12019 — 12020 — 1 Brunno Botteon2021 — 1 George Holmes2022 — 2 Adrian Attenborough2023 — 22024 The Wizard 1 Jordan Griff2025 The Grinder 8 John Wasnock }}2026—1
World Series of Poker Europe Main Event The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, the bracelet events have occurred every year in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. The 2007 Main Event, a GBP 10,000 buy-in no-limit hold 'em tournament, was won by Norwegian player Annette Obrestad on the day before her 19th birthday. This made her the youngest person to win a WSOP bracelet, a record that cannot be broken in the Las Vegas WSOP under current laws because the minimum legal age for casino gaming in Nevada is 21. Obrestad could play in the WSOPE because the minimum age for casino gaming in the United Kingdom is 18. The World Series of Poker Europe has a unique identity from the Las Vegas WSOP, but according to Harrah's will remain true to the traditions and heritage. The 2011 WSOP Europe main event was an 8-handed event.
Image Year Winner Nickname Hand Prize Entrants Total tournamentearnings WSOP bracelets Runner-up Ref. 2007 Annette_15 £ 362 $ 1 2008 JJorLuckbox £ 362 $ 5 Stanislav Alekhin 2009 — £ 334 — 2 2010 — £ 346 — 1 Fabrizio Baldassari 2011 smokrockflock € 593 — 1 2012 The Poker Brat € $ 17 Sergii Baranov 2013 Amadi_017 £ 375 $ 1 2015 ImaLuckSac £313$2 David Lopez 2017 Iquinze € 529 $ 1 Gianluca Speranza 2018 Swaggersorus € 534 $ 1 Laszlo Bujtas 2019 Alexandros Kolonias mexican222 € 541 $ 1 Claas Segebrecht 2021 Josef Gulas Jr € 688 2022 Omar Eljach € 763 Jonathan Pastore 2023 Max Neugebauer € 817 Eric Tsai 2024 Simone Andrian € 768 Urmo Velvelt 2025 Daniel Pidun € 659 Gerald Karlic 2026 Marius Kudzmanas € 2,617 Akihiro Konishi
World Series of Poker Asia Pacific Main Event The World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC) is the most recent expansion of World Series of Poker-branded tournaments outside the United States. On April 30, 2012, WSOP owner Caesars Entertainment and Australian casino Crown Melbourne announced that the first WSOP APAC would be launched with five bracelet events in April 2013.
Image Year Winner Nickname Hand Prize (A$) Entrants Total tournamentearnings (US$) WSOP bracelets Runner-up Ref. 2013 Kid Poker 405 6 Daniel Marton 2014Scott Davies Big Papi 329 1 Jack Salter
World Series of Poker Online Main Event
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 the World Series of Poker held an online poker series.
Image Year Winner Nickname Hand Prize (US$) Entrants Total tournamentearnings (US$) WSOP bracelets Runner-up Ref.2020 Stoyan Madanzhiev — 1 Wenling Gao2021 Aleksei Vandyshev — Edson Tsutsumi2022 Simon Eric Mattsson — Kannapong Thanarattrakul2023 Bert Stevens Girafganger7 Yagen Li2024 Moritz Dietrich Evgenii Akimov2025 Benjamin Rolle Anatoly Zlotnikov
Players with multiple WSOP Main Event Final Table appearances This is a list of players who have reached the Final Table at the WSOP Main Event at least twice. Does not include results from WSOP Europe, WSOP Asia Pacific or WSOP Online. Elected to the Poker Hall of Fame. Player Championships Final Tables Years/FinishJesse Alto081974 (4th), 1975 (6th), 1976 (2nd), 1978 (5th), 1984 (3rd), 1985 (6th), 1986 (4th), 1988 (9th)Johnny Moss371970, 1971 (1st), 1972 (6th), 1973 (2nd), 1974 (1st), 1979 (5th), 1980 (4th), 1985 (7th) Doyle Brunson271971 (3rd), 1972 (3rd), 1976 (1st), 1977 (1st), 1980 (2nd), 1982 (4th), 1983 (3rd) Crandell Addington071972 (4th), 1973 (9th), 1974 (2nd), 1975 (3rd), 1976 (4th), 1978 (2nd), 1979 (7th)Sailor Roberts161971 (6th), 1973 (6th), 1974 (3rd), 1975 (1st), 1977 (5th), 1982 (8th) Stu Ungar341980 (1st), 1981 (1st), 1990 (9th), 1997 (1st)Johnny Chan241987 (1st), 1988 (1st), 1989 (2nd), 1992 (7th) Dan Harrington141987 (6th), 1995 (1st), 2003 (3rd), 2004 (4th)Berry Johnston141982 (3rd), 1985 (3rd), 1986 (1st), 1990 (5th) Jack Straus141971 (2nd), 1972 (5th), 1973 (3rd),1982 (1st) T.J. Cloutier041985 (2nd), 1988 (5th), 1998 (3rd), 2000 (2nd) Bob Hooks041973 (5th), 1974 (6th), 1975 (2nd), 1976 (5th)Hamid Dastmalchi131985 (5th), 1992 (1st), 1995 (4th)Jack Keller131984 (1st), 1987 (9th), 1992 (8th)Puggy Pearson131971 (5th), 1972 (2nd), 1973 (1st)Bill Smith131981 (5th), 1985 (1st), 1986 (5th)John Bonetti031990 (8th), 1990 (3rd), 1996 (3rd)Jimmy Casella031971 (4th), 1972 (8th), 1973 (7th)Al Krux031990 (6th), 1994 (5th), 2004 (6th)Steve Lott031986 (7th), 1989 (4th), 1994 (9th)Bobby Baldwin121978 (1st), 1981 (7th)Jim Bechtel121988 (6th), 1993 (1st) Joe Cada122009 (1st), 2018 (5th)Brad Daugherty121991 (1st), 1993 (9th)Noel Furlong121989 (6th), 1999 (1st) Phil Hellmuth121989 (1st), 2001 (5th)Mansour Matloubi121990 (1st), 1993 (4th) Michael Mizrachi122010 (5th), 2025 (1st) Damian Salas122017 (7th), 2020 (1st) Huck Seed121996 (1st), 1999 (6th)Mickey Appleman021987 (8th), 2000 (9th) Gary Berland021977 (2nd), 1986 (3rd) Dave Crunkleton021990 (3rd), 1992 (5th) Fernando Fisdel021989 (7th), 1996 (8th) Tom Franklin021995 (7th), 2000 (8th) Perry Green021981 (2nd), 1991 (5th) Kenny Hallaert022016 (6th), 2025 (4th) Jay Heimowitz021980 (3rd), 1981 (6th) Bobby Hoff021973 (10th), 1979 (2nd) George Huber021979 (3rd), 1983 (9th) Tom Jacobs021986 (9th), 1992 (2nd) Ben Lamb022011 (3rd), 2017 (9th) Hans Lund021990 (2nd), 1992 (3rd) Mike Matusow022001 (6th), 2005 (9th) Sam Moon021979 (4th), 1981 (9th) Mark Newhouse022013 (9th), 2014 (9th)Donnacha O'Dea021983 (6th), 1991 (9th)Rod Peate021983 (2nd), 1990 (7th)Sam Petrillo021979 (8th), 1981 (8th) Antoine Saout022009 (3rd), 2017 (5th) Jeff Shulman022000 (7th), 2009 (5th) Erik Seidel021988 (2nd), 1999 (4th)Ken Smith021978 (6th), 1981 (4th)Dewey Tomko021982 (2nd), 2001 (2nd)Roger Van Ausdall021972 (7th), 1973 (8th)
Notes
References