Playing poker has been a staple of the gambling world for well over a century. For most of that time, it was strictly played as a ring game. In ring games, players sit down with real money, and they are free to quit at any given moment. But, the idea behind a massive poker competition was introduced, revolutionizing how poker is played. In a tournament, everyone pays a fixed entry fee, everyone starts evenly, and you play until one person holds all the chips. This article will trace the origins of competitive poker.
The history of the modern poker tournament is directly tied to the legendary World Series. In 1970, the owner of Binion’s Horseshoe brought the greatest players to his Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. This first event didn’t have a modern structure. It was a standard ring game, when it was over, they held a democratic vote to decide who the ”World Champion” was (they voted for Johnny Moss).
Benny Binion quickly realized that voting for a winner was not exciting for spectators.
This freezeout rule remains the gold standard for almost all major poker tournaments in the modern era.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, the WSOP was a niche activity reserved for professional gamblers and Texas road gamblers. The world shifted in the early 2000s. An unknown amateur accountant Chris Moneymaker took down the $10,000 Main Event. The reason this caused a boom was how he got there.
| Decade | Historical Moment | The Result |
|---|---|---|
| The Beginning | Benny Binion invites the pros | Created the WSOP brand |
| 1971 | The $5,000 buy-in event | Made it a real competition |
| The Internet Era | The amateur wins it all | Explosion of online sites |
Ultimately, poker tournaments evolved from a smoky backroom game into a massive, globally televised sporting spectacle. Currently, any amateur can enter a tournament and try to win the next poker millionaire.</p
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