All in for riches
World Series of Poker marks 50th run
Tens of thousands of professional and amateur poker players go on a pilgrimage to Las Vegas every summer in hopes of returning home richer, owning a gold bracelet and having considerable bragging rights.
They are young and old and overwhelmingly male. They are college dropouts and accountants, entrepreneurs and CEOs, actors and athletes, psychologists and comedians. And they all have a chance of becoming world champions.
At the World Series of Poker — now marking its 50th edition — everything is possible.
“The beauty of poker is anyone can enter and anyone can win,” said Ty Stewart, the series’ executive director. “We all love the stories of overcoming challenges, at defying the odds. This occurs regularly at the World Series of Poker.”
Cowboy gambler Benny Binion probably wouldn’t recognize the tournament today. He started it in 1970 as an invitation-only event with a few men gathered at his casino in downtown Las Vegas. They were all elite players, and Johnny Moss was declared the winner by the other men at the table.
Moss got a trophy. There was no multimillion-dollar prize pool, no constant television coverage and definitely no smoking ban.
It has transformed into a phenomenon that has paid almost $3 billion in prizes — minting millionaires, airing live on ESPN and streaming online.
The series is well positioned to set an attendance record this year, with 122,473 entries so far. Its marquee contest, the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold ’em main event, kicks off Wednesday. The no-limit betting rules mean players can wager all their chips at any time.
The tournament this year runs through July 16 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino, off the Las Vegas Strip. It features different poker variations, with buy-ins for the events ranging from $400 to $100,000.
The series saw a record 123,865 contestants in 2018, when the prize pool of over $266 million was divided among 18,105 participants. Twentyeight of them earned at least $1 million. Every champion received a gold bracelet under a tradition started in 1976.