According to legend, there were two votes conducted to determine the world champion.  The first time they voted, each player cast a vote for themselves, which naturally resulted in a 7 way tie.  Players were then asked to cast a vote for the second best player and the results of the voting placed Johnny Moss as the World Champion of poker.  The prize for being elected the World Champion of Poker was a silver cup.   Bracelets were not awarded as the top prize until 1976.

The following year, the World Series of Poker was expanded to a set of tournaments and the World Champion was decided by a freeze out tournament.  Six players entered the Main Event in 1971.  Each player put up $5,000 of their own money.  The top prize was $30,000 and was a winner takes all prize.  Head up saw Johnny Moss face Walter “Puggy” Pearson. In the end, Moss emerged the victor and took the $30,000 prize and his second straight world title.

By the time 1974 came around, the World Series of Poker was not at 5 preliminary events and the Main Event.  The Main Event saw 16 people put up $10,000 to take a shot at the world title.  The top prize for this event was $160,000 and was again a winner take all prize.  Johnny Moss and Crandell Addington faced each other heads up for the title.  Addington put up a fight but in the end Johnny Moss took his third World Series of Poker World Championship.

Johnny Moss would make three more final tables in the Main Event after his win in 1974 but the best he would finish is 4th in 1980.  Moss finished his career with 9 bracelets in all and is still only one of two players to win the Main Event three times.

For the first 25 years of the World Series of Poker’s existence, Johnny Moss was a staple of the games.  He played all the games well and was a respected man at the poker tables.  In addition, Moss’ nickname of the “Grand Old Man of Poker” was not just a term of endearment, but also a fact.  Moss was 63 years old when he won his first main event title and was 81 years of age when he won his last bracelet in 1988.  The ace-ten is typically referred to as the Johnny Moss.  Moss was one of the original members of the Poker Hall of Fame.  He was inducted in 1979.

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The World Series of Poker (WSOP) originally started back in 1968 as an invitational event at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno, NV. The event was won by Crandell Addington. The World Series of Poker as we know it today started back in 1970 as a set of cash games that drew the best Poker players in the world together to compete for the title of WSOP. Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas, NV was the venue for this new World Series of Poker. The champion was determined by a vote and Johnny Moss emerged as the winner. For his win, Moss received a silver cup.

The next year, the champion was determined by a freezeout tournament and Johnny Moss again emerged the victor. 1973 saw the introduction of the first preliminary WSOP tournament. Bill Boyd won the Five Card Stud event for a grand prize of $20,000. Every year through 2003, the event was held at Binions. Many champions emerged victorious throughout the years including Doyle Brunson, Stu Unger, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth.

The Main Event was not the only poker tournament held at the World Series of Poker. Over the years bracelet events have been held in all forms of poker including Seven Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, H.O.R.S.E. and Lowball. Some games that have come and gone over the years include Five Card Stud, Five Card Draw, Ace to Five Draw, Match Play, Mixed Doubles, and Women’s Seven Card Stud.

The Rio – Home of the World Series of Poker

In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment purchased the Horseshoe and the rights to the World Series of Poker. The event was then moved to the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino with the last two days played at Binions downtown. 2004 was the last year that any portion of the WSOP was held at Binions. Since then, the even has been held at the Rio. 2004 also saw Chris Moneymaker parlay an online satellite into a world title. Since then, the popularity of poker has exploded and ushered in the current Poker Boom.

By the time of the 2006 World Series of Poker, the fields had grown to such epic size that the Main Event was view much like a lottery. A new event was created to showcase the elite of the poker world and try and bring back some of the old school luster of the World Series of Poker. This event was the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event. Chip Reese emerged as the first champion of the event and since then the event has showcased the best of the poker world.

The Main Event is still the World Championship of Poker. Each year thousands of players make the journey out to Vegas to try and put their name in the record books. This year’s World Champion is still to be determined. Harrah’s decided to delay the final table until November to allow for increased coverage of the event. The “November Nine” will reconvene on November 9^th and play down to the final two. Those players will return on November 10^th to play for the title and the $9 Million top prize.