The World Series of Poker otherwise known as the WSOP is nearly upon us once again. And there is no better place to qualify for the Main Event in Las Vegas than with EuroPoker.com.

EuroPoker.com offer freeroll and satellite WSOP qualification from just one dollar. Plus, Direct buy-ins to weekly online finals!

History of the World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker* features 55 bracelet events with buy-ins up to $50,000 held annually. The WSOP’s historical success is owed in large part to Mr. Benny Binion who hosted the first ever World Series of Poker* in1970.

In 1970, the first World Series of Poker or the WSOP as it would come to be known, was hosted at Binion's Horseshoe as a series of cash games and Johnny Moss, the first champion, was awarded a silver cup. The popularity of the WSOP grew slowly and it wasn’t until the early 1980s that it began to attract players in any real significance. The tournament started out with games such as Five-card stud, Deuce to seven low-ball draw, Razz, Seven-card stud, and Texas Hold'em had been played. Cash prizes began to be awarded from the second championship held in 1971.

In the early days of the WSOP the tournament format used was a Freeze-out Texas Hold 'em game, this was adopted during 1971 and 1973, Five-card stud was introduced shortly after the first event. Nowadays Omaha Hold 'em and Seven-card stud and their variants, Horse and shoe are all played competitively at the WSOP. To give you some idea of the growth, in 1972 there were just 2 events, while the modern day event plays host to about 55 events.

The much coveted golden bracelet is awarded to winners along with the fractionally less important cash prize. Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan are remembered as having won 10 bracelets each, with Phil Hellmuth going one better and winning 11. Phil has also been a leading factor in the commercialisation of the WSOP. His ostentations entrances’ are always a highlight of the opening days at any World Series of Poker.

So if living it up in Vegas and playing at the greatest poker tournament on earth sounds like your kind of thing, you’re in the right place. We will be blogging from this year’s WSOP, so even if you’re not there, you won’t miss a any of the action. Qualify with EuroPoker.com for this year’s WSOP*. *World Series of Poker ® and WSOPSM are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC.