WSOP Question

[kompressaur]

Is the wsop finished? I see banners still advertising it. Is there european one or something? Also is the ladbrokes poker cruise a long time gone?

thanks

[raisin man]

Aye komp the WSOP is over. There is a WSOP Europe in London coming up in the autumn. Main event for that is a £10000 buy in.

They haven't decided if any bracelets will be awarded though.

No idea about the cruise.

[kompressaur]

thanks raisin. ill just delete everything that says wsop on it then unless it says european too. I just cant keep up

[mullet1984]

Originally Posted by kompressaur

thanks raisin. ill just delete everything that says wsop on it then unless it says european too. I just cant keep up

Hi Komp

They've tactically called it WSOPE, Betfair are the main sponsors and giving away fcuk loads of seats.

Schedule starts September 6th

6th-8th £2500 HORSE
9th-10th £5000 PLO
10th-16th £10000 Main Event

[kompressaur]

thanks mullet much appreciated. This thread has shown me thats it's really my job to know these things myself so i'm trying to do just that the now. Out of interest ...actually i'll try wikipedia.....

Origins
The original World Series of Poker was started in 1968 by Tom Moore of San Antonio, Texas, at the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno and was an invitational event. This inaugural event was won by Crandell Addington who went on to place in the top ten of the World Series of Poker Main Event eight times, a record that still stands as of 2007. The set of tournaments that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) would evolve into was the brainchild of Las Vegas casino owner and poker player Benny Binion, as well as his two sons Jack and Ted.

The Binion family nurtured not only the WSOP, but poker in general. Prior to the 1970s, poker was not found at many casinos because of the difficulty of keeping cheaters out. Through better security techniques as well as the Binion's tireless promotion through events like the WSOP, poker became a very popular game.

In 1970, the first WSOP at Binion's Horseshoe took place as a series of cash games that included five-card stud, deuce to seven low-ball draw, razz, seven-card stud, and Texas hold 'em. The format for the Main Event as a freeze-out Texas hold 'em game came the next year. The winner in 1970, Johnny Moss, was elected by his peers as the first World Champion of Poker and received a silver cup as a prize.

Evolution
From 1971 on, all WSOP events have been tournaments with cash prizes. In 1973 a new event, Five-card stud, was added to the main event of no limit Texas hold 'em. Since then new events have been added and removed. In 2006 there were 45 events at the WSOP, covering the majority of poker variants. Currently, Texas hold 'Em, Omaha hold 'em and Seven-card stud and their lowball variants (if any) are played. HORSE has been played in the past and returned in 2006. Also, SHOE has been played in the past, and returned in 2007. Other events played in the past include Chinese poker, Five card stud, and many others. Each event winner gets a coveted gold bracelet, in addition to the prize money, which by tradition is paid in cash brought in cardboard boxes.

Phil Hellmuth has the most bracelets with eleven. Runners-up Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan have each won ten bracelets. Doyle's son, Todd Brunson, won a bracelet in a $2,500 Omaha Eight-or-better event in 2005, making them the first and only father/son combo to win at least one event at the WSOP. Also, celebrities Patrick Bruel, Jan Vang Sørensen and Jennifer Tilly have won WSOP bracelets in 1998, 2002 and 2005 respectively.

The number of participants in the WSOP has grown almost every year, and in recent years the growth has exploded. In 2000 there were 4,780 entrants in the various events, but in 2005, the number rose to over 23,000 players. In the main event alone, participants grew from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006. This was known as the "Moneymaker Effect" because after unknown rookie Chris Moneymaker won the main event, everyone thought that they could. Much of this growth can also be attributed to the WSOP airing on ESPN and the World Poker Tour being shown on the Travel Channel, along with other televised series, as well as the boom of online poker.

Like most tournaments, the sponsoring casino takes an entry fee (a percentage between 6% and 10%, depending on the buy-in) and distributes the rest, hence the prize money increases with more players. In the 2005 main event $52,818,610 (US) in prize money was distributed among 560 players, with $7.5 million to first prize.

The Main Event
The Main Event of the WSOP has been the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em (TXHE) tournament since 1972. (In 1971, the buy-in was $5,000.) Winners of the event not only get the largest prize of the tournament and a gold bracelet, but additionally their picture is placed into the Gallery of Champions at Binion's.

The winner of the Main Event has traditionally been given the unofficial title of World Champion. However the game's top professionals have stated that the recently-added $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event is the one which ultimately decides the world's best player. H.O.R.S.E is an event in which Hold 'em, Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Eight-or-better are all played. The H.O.R.S.E tournament was won by Chip Reese in 2006 and Freddy Deeb in 2007. It should be noted that the professionals played a major role in convincing WSOP management to stage an event with a much larger buy-in than the Main Event; the growth of poker tournaments and the World Series (by way of "The Moneymaker Effect") had resulted in fields with a far greater number of amateurs in proportion to professionals. Hence, the Main Event now has a much greater likelihood of producing winners who are amateurs and/or relatively unknown players. The professionals sought to create an event which was far more likely to produce a more well-rounded poker professional as the eventual winner. The $50,000 buy-in, being five times larger than the buy-in for the Main Event, has thus far tended to deter amateurs from playing in the H.O.R.S.E. tournament.

There have been many memorable moments during the main events, including Jack Straus's 1982 comeback win after discovering he had one $500 chip left when he thought he was out of the tournament.

Four players have won the main event multiple times: Johnny Moss (1970, 1971 and 1974), Doyle Brunson (1976 and 1977), Stu Ungar (1980, 1981 and 1997) and Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988.)

The end of the 1988 main event was featured in the movie Rounders.

Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the winners in 2003 and 2004, both qualified for the main event through satellite tournaments at the PokerStars online cardroom.

Jerry Yang, the winner in 2007, had only been playing poker for two years prior to his victory. He won a $225 satellite at Pechanga Resort & Casino.

With the exception of winners of the World Series Of Poker Main Event satellite tournaments (who automatically win a spot in the main event), all remaining players (including former champions, celebrities, and professional poker players) must supply the $10,000 buy-in, in order to participate.

so i suppose my question still is, when does qualifying for the WSOP begin? 2 months before?

I think the poker cruise is over too if anyone was wondering.

[Jezza]

online qualifying for the WSOP will prob start for next year in a month or twos time komp. The cruise is not till january