WSOP Time line

1970 7 players Johnny Moss
Moss was voted winner

1971 6 players Johnny Moss
Entry fee $5,000

1972 8 players Slim Preston
Entry fee raised to $10,000

1973 13 players Puggy Pearson

1974 16 players Johnny Moss

1975 21 players Sailor Roberts

1976 22 players Doyle Brunson

1977 34 players Doyle Brunson
Last Winner Take all

1978 31 players Bobby Baldwin
Winner 67%

1979 54 players Hal Fowler
Winner 50%

1980 73 players Stu Ungar

1981 75 players Stu Ungar
End of Good O' Boy era

1982 104 players Jack Strauss

1983 108 players Tom McEvoy

1984 132 players Jack Keller

1985 140 players Bill Smith

1986 141 players Berry Johnston
Winner 40%

1987 156 players Johnny Chan

1988 167 players Johnny Chan

1989 178 players Phil Hellmuth Jr

1990 194 players Mansour Matloubi

1991 215 players Brad Daugherty
1 Mil guaranteed winner

1992 201 players Hamid Dastmalchi

1993 220 players Jim Bechtel

1994 268 players Russ Hamilton

1995 273 players Dan Harrington

1996 295 players Huck Seed

1997 312 players Stu Ungar

1998 350 players Scotty Nguyen
End of Old pro era

1999 393 players J J Furlong

2000 512 players Chris Ferguson

2001 612 players Carlos Mortenson

2002 631 players Robert Varkonyi

2003 839 players Chris Moneymaker

2004 2576 players Greg Raymer

Circuit Report for Event #8 (No-Limit Texas Hold'em) February 27, 2005 at Rincon San Diego

Former 2000 World Poker Champion Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson triumphs again after 13 hours at the final table of the tournament marathon.

Buy-in: $10,000

Total Entries: 208

Total Prize Pool: $1,976,000

Winner: Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, $655,220

The Final Table, Final Game

Friedman was dealt 5S,4S , very acceptable for a heads-up game. The flop came K,J,10 (two of which were spades). Friedman went all-in hoping to bluff with a spade draw. Ferguson took no time to make the call. Ferguson held Q,J for two pair or a straight draw. It came down to Friedman waiting for a spade or two pair, or better. If that had happened, the everyone could have been there until the wee hours of the morning, however that didn't happen. Ferguson won with just a pair of Js.

2004 will go down in History as the year the WSOP changed. The popularity of the WSOP and WPT on Television combined with the explosion of online poker has changed the WSOP forever. In 2003 when Moneymaker went from a $40 satellite online to WSOP it heralded a change that even the promoters did not expect. Benny Binion would be proud in his grave.

Legend has it that Nick the Greek originally suggested a World Series of poker to Benny Binion in 1949 but it took 20 years to make it happen. Binion in an interview with Mary Glass said that the 1 st game was held in Reno by a gambler named Moore. In truth calling it the World Series might have been a bit of exaggeration. In fact from in the first 20 years the tournament barely progressed from; "whose in town" to "West coast series with a few guys from Texas." In fact most of these years the field increased about 10% from year to year. In 1990 when Matloubi won it still had less than 200 players

In 1990-91 a couple of things changed that moved the game out of the backrooms and into everyone's consciousness. The legalization of Indian and riverboat gambling across the United states made casino poker available to most Americans. New names started appear at the final table. Throughout the nineties poker continued to grow all over the world. Even the Casinos of Europe were laying Seven Card Stud, and from time to time you could even find a Hold'em game. (Some of those games would make a California $2-4, No Fold'em Hold'em game look tighter than a ... well you know what I mean, but those are stories for another day.)

I should note that in the card rooms of England Hold'em and specifically no limit and pot limit had been available for years. There were some great players in England, Australia too, but the competition was rather weak. Based on those I have met online, I expect to see them at the final table. Number one happens to be a kid called "Deuce" Doyle, no relation, but he has the gift.

In the mid-nineties the first Online poker sites opened and the whole environment changed. Now anyone with a computer and internet connection can play, and do. Players that normally only played every Thursday night, can now play every day. Not only against better opponents but now they can play for big prizes on a weekly or daily basis. With the initiation of online Satellites a player can win the $10,000 entry fee, and expenses for a $40 buy-in. This game has become the only game where a young accountant can sit down with the best in the world and come away the world champion like Chris Moneymaker.

The WSOP has changed and Chris was the first of many of the new breed of winner. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, like Moneymaker, won his seat at Pokerstars also but he is a bit of a throw back. He had participated twice before in the final and had played in many of the other events. He had played quite a bit in Chicago when younger and was/is a Foxwoods regular. To win Raymer beat 2575 other players and the WSOP has changed forever. More importantly at the final table were 3 other Internet players and 4 players were in their 20's. No doubt Benny Binion is twisting in his grave. The added players has/will cause a couple of major changes. Much like Baseball the increased number of competitors has in some ways lowered the average skill level, but at the same time increased the chances that old "skilled" players might have a bit of bad luck. Finally many of these new players bring a skill level equal to or better than many of the Good O' Boys.

From now on the WSOP will be even more wide open and the dominance of the "Legends" is over. The "Legends," like Custard, will find themselves encircled and out numbered. The O' guys will probably dominate the side tournaments for a while, and no skilled player will fail to make a living in such a target rich environment but the dominance of the final is over. Actually Benny wouldn't be twisting. He is trying to get it move to Costa Rica or Antigua.

Legends in Poker Editorials