Annually in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada the World Series Of Poker is held and is currently the world’s most popular poker event. However, the first in 1970 involved only seven entrants and it was not until the early 1980s, when the World Series Of Poker started satellite tournaments, that the event drew greater than fifty people. By the mid-1980s, this number had grown to over 2,000.
In the 1970s the first broadcasts of the World Series of Poker were aired. These were produced and broadcasted as documentaries as opposed to a sporting event being narrated by Jimmy Snyder. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, CBS continued to provide light coverage of the event, which included time delayed broadcast of the final table some years.
By the end of the ’80s ESPN had positioned themselves as the goto broadcaster of this poker event, airing continuous footage of each stage of the tournament. From the year 2000 to 2001 The Discovery Channel and Travel Channel showcased the main event of the WSOP. This was short-lived as the sports broadcaster giant ESPN then took over the spotlight.
The power of computers and the World Wide Web was redefining the poker world. This made poker available to an unlimited number of people all around the world. Thanks to numerous online bookmakers, people from all over the world could play poker for money at any time. This created a sensation that has peaked but remains very much alive today.
As this phenomenon began its ascent, interest in The World Series of Poker, poker’s highest profile game, ascended with it. ESPN was ready every step of the way to increase coverage to meet demand and even orchestrated a delayed final table in 2008 in order to maximize ratings. Most years viewers will have knowledge of the winner ahead of time, sapping some of the drama from broadcast. It was in the year of 2006 that the number of entrants reached an outstanding 8,773.
Many people only took notice of this major poker tournament from the early 2000s, but the WSOP actually has an elaborate history. For instance, we pay great attention to the non-professionals who have won or come close to winning the final table. However, the first non-pro to win was Hal Fowler and he did it back in 1979. It is believed, though not confirmed, that the godfather of the World Series of Poker, Benny Binnion paid for his buy-in to the main event.
Sister of professional poker player Howard Ledrer, Annie Duke, made history in 2000 when she just missed making it to the final table of the main event. Therefore, in 2006, when Annie Duke got as far as the final 88, ESPN celebrated her success. One of the announcers even commented that Duke might be the first woman to reach the final table. However, the truth is that Barbara Enright had already become a legend, earning that distinction in 1995.
Likewise, fans often believe that famous World Series of Poker participant Johnny Chan is the only player to reach the final two, three years in a row. But the first player to ever win consecutive WSOP main events was Puggy Pearson, winning in ’71, ’72 and ’73. Eventually claiming the title in ’73, he was the very first poker player not from the state of Texas to win the World Series of Poker.
