The World Series of Poker Background

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is "the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped gaming competition in the world". It is held annually in Las Vegas. The first WSOP occurred in 1970 was an invitational wherein Benny Binion invited six of the best known poker players to The Horseshoe Casino. At first, the WSOP grew slowly. It took twelve years before the event drew 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s satellites were introduced allowing people to win their way into the various events for less than the full entry fees. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants into the tournament. Participation peaked in 2006, with 8,773 people participating in the Main Event alone.

The first World Series of Poker was not a freeze out tournament, but rather an event with a set start and stop time with the winner determined by secret ballot. In 1973, a second event, five-card stud was added. Over the years most of the major poker variants have been played at one time or another. Since 2007, the WSOP has consisted of 55 events. While events traditionally take place over one or more consecutive days during the series in June and July, in 2008 the Main Event final table was delayed until November. The winner of each event wins a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts. A World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted prize or trophy a poker player can win, with one from the Main Event revered above all others.Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. WSOP victories prior to 1976 are also known as "bracelets". Most of the major poker variants are featured, though in recent years over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold 'em.

The series culminates with the $10,000 no-limit hold'em "Main Event", which since 2004 has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar prize. The winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker. Since its inception, Stu Ungar is the only player to have won the Main Event three times. Johnny Moss also holds three Main Event titles, however the first win was not played in the current tournament format but by a vote making Ungar the only three-time champion in terms of actual victories. Moss (if the first time win by vote is counted), Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan are the only people who have won the Main Event for two consecutive years. Johnny Chan's second victory in 1988 was featured on the 1998 film Rounders. Phil Hellmuth holds multiple WSOP records: most bracelets (11), WSOP cashes (68) and most WSOP final tables (41).The current Main Event bracelet winner, Peter Eastgate is the youngest person to win the Main Event. Since 2005, the WSOP has been sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment.

World Poker Tour background information.

The World Poker Tour is a collection of Texas hold 'em poker tournaments held internationally, but mainly in the United States. The television show and the broadcasts of the World Series of Poker have led to a boom in the table game across American homes, in local casino poker rooms and online. The key sponsors of the tour are casinos and online poker sites. The show, which is syndicated internationally, is co-hosted by World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mike Sexton, and actor Vince Van Patten.
The tour had its debut season in the latter part of 2002 and early part of 2003, climaxing with the WPT Championship in April 2003 at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first season aired on the Travel Channel on American cable television in the spring of 2003. The show made its network debut on February 1, 2004 on NBC with a special "Battle Of Champions" tournament, which aired against CBS coverage of the Super Bowl XXXVIII pre-game show. The Travel Channel aired the first five seasons of the Tour. In April 2007, WPTE announced that the series would move to GSN for its sixth season in the spring of 2008. The first WPT tournament to air on GSN, the Mirage Poker Showdown, debuted on March 24, 2008. In July 2008, WPTE announced that the series would move to Fox Sports Net for its seventh season.

INSANE BLUFF

Tom Dwan

Tom Dwan is famous throughout internet forums and chat rooms. When other college students see a young player such as Tom Dwan being so successful, they believe they can make large amounts of money too. He is the trail blazer for young online poker players.

Dwan began playing poker at age 17 in New Jersey. He first started out on play-money tables on Paradise Poker, before he deposited some cash and started playing low-stakes SNGs. He decided to choose a screen name with the goal of tilting people (“durrrr”). He saw from the beginning that he was a winner. He said “I never really worried if I was good at it; I just thought everyone else was bad and it seemed like an easy way to make money.”

Two months into his poker career he moved to the cash tables. By the time he turned 18 he had won around $15,000 and was looking for higher stakes to play in. He says he started playing $40/$80 limit and went on a good run to win about $35k. Then he lost $20k and switched to no-limit. At that time he had around $40k to his name and was playing $5/$10 NL. Then he moved up to $25/$50 losing about $10k. He proceeded to move back down until about three months later when he had more money and has been gaining ever since then. He has risen to the top in a very short amount of time but Dwan is quick to downplay his success. “I run good, what can I say?” he said jokingly.

A couple years ago Bluff magazine ran a piece on Tom Dwan and his housemate David Benefield (“Raptor517”). Chris Vaughn watched Tom Dwan play a quick session. He said a quick “sesh” for Dwan involved him opening up six tables with the smallest limit being played was $100/$200 NL Hold’em. In less than an hour Chris Vaughn witnessed this fearless, young poker phenom win nearly $200,000. He made this amount of money in less than an hour! That means he made approximately $4500 a minute or $75 a second! That sounds better than any job he could get out of college.

His reputation is so well known among fellow online poker players that it is sometimes hard for him to get a game.

Tom Dwan’s ability to make stellar calls is that of legend. On one such hand he called down Patrik Antonius’s $100,000 rive bluff with third pair. He says, “In that hand I had a timing tell on Patrik Antonius, but most of the time it comes down to putting your opponent on a range of hands and deciding what they would do with that range a percentage of the time. Against a really good play I can never be 100%, but if I am 75% sure I am always going to make the call.”
Tom Dwan has started to play a lot more pot-limit omaha because he believes his edge is bigger, even though he is better at NL, because the people he is playing against are worst he believes. He claims this is because in PLO you get more cards, you get more good hands and it’s easier to think you’re amazing. He says it is a better game to make money off of.

Since Tom Dwan has turned 21 he has decided to join the live tournament circuit. He has had some great success so far with a 4th place finish at the WPT Foxwoods event (NLH), 2nd place finish at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship (PLO), and 2nd place finish at the WPT Borgata Winter Open (NLH).

Those who watch Dwan play say he has the audacity and raw intelligence that resembles Phil Ivey. He is known to be a very nice guy and easy to get along with but journalist Alun Bowden witnessed him play a $2,000 game of rock, paper, scissors with another poker phenom Sorel Mizzi. He stared at his opponent, looking fierce with his glazed eyes focused on his every move.
He is fearless when it comes to gambling. During the 2007 WSOP he had $50,000 prop bet with his house-mate David Benefield where he had to play a series of high stakes chess matches against an International Chess Master who started without one rook. Dwan lost that bet.

When people tell Dwan that he is a natural talent he is quick to squash that idea. He says “I think the natural talent thing is pretty overrated. I think anyone can learn to play poker and do pretty well if they are intelligent and open-mind.”

Watch WCOOP Highlights: $5,200 Main Event on PokerStars.tv

Ivan Demidov

Following the same path as many others who later became multi-millionaire poker players, Russian pro Ivan Demidov started out playing computer game StarCraft. But by the time he graduated in 2004 from Moscow State University with a degree in Math, he'd moved on to the far more lucrative poker circuit - a career progression that would change his life forever just four years later.

Before 2008, Ivan had a few cashes in tournaments back home in Moscow. He also made the final table of a side event at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2007, taking home $21,710 for a 3rd place finish. At the 2008 World Series of Poker*, he picked up a cash of $39,000 for almost making the final table of the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em event, eventually finishing in 11th. But even with this confidence boost, Ivan probably didn't rate his chances too highly when it came time for the Main Event. It may be the biggest title in poker, but with over 6,000 runners, getting there is one hell of a long road.

Someone has to make it though. And after eleven long days and 6,835 eliminations, Ivan found himself one of the final nine, with a real shot at winning the title. In the 117 day break before the Final Table was set to begin, Ivan could have taken some well-earned time off. But that's not his style. Instead he went to London to play in the World Series of Poker* Europe Main Event. He somehow made the final table there as well, picking up $608,995 for a third place finish - and a place in the history books as the first player to make the final table of both World Series Main Events. When November finally rolled around, Ivan used his aggressive style to get heads-up against Peter Eastgate. He eventually finished as runner-up, an incredible achievement that was worth a huge payday of $5,809,595.

He may have just missed out on achieving every poker player's dream, but Demidov is no doubt set for great things. Already sitting comfortably at the top of the all time money list for Russian players, you get the feeling that Ivan is just getting started. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name 'Ivan Demidov'.

SCOOP All Stakes - $30M guaranteed!

Get ready - because we’re giving ALL PokerStars players the chance to win big, with millions of dollars in cash prizes on the line. This is the Spring Championship of Online Poker - All Stakes, and it’s going to be massive. Here’s the deal: 22 events, two a day running from April 2-12, with a total guaranteed prize pool of $30,000,000. And if you think it’s only the high-rolling players that win the life-changing money in events like these, think again. Because this time round we’re laying down the challenge to all our players, no matter what stakes you play at. This is the biggest online poker tournament series anywhere online so far in 2009, and satellites are running now, including cash, FPP and Steps Sit & Go qualifiers available in a range of different buy-ins.

Each event will include three tournaments - one for low-stakes players, one for those who play medium-stakes, and finally one for those that play in our high-stakes games. The huge prize pool guarantees in each tournament mean that even low-stakes players have the chance to win big.

There will also be two High-Roller events, and the series ends with the Main Event on Sunday, April 12 - including a $1,000,000 guarantee for the lowest stake level tournament, and a $5,000,000 guarantee for the high-stakes tournament! See the schedule below for full event information.

You can also win prizes by scoring points on the SCOOP Player of the Series Leader Board - including 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final prize packages. See the Leader Board page to find out more.

Daniel Negreanu

Having come of age in the pool halls of Toronto, poker superstar Daniel Negreanu originally had aspirations of being a professional snooker player. In this kind of environment, he was never too far away from a card game and eventually become intrigued enough to play himself. He moved to Las Vegas soon after and hasn’t looked back since.

In the space of just ten years, Daniel has achieved possibly the greatest live tournament results record ever seen. In 1998 at just 23, he became the youngest ever player at the time to win a World Series bracelet, after taking down the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event. This was to be the start of an incredible run of success at the WSOP*, one that still shows no sign of stopping today. After a 2nd place finish in the $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event in 2002, he returned the following year to claim his 2nd bracelet in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event. He won a third bracelet in 2004’s $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $169,000, and had another good World Series run in 2008, cashing several times and winning a fourth bracelet in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $204,863. A few months later, Daniel travelled to London for the World Series of Poker* Europe and made the final table of the £10,000 Main Event, picking up $395,024 for a 5th place finish.

But while the money he’d earned in World Series events up to this point had been impressive, it was nothing compared to the huge payouts he would soon start winning. By late 2004, WPT events were generating massive prize pools and Daniel wasted no time taking his share. In September, he won the Borgata Poker Open for an incredible $1,117,400 and followed it up just three months later with victory at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic, a win that earned Daniel another $1,770,218. There have also been several other WPT final table appearances, helping him to add another $1,443,013 to his bankroll. Daniel also won $755,525 after finishing 1st in a WSOP* Circuit event in 2005. In all, his total live earnings currently stand at over $10,000,000.

Daniel has also become a popular poker author, with millions of poker fans regularly reading his books, articles and blogs. He regularly appears on major televised poker shows, as both player and commentator. When he has spare time, he enjoys relaxing at home; shooting pool and playing video games with friends. He’s also an avid golfer and can often be found playing for high stakes with other top poker players.

Extremely popular amongst fans, Daniel is a true powerhouse in the poker world. He is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘KidPoker’.


Watch Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu on PokerStars.tv

World Series of Poker - Insane first hand!

Chris Moneymaker

Originally from Atlanta, Chris Moneymaker spent his formative years in Tennessee. He graduated from the state university with a master’s degree in accounting and began working in the industry, playing online poker in his spare time. He could never have predicted he’d go on to become one of the most important people in the world of professional poker.

The story of his rise to stardom is one that’s been told many times, but still deserves to be repeated. In 2003, Chris entered a $39 satellite on PokerStars and won. This gave him a seat in a larger satellite, one that had a World Series Main Event package up for grabs. Chris won that too, and was soon heading off to Las Vegas to play in what was to be his first live tournament. The rest really is history. Against all odds, Chris made it to the final table and went on to claim the gold bracelet, winning prize money of $2,500,000.

His story sparked a tidal wave of interest in poker, a phenomenon that’s been nicknamed the ‘Moneymaker Effect’. Inspired by the tale of how an amateur managed to beat hundreds of world-class players and earn a huge cash prize, millions of people began playing online and in card rooms across the globe. For Chris himself, being the man responsible for kick-starting the poker revolution is a title he’s more than lived up to since. Less than a year after the Main Event, Chris finished 2nd at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars tournament, cashing for $200,000. In the same year, he also came close to making his second World Series final table when he finished 10th in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Chris is also a regular face at PokerStars.com European Poker Tour events and has found success there too, earning $24,480 for a 17th place finish at EPT London in 2007. In September 2008, Chris made the final table of the $10,300 No Limit Hold'em event in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, taking home $139,635.

Regardless of what Chris achieves in the future, he’ll always be remembered for that epic victory in 2003. It’s a legacy he is clearly proud of and one that’s given him the kind of life all poker players dream of. Chris is a member of Team PokerStars Pro and plays online using the screen name ‘Money800’.

Watch Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker on PokerStars.tv

World Series of Poker 2008 Final Table Results & Payouts

1st
Peter Eastgate: $9,152,416

2nd
Ivan Demidov: $5,809,595

3rd
Dennis Phillips : $4,517,773

4th
Ylon Schwartz: $3,774,974

5th
Scott Montgomery : $3,096,768

6th
Darus Suharto: $2,418,562

7th
David ‘Chino’ Rheem: $1,772,650

8th
Kelly Kim: $1,288,217

9th
Craig Marquis: $900,670

Peter Eastgate wins the WSOP* Main Event!

PokerStars Six player Peter Eastgate has been crowned the new World Series of Poker* Main Event Champion - after beating Ivan Demidov in a tough heads-ups battle. For his victory, 22-year old Danish pro Eastgate takes home the bracelet and prize money of $9,152,416! He also enters the history books as the youngest ever Main Event winner.

The heads-up action lasted just over four hours and 105 hands. The early stages saw the chips move back and forth between the two aggressive players, but by the early hours of Tuesday morning, Eastgate had built an impressive chip lead. By the time the players reached what was to be the final break, Demidov was dangerously short stacked, and it was only a matter of time before he made the push. It finally happened shortly after the break.

A board of 2d-Ks-3h-4c-7s saw Demidov move in for his last few chips, and an instant call from Eastgate. Demidov had hit two pair with 2h-4h, but Eastgate was holding Ad-5s and had made a straight on the turn. It was all over for Russian player Demidov, but he still picks up a life-changing $5,809,595 for his runner-up finish.

And that’s that. After 13 days of action, a 117 day wait and 6,843 eliminations, we finally have a new Champion. Congratulations to Peter Eastgate!

Poker Variations

Stud Poker

A form of poker in which one or more cards are dealt to each player face down, followed by one up card (with a betting round) more up cards (and a betting round after each) and then, in seven-card stud, a final down card (and a final betting round). The forms are five-card stud and seven-card stud, and sometimes six-card stud.

The additional cards received can drastically change the rank of player's hands - and this volatility makes the game a favourite with big-time players. Once the new cards are received, the player has another chance to bet.

Seven Card Stud

There are three variations: high, low and high-low. In seven-card high, the highest ranking hand takes the pot, in seven-card low, the lowest hand wins and in seven-card high-low the players vie for both extremes with the highest hand and the lowest hand each claiming half the pot.

In each variation, players receive seven cards. After the first three cards are dealt (two face down, one up) there is a betting round. The next three are dealt open with a betting round after each. The last card comes "down and dirty". The remaining players, who haven't folded, therefore have four open and three closed cards from which they choose their best hand.

Texas Hold'em

The player to deal the first hand can be decided by any method. The ‘Dealer Button' is placed in front of the dealer. After each completed hand, the ‘Dealer Button' is moved clockwise to the next player who becomes the dealer. The dealer will give two cards face down to each player. These are called ‘pocket cards'. Do not let any other player see your cards.

A round of betting will take place. (See explanation of betting below)

The dealer will turn over three (3) community cards, face up, on the centre of the table. These are called the ‘flop'. Thus each player with his own pocket card and the flop, already has the equivalent of a five card poker hand.

A second round of betting will take place.

The dealer will turn over a fourth community card on the table. This card is called the ‘Turn'; also referred to as ‘Fourth Street'.

A third round of betting will take place.

The dealer will turn over a fifth community card on the table. This card is called the ‘River'. It is the River of dreams.

A fourth and final round of betting will take place.

The Showdown – Each player may use the best five of the community and pocket cards to make a hand. The players, who have not previously folded their cards, show their hands. The best hand wins all of the chips that have been bet. If the community cards are the best hand the remaining players split the pot.

How to Bet: Betting is always done in clockwise order. The first person to act is the one sitting on the left-hand side of the player who deals the cards. This person has three choices: he can be, fold (turn his cards and drop out of the hand) or check (pass the opportunity to bet to the next player). All bets are put into the middle of the table and make up what is called the ‘pot'.

After the initial bet, if there s one, the rest of the players in turn have three choices. They can fold, call (match the bet of the previous player) or raise a bet (call and make an incremental bet). A round of betting is finished when all remaining players have acted at least once and have contributed the same amount to the pot. The cumulative number of raises for each round of betting shall not exceed three.

Unless otherwise stated before the game, you are permitted to check or call a bet the first time through and raise the next time the action comes to you.

The amount of the bets and raises is predetermined prior to the start of the game. During the first two rounds each bet and raise must be in the amount of the minimum bet. During the last two rounds each bet and raise must be in the amount of the maximum bet. The minimum bet should be one half the amount of the maximum bet; for example two chips and four chips.

To insure there is always money in the pot, each hand starts with ‘blinds'. Prior to seeing their cards, the first player to the left of the dealer will be bet 50% of the minimum bet and the second player will be bet an amount equal to the minimum bet. The betting will then continue from the third player. This is only done once, prior to the first round of betting.

As an option you may play a No-Limit game. There are designated blinds and or antes as well as a designated opening bet. After that, any player may bet any amount of money he has on the table. In fact, a player may call for a bet in the amount of all chips in front of him. This is called ‘all in'. A player is never obliged to drop out of contention because he does not have a sufficient number of chips to match a bet. The excess amount of the bet is either returned to the player or used in a side pot with other players who matched the entire amount of the bet.

Omaha

Four cards down to each player, plus five cards down to the table. Otherwise, identical to Texas Hold 'em, and the final hands must include exactly two of the player's four cards and three community cards.

Poker Hand Rankings

How to Play Poker

The objective of Poker is to win the pot - the collection of money, chips or other bets made by the players during a hand of poker. Basically, there are two ways you can win:

1) Have the highest ranking hand

2) Bluff the other players into folding by making them believe you have the winning hand. It is from this strategy that made the "poker face" famous.

As in other casino games, there are strict rules to abide by. But in poker, it is very important to know the specific order of hierarchy, poker hands and poker odds. The lower the probability of getting the hand, the higher the rank and the stronger the hand, the better chance you have at winning the pot.

The game starts with the dealer handing out the cards clockwise from his or her left. As soon as the cards are dealt, the players are left with four options. You may check the bet (bet nothing but still remain in the game), call the previous bet (bet the same amount as the previous bet), raise the previous bet (increase the amount of the previous bet), or fold (giving up a chance to win the pot by not matching a bet). You can only check when no other players have made any bets and it's your turn in that round.

There are commonly only three rounds of betting allowed in casino poker. When a player makes his or her bet, the next player can call, raise, or fold. To stay in the game you must at least match the previous player's bet. However, you can always forfeit you chips or money by folding. As in all organized games, there is a betting structure in casino poker. For example, if you're playing at a $2-$5 table, you can only bet at increments of $2 until a player has a pair showing or until the bet has gone around the table once or twice (depending on which casino).

Only at that point can the betting increments be raised to $5. Since all the players are trying to win the pot, they are virtually all playing against one another (unlike Blackjack). The casino makes money by charging 10 percent of the pot for each hand of poker. The maximum house take on the pot is usually set at $3, although that maximum can vary by casino and by table, depending on the betting increments.

Poker Hand Rankings

1. Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, 10 all of the same suit
2. Straight Flush: Any five card sequence in the same suit(Ex: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
3. Four of a Kind: All four cards of the same index (Ex: Q, Q, Q, Q)
4. Full House: Three of a kind combined with a pair (Ex: K, K, 3, 3, 3)
5. Flush: Any five cards of the same suit, but not in sequence
6. Straight: Five cards in sequence, but not in the same suit
7. Three of a Kind: Three cards of the same index
8. Two Pair: Two separate pairs (Ex: Q, Q, 7, 7)
9. Pair: Two cards of the same index
10. High Card:

Poker Rules

Why are poker rules important? Why do poker rules help settle arguments? And why isn't there an official set of Hold’em rules in the same way that there are official rules for other games? Read on and find out!

Setting up a regular game of poker in your home or at a local social club is something can be extremely rewarding. You get to spend time with your friends, practice your poker skills and enjoy the never-fading buzz of competing to win.

Alas, home games don't always go smoothly. In the heat of poker battle some players tend to get a little "confused" about the poker rules governing the game and if you aren't careful you may find yourself sitting in the middle of an equally heated argument about which Hold’em rules need to be followed.

To bring such episodes to a fast and amicable end - and to prevent arguments arising in future games - you need a firm set of poker rules that all players can agree on and adhere to from the outset. If you have this then settling an argument is a simple case of referring to the book of poker rules and acting accordingly.

Unfortunately, most card games (apart from ones like contract bridge) don't have any definitive, official set of rules. This means that poker rules can and do vary from place to place, and the normal procedure is for a serious game organiser to spend a lot of time and effort putting his own set of poker rules together.

To help you avoid that investment of time and effort, we've done all of the hard work for you. We've scoured the planet to locate all of the best and most comprehensive poker rules available and - in the tradition of card rooms all over the globe - we've written our very own book of Hold’em rules. Even better, we've presented it in a user-friendly section-by-section format so that you can refer to and use it with ease.