Poker Tournaments History
No one knows the exact origin of poker; some people believe it began with a Persian card game named AS NAS. It was played with 25 cards with 5 different suits.
Europeans used to call it “Poque”(French) or “Pochen”(German). In the United States the game was first played in New Orleans in the early of 1800’s, prior to the American civil war.
When everybody realized poker was spreading so quickly from place to place it had already become an important part of the big gambling revolution. The ones responsible for poker’s appearance were the professional gamblers who were trying to introduce the game and profit from the effect it had on the people.
Poker became very popular in the American casinos after the World Series of Poker which began in 1970. It was also during that decade that the first serious strategy books were published. Since then poker is one of the most interesting games that has existed as it requires great concentration, multiple strategies, and intelligence. Basically, it has become one of the biggest attractions in the gambling world.
World Poker Tour WPT 2004
The producer Steven Lipscomb, the Disney executive Audrey Kania and poker star Lyle Berman had an idea to develop a worldwide poker show to attract thousands of players and spectators. With this project on the way, they knew that with their experience they will be very successful. They created the WPT: World Poker Tour supporting the poker-mania and debuting on February 1, 2004 on the Travel Channel. It is a 15 high-stakes Texas Hold’em tournament series. 12 of them were transmitted on air on the Travel Channel. The WPT took place in the United States at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. For this tournament the buy-ins was around $25,000. The winners’ prizes stand between $1,000 for smaller tournaments up to $1,000,000 for the WPT Championship.
World Series of Poker - WSOP
This is the most important event in Poker history. It is every poker professional player’s dream to be part of it.
It was originated by Tom Morehead of the Riverside Casino in Reno and was an invitational event. The first WSOP took place on 1970 at the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, with seven players. The winner was Johnny Moss with the title of the first World Champion of Poker and his prize was a silver cup.
Through time the number of participants on this event has grown and in the recent years this growth has gone up incredible. The main event of the WSOP is the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold 'Em tournament. Winners of the event not only get the largest prize of the tournament and a gold bracelet, but additionally their picture is placed in the Gallery of Champions at Binion.
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