The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker players to the Horseshoe Casino for a single tournament, with a set start and stop time, and a winner determined by a secret ballot of the seven players.
Texas hold 'em is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five-card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards: the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot. In certain situations, a "split pot" or "tie" can occur when two players have hands of equivalent value. This is also called "chop the pot". Texas hold 'em is also the H game featured in HORSE and HOSE.
Doyle Frank Brunson was an American poker player who played professionally for over 60 years. He was a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several books on poker.
Anne LaBarr Duke is an American former professional poker player and author in cognitive-behavioral decision science and decision education. She holds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet from 2004 and used to be the leading money winner among women in WSOP history, and is still in the top five as of April 2023, despite being retired from poker, last cashing at a tournament 2010. Duke won the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2010. She has written a number of instructional books for poker players, including Decide to Play Great Poker and The Middle Zone, and she published her autobiography, How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker, in 2005. Duke also authored two books on decision-making, Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts, and How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices.
Erik Seidel is an American professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada, who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player who has won seven World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index recognized Negreanu as the best poker player of the previous decade.
Michael Monroe Lewis is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to Vanity Fair since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He is known for his nonfiction work, particularly his coverage of financial crises and behavioral finance.
Emmy E. Werner was an American developmental psychologist known for her research on risk and resilience in children.
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School is an open-enrollment high school in Acton, Massachusetts, United States. A part of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, it serves the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxborough and has students in grades 9 through 12. It is situated downhill from the Raymond J. Grey Junior High School, at 36 Charter Road in Acton. Raymond J. Grey Junior High School occupies the facility that, until 1973, was the high school
Maria Ho is a Taiwanese-American poker player and television host/commentator. One of the top-ranked female poker players in the world and a Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee, she has won more than $5,000,000 in live tournaments.
Olivia "Liv" Boeree is a British science communicator, television presenter, host of the Win-Win Podcast, and former professional poker player. She is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) and European Poker Tour (EPT) champion, and is the only female player in history to win both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT event. Boeree is a 3× winner of the Global Poker Index European Female Player of the year. As of September 2021, having retired in late 2019, Boeree still ranks among the top ten women in poker history in terms of all-time money winnings.
Daniel Cates also known as jungleman12 or w00ki3z. is a professional poker player from the United States, once considered to be one of the best heads-up No Limit Texas Hold 'em players in the world. As of 2014, his online cash game earnings at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars are over US$11 million. In 2010, he won over $5 million making him the biggest winner for the year.
Maria Konnikova is a Russian-American writer. Konnikova has also worked as a television producer, poker player, and podcaster. She has written three New York Times bestseller list books, including Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes.
Marco Caldwell Johnson is a professional poker player who has won two World Series of Poker bracelets. Johnson also has excelled online in Limit H.O.R.S.E. earning both a World Championship of Online Poker championship among large prizes.
Daniel Brandon Bilzerian is an American poker player, businessman, and social media influencer. He is the son of corporate takeover specialist Paul Bilzerian who provided Dan with a trust fund.
The Global Poker Index (GPI) is a leaderboard index that ranks over 450,000 live tournament poker players in the world. The GPI poker rankings are updated on a weekly basis. Players’ performances are assessed by their finishing positions in poker tournaments occurring over six periods of six months.
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, released January 3, 2013, is a book written by Maria Konnikova exploring ways to improve mindfulness, logical thinking and observation using Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character Sherlock Holmes as an exemplar. Konnikova intertwines her analysis of Holmes's "habits of mind" with findings from the modern-day fields of neuroscience and psychology and offers advice on how to become a more rational thinker.
Jane Stanton Hitchcock is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. She has written several plays but is known mostly for her mystery novels Trick of the Eye, The Witches' Hammer, Social Crimes, One Dangerous Lady, Mortal Friends, and Bluff, which was the winner of the 2019 Hammett Prize. Hitchcock also wrote the screenplays for Our Time and First Love.
Timothy Adams is a Canadian professional poker player from Burlington, Ontario who focuses on poker tournaments. He is currently the second biggest Canadian tournament winner in poker behind Daniel Negreanu.
