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.
The World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions is an invitational freeroll poker event. The WSOP ToC has been played intermittently five times in the 21st Century with different formats. The four WSOP ToC events held from 2004-2010 did not count as official WSOP bracelets events, with the winners receiving instead a large trophy in the shape of the official World Series of Poker logo. In 2010, the WSOP Tournament of Champions returned with a new format more akin to a typical sports league All-Star Event format. 27 players vied for $1 million, with 20 of those players selected by the fans via online vote at the WSOP's website. Controversies over the inclusion of commercially sponsored players resulted in a hiatus in the WSOP ToC for over a decade. The WSOP ToC was reintroduced in 2022 as an official WSOP bracelet event.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976, WSOP championships are now counted as "bracelets". During the first years of the WSOP, only a handful of bracelets were awarded each year. In 1990, there were only 14 bracelet events. By 2000, that number increased to 24. As the popularity of poker has increased during the 2000s, the number of events has likewise increased. In 2011, 58 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP, seven at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and one to the WSOP National Circuit Champion. This brought the total number of bracelets awarded up to 959. Five additional bracelets were awarded for the first time in April 2013 at the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne, Australia. In 2017, 74 bracelets were awarded at the WSOP and an additional 11 will be awarded at the WSOPE in Czech Republic.
James Corwin Mackey is an American professional poker player. He attended the University of Missouri before dropping out of a pre-med program to pursue a career in professional poker. In 2007, at 21 years and 4 months, Mackey became the third youngest poker player at the time to ever win a World Series of Poker bracelet, when he won the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event, behind Steve Billirakis and Jeff Madsen.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. From its inception to the 2013 tournament, players from 19 countries — USA (10), France (4), UK (3), Denmark (3), Canada (2), Norway (2), Portugal (2), Italy (2), Afghanistan, Germany, Indonesia, Spain, New Zealand, Sweden, Tunisia, Switzerland, Australia, Italy and Finland — have won bracelets.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas.
Daniel Heimiller is an American professional poker player who won the Limit Hold'em & Seven-Card Stud event at the 2002 World Series of Poker and the Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship in 2014. He has at least one WSOP cash for 25 consecutive years (1997-2021). He is ranked 5th in all time number of live tournament cashes and 12th in all time number of WSOP cashes.
David Bach is a professional poker player, and the winner of the $50,000 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Bach defeated John Hanson heads-up after a record breaking marathon final table that lasted 20 hours and 492 hands.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas.
David Bakes Baker is an American professional poker player who has won a World Series of Poker bracelet and appeared at four World Series of Poker final tables. He also has a Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) championship. Baker currently has over US$2 million in tournament winnings. In order to avoid confusion with David "ODB" Baker, he is listed in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) database by the name "David Bakes Baker" and listed at Bluff Magazine as "David (Bakes) Baker". Baker, who is from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, attended Michigan State University before taking up poker.
Brian Rast is a professional poker player living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The World Series of Poker Africa (WSOPA) is the second expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP started holding circuit events in 2005 in other states, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. In 2007, the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe marked the first time that a WSOP bracelet was awarded outside Las Vegas. In 2010, the WSOP expanded overseas once again, only this time to Gauteng, South Africa. While the WSOPE awarded bracelets, the WSOPA was considered a circuit event with the winners receiving Championship Rings instead of bracelets. The WSOPA did not occur in 2011, but the series of tournaments resumed in 2012.
Yuval Bronshtein is an Israeli-born professional poker player based in the United States.
Michael Gathy is a professional poker player from Belgium with many successes in live and online poker, including World Series of Poker bracelets at the 2012, 2013, 2016 and the 2020 World Series of Poker. He is one of two players that have won 4 NLHE bracelets in the decade 2011–2020, alongside Dominik Nitsche. He was also the first person to win a WSOP turbo event. Online he has won multiple SCOOP events and WCOOP events on PokerStars.
Loni Harwood is a professional poker player who won a World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2013 World Series of Poker. She won two World Series of Poker Circuit events in 2012, then her second WSOP bracelet in 2015.
Loren Klein is a professional poker player who has won four World Series of Poker bracelets. He began playing online in about 2007 and began live play in 2011 following Black Friday in 2011. He won World Series of Poker bracelets at the 2016, 2017 and 2018 and 2019 World Series of Poker. Klein was the third player to win bracelets in three consecutive years since the poker boom.
The 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was the 53rd edition of the event and run from May 31-July 20. After being held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino since 2005, the event moved to Bally's Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas for the first time.
Michael Lech is an American poker player.
Sam Barnhart 
Dominik Nitsche 
Athanasios Polychronopoulos 
Said El-Yousfi 
Sean Yu 
Alexander Lakhov 
