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World Series of Poker 2007
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The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has enjoyed a steady rise in popularity since its inception. Benny Binion held the first WSOP at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino and it was a small, modest affair held only for the poker elite of the day. The game’s popularity steadily grew; in 2000, the prize money topped $1million and interest exploded. This year the money for first prize was a stunning $8.5 million awarded to Jerry Yang, which was less than the amount awarded in 2006 but still very impressive.
The 38th annual World Series of Poker began on June 1, 2007 and ran through July 17, 2007. The Main Event started on July 6 and finished just before 4 am on July 18th. Harrah’s Entertainment, which has been running the event since 2004, held all events at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Originally the WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino but in 2004 Harrah’s Entertain bought Binion’s Horseshoe selling the hotel and casino soon after but retaining the rights to the Horseshoe and World Series of Poker brands. Interest in the tournament grew from six entrants in 1971 to 54, 288 registrants in 2007.
In the 2007 WSOP tournament, many records were set. For example, players started each event with double the amount of chips as the buy in. The Texas hold’em Main Event has a $10,000 no limit buy in, meaning the players in the Main Event started with 20,000 chips. Steve Bilirakis, age 21 years and 11 days, became the youngest person to ever win a WSOP bracelet. Phil Hellmuth, a veteran of the WSOP, set the record for the most bracelets ever won; he earned his 11th bracelet in 2007.
The player of the year was Tom Schneider, certified public accountant and chief financial officer for three Arizona based companies until 2002. Schneider won his first two WSOP, one in Pot Limit Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo and the other n Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo. In addition, he finished fourth in the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. Since starting his poker career in 2002, Schneider’s total tournament winnings are more than $880,000.
Michael Binger ended the tournament with eight money finishes. Binger received his PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford University in 2006 and his total live tournament winnings total more than $4,700,000.
Every year the WSOP holds a charity event; this year the event became a pro poker player and celebrity event. The theme was “Ante Up for Africa”; the final two players, Dan Shak and Brandon Moran, as co-first place winners donated all their prize money to charities in Darfur. This year’s hosts were Don Cheadle, actor and co-author of the book Not on Our Watch: the Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond, and Annie Duke, pro poker player whose total winnings exceed $3,300,000. She also set the women’s record this year with 33 WSOP cashes.
For the first time in its history, the WSOP saw a reduction in the amount of registrants for the Main Event. Due to a new law that limits Internet gambling, Harrah’s did not permit online poker websites to directly buy Main Events seats to offer as prizes, if the sites did business with United States citizens. It is believed that this law had a negative impact on the amount of registrants for the Main Event. Online entries to the Main Event won as prizes had formerly been a substantial contributor to this tournament. The Main Event’s grand prize was reduced by almost one third from $12 million in 2006 to $8.25 million. Nothing can reduce the thrill and excitement the world’s premier poker event held in the city that never sleeps. The potential to win is fantastic, but the players come for more than the money. It is the opportunity of a lifetime to compete against the greatest card players in the world.
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