• WSOP FAQ How much is the buy-in for WSOP 2019? Buy-ins in the 2019 WSOP’s 89 events range from $400 to $100,000. Can anyone enter the World Series of Poker? Anyone 21 and older may enter any World Series of Poker event. Who has the most bracelets in poker? Phil Hellmuth has 15 bracelets, the most bracelets of any poker player.
• The buy-in for each tournament can vary depending on which World Poker Tour series you would like to enter. The cost of buying into a competition from the main tour ranges from $3,500-$20,000. The WPT offers cheaper tournaments at their Deep Stacks and 500 tours.

• How Much Does It Cost To Enter The Wsop
• How Much Does It Cost To Join Wsop

The World Series of Poker, or WSOP, is the largest poker tournament in the world.

You can either pay the $10,000 buy in directly for the seat, or you can play smaller tournamens called 'Satellites' to win your seat. Do not forget that the ' World Series of Poker ' contains a lot. How much does it cost to enter the 2020 WSOP? This year the World Series of Poker will have bracelet events for all bankrolls, from the $400 Colossus (June 24-25) to the $250,000 Super High Roller.

It consistently offers the largest prize pool and holds the record for the largest number of players in a single tournament. The WSOP started in 1970 which also makes it the oldest major poker tournament.

On this page to explain everything you need to know about the WSOP, including how it works, the tournament events, and an overview of the winners.

Contents of Our World Series of Poker Guide

When most people hear WSOP, they think of the Main Event that happens in Las Vegas every year. But that is only one event in the series.

In 2019 and 2020, the WSOP included more than 35 circuit events around the US, in addition to the Main Event and international events.

The World Series of Poker has evolved over time in response to the number of entrants and changes within the poker industry. New events are always being added to the series, both in-person and online.

Although there are now WSOP events at casinos around the world, as well as online, most of the series still occurs at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas during June and July.

The Main Event is a no-limit Texas hold‘em format, but dozens of other poker varieties and game formats are also represented in the WSOP events.

All of the various events in the WSOP have different buy-ins, game formats, and rules. So, it is difficult to define the WSOP by any of those standards.

Instead of thinking of the WSOP as a single poker game, remember that the WSOP is really a collection of tournaments that includes most poker variations and several different levels.

The WSOP Main Event

The WSOP Main Event is the most prominent single tournament in the poker world. It is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament.

Whoever wins the tournament gets to be called the unofficial World Champion of poker, according to WSOP tradition.

They also receive a coveted WSOP bracelet and a cash prize determined by the number of players in the tournament. The WSOP Main Events’ prizes range from $30,000 in 1971 to $12 million in 2006.

There are no limits on how many people can enter the Main Event tournament. The largest number of Main Event competitors was in 2006, with 8,773 players, but 2019 was not far behind, with 8,559 players.

Here is a list of all of the WSOP winners, how much they won, and how many players competed in the tournament.

This table should be the “expandable” version. Please reverse the order, so we start with the most recent and work backwards

The Main Event was traditionally played to its conclusion as one of the last events of the series in June and July. However, WSOP decided to do things differently for the last few years.

Beginning in 2008, they stopped the tournament after it got down to the final nine players. These players would make up the final table, and they all received a guaranteed prize of at least $1 million.

Instead of letting these nine players finish their tournament the following day, WSOP delayed the final table game until November. This was ultimately for the purposes of creating more hype, and making it easier to televise.

The reaction from players was not favorable. They felt like the delay interrupted the tournament and made it less authentic. But, WSOP and ESPN both made more money when the Final Table was aired live.

So, from 2008 until 2016, the Final Table occurred in November, instead of July. This event and the players who participated became known as the November Nine.

This delayed-ending format continued for the next eight tournaments. During 2012 and 2016, the Final Table technically occurred at the end of October so that the tournament didn’t interfere with the US election.

Technology advances have changed the way televised poker tournaments work. By 2011, ESPN and WSOP.com could air the Final Table event with only a five- to thirty-minute delay.

Those delays were necessary to make sure that players could not cheat.

If the footage was live-streamed in real-time, viewers could see other player’s hole cards and text them to someone in the live audience. That person could then give the players visual signals to help them win.

The November Nine format continued through WSOP 2016. In 2017, WSOP and ESPN signed a digital media contract with Poker Central.

That contract removed the delayed Final Table format, so the remaining nine players can now finish their game in traditional tournament-style during July.

In 2020, the WSOP included 101 different events.

We won’t bore you by explaining all of the details of every single event. Instead, we will give you an overview of some of the most prominent events.

Only five percent of the poker players who participate in the World Series of Poker are female.

Women are allowed to participate in the Main Event, but only one woman has ever made it to the final table.

Barbara Enright is the only female who has ever made it to the final table, and that was in 1995 when only 273 players were competing.

While there is always a lot of attention given to the last woman standing in the Main Event, WSOP has also created a ladies-only event to give women a chance to compete against each other.

• The WSOP Ladies Championship Event began in 1977 with a $100 buy-in seven-card stud tournament.
• Jackie McDaniels won the inaugural event, which included a prize of $5,580 and a WSOP bracelet. It was the smallest cash prize in WSOP history.
• Sally Boyer won $262,077 in 2007. It was the largest prize in the Ladies Championship Event history.

Since then, the Ladies Championship Event has happened every year. It was held on Mother’s Day for many years, but the women complained, so the tournament was moved to another day.

From 1977 until 1999, the Ladies Championship Event was played with seven-card stud. It switched to Texas hold ‘em in 2001, and during the 2000 WSOP included both games.

The buy-ins started at $100 in 1977, doubled to $200 in 1978, and doubled again the following year. From 1982 until 1991, the buy-in was $500, and it increased to $1000 from 1992 to 2012.

While the Ladies Championship Event is supposed to be a ladies-only poker tournament, a few men felt discriminated against. The WSOP could not legally block men from participating in the ladies’ event.

In 2013, WSOP found a way to discourage men from entering the women’s tournament without actively discriminating against them.

They changed the buy-in for the tournament to $10,000, but they offer a $9,000 discount to female players.

The Casino Employees Championship is only open to people who are actively employed by a casino. This event got added to the WSOP in 2000 to honor all of the work that casino employees do for the tournament.

It was called the Dealers World Poker Championship during the first year because only dealers could participate. They opened it to all casino employees in 2001.

Professional poker players are not typically employed by a particular casino, so most of the Casino Employees Championship players are average hourly workers.

Some of them are dealers who are involved with poker games regularly, but other players might be janitorial staff or food service employees. The casino owners and executives are also eligible.

The Casino Employee Championship often highlights a rivalry between proposition players and dealers.

Proposition players are people that the casino hires to fill seats at the table or get games started. They have to play with their own money, but they receive a wage or a percentage of the rake.

These proposition players typically have a working relationship with many dealers because they often play with them. The rivalry comes out when both of them end up on the same side of the table.

The Casino Employee Championship Event has always been a game of Texas hold ‘em. It was a limit game during the first four events but switched to the no-limit format after that.

Buy-ins were $500, but it increased to $565 in 2016. Chris Gros won $127,496 in 2006, which was the largest Casino Championship prize in tournament history.

Some critics don’t believe that the Main Event winner should be called the World Champion of poker because they don’t think the Main Event requires a diverse set of skills.

Daniel Negreanu argued that a pot-limit format would be a better way to determine the world champion based on their poker skills.

In response to some of those critics, the WSOP created the Poker Player Championship Event. It has a $50,000 buy-in, which discourages amateur players from joining.

More importantly, the Poker Player Championship is a mixed game format including different poker variations. Players have to be able to adapt.

All of the Poker Player Championship Winners have won at least $1 million. Freddy Deeb won the largest prize for this event when he won $2,276,832 in 2007.

David “Chip” Reese was the first player to win the Poker Player Championship Event in 2006. He tragically died just 18 months later.

The WSOP created David “Chip” Reese Memorial Trophy in his honor.

Each winner of the Poker Player Championship Event gets to keep the memorial trophy for one year, in addition to their cash prize and WSOP bracelet.

In 2012, WSOP partnered with Guy Laliberte, the owner of Cirque du Soleil, to create the first WSOP fundraising event called the Big One for One Drop.

The One Drop Foundation is an international organization founded by Laliberte to support clean water initiatives and create public awareness about the lack of clean water.

Big One for One Drop is the highest buy-in poker tournament in the world. The buy-in is $1,000,000.

Eleven percent of each player’s buy-in gets donated to the One Drop Foundation, which equals $111,111 from each player. WSOP does not take a rake from the One Drop Event.

The first Big One for One Drop Event had a maximum of 48 players. Their massive buy-ins combined to offer a first-place prize of $18.3 million.

Antonio Esfandiari took home the prize, which is still the second-largest payout in poker history.

Between 2012 and 2018, WSOP has featured a charity event to support the One Drop Foundation. Some years they use the Big One for One Drop format, with $1 million buy-ins.

In other years, they offer a different event called High Roller for One Drop. The High Roller tournament only has a $100,000 buy-in so that more players can participate.

They still take 10% of the buy-in or $11,111 as a donation for the foundation.

World Series of Poker History

The World Series of Poker is the oldest poker tournament in the world.

Here is some information about how it has evolved over time.

In 1970, the owner of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, Benny Binion, invited seven of the world’s best poker players to participate in the first World Series of Poker event.

It was a mixed game format that included five-card stud, 2-7 low-ball draw, razz, seven-card stud, and Texas hold‘em.

At the end of the tournament, all of the players voted for who they believed should win the title. Johnny Moss received the title of the first World Champion of Poker and a silver cup as his prize.

The following year, the WSOP as we know it began. It was an open Texas hold‘em tournament that anyone could enter. This time, they let the winner of the game be crowned the champion instead of voting for the winner.

From there, the WSOP steadily grew, with more events, more players, and larger prizes each year.

In 1983, Eric Drache suggested the possibility of attracting participants through satellite tournaments. That idea spread the concept of the WSOP and attracted players from New Jersey and international casinos.

The WSOP continued to grow from there. Throughout the 1980s, every WSOP Main Event had at least 100 participants. By the turn of the century, that number had jumped to more than 500.

Between 2003 and 2006, poker exploded in the United States for several reasons.

• In 2001, Party Poker and Poker Stars launched their online poker websites. They were not the first online poker sites in the US, but they quickly became the most popular.
• In 2002, televised poker tournaments began using hole card cameras to show the viewers what cards the players were working with. This invention made televised poker similar to sporting events with accurate commentary.
• In 2003, Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP Main Event. He was an amateur online player who won his buy-in through satellite tournaments. His story inspired thousands of poker players.
• In 2004, Harrah’s Entertainment purchased the rights to the WSOP from the Binion’s Horseshoe Company. They moved the tournament to the Rio Casino the following year. The larger casino gave them more space for additional events.

These events combined to create a national fascination with poker, and the WSOP was the center of it all.

Other poker tournaments started, but none of them came close to the excitement and prestige that winning a WSOP bracelet could offer.

The World Series of Poker hit its peak in 2006. That year had the highest number of participants (8,773), the largest prize pool, and the highest first-place prize ($12 million) in tournament history.

The US government had noticed the countries fixation on poker. Congress passed the UIGEA in 2006, which immediately altered the online poker industry in America.

WSOP was not limited to online poker, and the company was not running an online poker site at that time. The tournament was not violating UIGEA.

However, thousands of players used online poker satellite tournaments to qualify for the WSOP Main Event. The changes in the online poker industry slowed down the growth of the WSOP.

After 2006, the American poker industry was unstable. The WSOP wanted to maintain its growth, so it decided to pursue international opportunities.

• In 2007, the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) held its first tournament in London. Subsequent tournaments moved to Paris.
• World Series of Poker Africa started in 2010 in South Africa. However, it is treated as a circuit event, so no bracelets are given out during the events.
• In 2013, the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific launched at the Crown Melbourne Casino in Australia. It is the third bracelet-level WSOP tournament.
• World Series of Poker created an International Circuit in 2015, with events in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa. It is not a bracelet event, but winners can earn a spot in the WSOP Global Casino Championship event.

These international events have solidified the WSOP as the most prominent poker tournament in the world.

Winning a World Series of Poker bracelet event is one of the most prestigious awards in the poker industry.

Here are a few of the most remarkable winners.

• 1983: Carolyn Gardner wins the Ladies Championship Event, becoming the first person of color to win a WSOP bracelet.
• 1990: Mansour Matloubi became the first non-American to win the WSOP.
• 2003: Chris Moneymaker wins $2.5 million after entering a satellite tournament for only $86.
• 2006: Jamie Gold wins $12 million, the largest Main Event prize in tournament history.
• 2007: Annette Obrestad wins the first WSOPE, becoming the youngest person to ever win a WSOP Main Event. It was the day before her 19^th
• 2012: Antonio Esfandiari wins the Big One for One Drop event. He received $18.3 million in prize money, the largest single prize payout in tournament history.

There have been a few winners of multiple WSOP bracelets. Here are some that stand out.

• Phil Hellmuth won the Main Event in 1989, and he won the Main Event in WSOPE in 2012. He has won 13 other WSOP bracelets for other events, earning him more WSOP bracelets than any other player.
• Stu Ungar and Johnny Moss are the only players who have won the Main Event three times.

The WSOP bracelets are the most coveted prize in poker. They were first offered in 1976, but the previous winners all received a bracelet retroactively.

These bracelets are equivalent to winning the Stanley Cup in Hockey or a championship ring in football. Most players consider their bracelets to be priceless.

Jennifer Tilly is an actress who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress in 1995. She claims that her Ladies Championship Event bracelet is more valuable to her than her Oscar nomination.

How Much Does It Cost To Enter The Wsop

However, that was not always the case. It took a while for the prestige of the bracelet to catch on.

Doyle Brunson has won ten bracelets, but admitted that he didn’t pick two of them up because he didn’t realize how valulable they were.

The design of the WSOP bracelets changes each year based on the manufacturer and designer.

They always include gold and diamonds. Some designs also include rubies and sapphires to represent the red and black colors of the cards.

Now that you know all about the prestige and excitement of the WSOP, you might be wondering how you can join the fun for yourself.

There are only two requirements for entering the WSOP.

• You must be of legal gambling age. If you are planning on participating in an event in the US, you have to be 21. Players in Europe can join at 18.
• You have to buy or earn your seat.

There are two ways that you get a seat to the WSOP.

You can buy-in directly by paying the buy-in amount. If you want to participate in the Main Event, you will need $10,000. However, there are several other events that you can enter for smaller amounts.

The lowest buy-in for any WSOP bracelet event is $400. You can also enter circuit events for buy-ins starting at $215.

If you want to join the Main Event, but you don’t have an extra $10,000 laying around, you can join a satellite tournament.

Satellite tournaments are lower-stakes tournaments that offer buy-ins to other tournaments instead of cash prizes. There are many satellite tournaments offering a route to the WSOP Main Event, especially online.

You never know when an amateur is going to surprise everyone by taking home the bracelet. The next amateur winner could be you!

So, what are you waiting for? Check out our poker site recommendations and start playing today.

A bottle of cola. A Big Mac. A pack of fancy tooth-whitening chewing gum. A dozen eggs. A pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. A toothbrush.

All these cost more than what some people will spend to enter the World Series of Poker's main event this year, which will be the largest poker tournament man or woman has ever seen. And thanks to the astoundingly large online player population, some players will get to try for a piece of that pie for as little as $1.10. Others will have sneaked in for more than that ($33, $160, $370, etc.), which is still super-cheap compared to the $10,000 those who have the money will plunk down at a counter at the Rio this summer for their entry into the biggest poker tournament in the Universe.

The number of people trying to qualify for this year's main event online has set the watermark high. Just among Bodog.com and PartyPoker.com, more than 60,000 people have tried to get in, and there's still more than a month-and-a-half of qualifiers to go. There are more online poker sites than ever before, and the opportunity to get into the WSOP for so little is unique to this era. It's obvious people are trying to take advantage of it.

Since CardPlayer.com published its first guide to get into the WSOP on the cheap in March, hundreds of players have already qualified for the event. And although the clock is ticking, there are still plenty of chances to get into the WSOP for next to nothing. Heck, some of those players will have paid literally nothing thanks to freerolls, but that's another story altogether.

Satellites for the WSOP main event run until the middle of July at most sites. The following is an update of some of the cheapest and most interesting chances to get into this year's tournament. Play any of these, and the life you change might be your own.

More information about inexpensive satellites to the main event - including some information that's included in the following paragraphs - can be found in the previous article here, originally posted March 7.

Absolute Poker

Every two weeks, AbsolutePoker.com holds a $108 qualifier in which an $11,000 main event prize is awarded for every 110 players. People can buy into this tourney directly, or qualify daily the following ways:

• $13 sit-and-go qualifier awards one seat.
• $2.75 sit-and-go satellites award two seats to a $10 multi-table qualifier, which awards one seat to the main event satellite for every 12 players.

Bodog

Bodog.com is expecting to send 700 players to the main event. So far, more than 200 seats have been won there. This Saturday (May 27), 40 players will win seats in several multi-table tourneys held throughout the day, and that goes on each Saturday until the end of July. Players can get into these tournaments for as little as $1.50. The prize package is worth $12,500.

Multi- and single-table qualifiers for the weekend tourneys run daily around the clock. Bodog.com also offers a tiered 'stages' way to get into the main event. Win the first stage for $1.10, and you advance to the second stage, which can be bought in directly for $8.80. Make it to and win the fifth stage, and you're going to the WSOP.

Doyle's Room

This Saturday (May 27), a $217.80 supersatellite with 30-minute blind levels will take place. Players can buy directly into this or get in the following ways:

• Win a $26.42 single-table tournament that runs around the clock
• Win a seat in a daily $3.15 multi-table tournament

And every Saturday, a $207.90 rebuy tournament takes place. Players can get into this by winning a $25.41 sit-and-go, winning a $3.15 multi-table, or winning a feeder to the $3.15 multi-table for a penny.

Players can buy in directly to any of these tournaments, which is still pretty cheap.

FullTiltPoker

On July 16, the site will hold a tournament that guarantees at least 100 people will win seats to the main event. The tourney costs $535 to buy into directly, but of course many people will get in for much cheaper.

Multi-table qualifiers to the tourney cost $8.80, $26, and $75. Single-table sit-and-go qualifiers cost $75, but players can win their way into these in single-table sit-and-go qualifiers for $26.

The site has a plethora of other ways to get into the event. Visit the site for details.

InterPoker

Players can win this site's $15,500 package to the main event for as little as $1.20. But it also has the most expensive weekly qualifier out there. For every 750 people entered in this multi-table tourney, one gets into the $750 buy-in that awards at least one main event package each Saturday.

Players can also get into the big tourney by entering daily $10 or $18.70 single-table qualifiers that send players into an $81 daily multi-table tourney. InterPoker.com also holds $109 and $170 single-table tourneys into the $750 satellite.

How Much Does It Cost To Join Wsop

Titan Poker

The $12,000 WSOP packages can be won for as little as $2.50. Winners of these get into the $23 tourney, in which seats to the $300 main event satellite are given away.

PartyPoker

Being one of the largest online sites, PartyPoker.com offers plenty of chances to get into the main event, and the 'steps' tournaments give people more chances for their dollars. For other ways, see the previous article.

Players are only five single-table 'steps' away from winning an $11,000 prize package. The site has two different sets of WSOP 'steps,' the 'regular' and the 'quick.'

The 'regular' route starts at $10. Win that table and advance to step two, which would cost $55 to enter straight-up. Finish in places 2-4 in step one, and play again. Finish in fifth, and receive $5. Finish in first or second place, and advance to step three. Finish anywhere else but last, and loop back to step one.

This route continues until players reach the final step, which would cost $640 to buy directly into. Win it, and you're in the WSOP. Finish second or third, try the final step again. Finish fourth, try step four again, finish fifth or sixth, try step three again, finish in places 7-9, try step two again. Be the first one out, and win $35.

The 'quick' steps are different in that they're more expensive, which means more people advance to higher steps. Win the first $60 step, and the winner advances to step three, the runner-up advances to step two, players placing third or fourth try step one again, and fifth place gets $30.

Win 'quick' step two, and you're in the final step. It costs $120 to buy directly into 'quick' step two. 'Quick' step three costs $280 to buy directly in, 'quick' step four, $640, and the final 'quick' step, $1,665. Like the 'regular' steps, players repeat and loop back if they don't manage to advance.

PokerStars

Like PartyPoker, PokerStars is another huge site with plenty of cheap qualifying opportunities. The ones that are running around the clock, nearly on the hour, are the WSOP double-shootout events. For $16, players can win their way into the Sunday $650 qualifier in which as many $12,000 packages are awarded as possible.

A double-shootout means players advance by winning their table, like in a single-table tourney. They then have to win the second table to advance. The site also hold $160 shootouts that award the winners main even prize packages.

Again, more opportunities to make it into the WSOP can be found here.

Ultimate Bet

This site has a ton of single- and multi-table satellites to win a $12,000 package, and they start for as little as $3.30. People playing in these tourneys are trying to get into the $215 tourneys in which the prize packages are won.

Make sure to visit the previous article to find the cheapest and best way to spend your poker dollars.