World Series of Poker: From Seven Gamblers to a $500 Million Brand

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In 1982, Jack Straus lost what he thought was his last hand, stood up to leave, and found a single $500 chip under a napkin. Because he had never declared himself all in, he was allowed to play on, and he won the World Series of Poker main event. This episode uses that comeback to open the history of the tournament, which began in 1970 when Benny Binion invited seven players to his Horseshoe in Las Vegas and let them elect Johnny Moss champion by secret ballot.

The vote lasted one year. The freezeout format arrived in 1971, the gold bracelet in 1976, and the rake gave casinos a risk-free reason to grow the field. Satellites and online poker did the rest: after amateur accountant Chris Moneymaker won in 2003, the main event swelled from 839 players to 8,773 by 2006. The episode covers the backlash from professionals, the $50,000 mixed-game event built to answer it, the $1 million Big One for One Drop, and the 2024 sale of the brand for $500 million.

The first bracelets were so coveted that organizers retroactively awarded them to the winners from 1970 through 1975.
The casino takes 6 to 10 percent of each buy-in before play begins, so its only incentive is a bigger field.
Harrah's bought the brand in 2004 and used it to fill hotel rooms during the slow Las Vegas summer.
Annette Obrestad won the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe main event the day before her 19th birthday, a feat impossible in Nevada.
The 2024 main event drew a record 10,112 entries and a prize pool over $94 million.

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