Your Guide to the 2020 World Series of Poker

The winner of the 2019 WSOP Main Event was Iranian-German poker player Hossein Ensan, who won a staggering $10,000,000. That’s $1,200,000 more than John Cynn won the previous year, and the most Ensan has ever won by over $9,000,000. Ensan eliminated runner-up Dario Sammartino after a four-hour Heads-up play which lasted 101 hands. The final hand that led him to victory was a pair of kings. This was the largest WSOP Main Event since 2006, and the second largest of all time, with 8,569 players.

After a battle that lasted over 10 hours, John Cynn was declared the winner of the 2018 WSOP Main Event, beating Tony Miles to the coveted title. Scooping up the $8.8 million prize money, it was clear that it had been a game for the ages, with multiple records set during the event. Having entered the tournament with career earnings of under $1 million, it’s safe to say that Cynn has really stepped up his game.

Hailing from Brigantine, New Jersey, Scott Blumstein took this year's WSOP Main Event bracelet. This win saw Blumstein take home a huge $8,150,000, almost a whole 150K more than last year, after beating a staggering 7,221 players to the prize pool. Blumstein's win was one for the underdogs, similarly unknown like the 2016 winner. Overall, 1,084 players took home winnings from the Main Event.

The 2016 World Series of Poker saw Qui place number one spot from a potential 6,737 players, a few hundred more than the previous year. Nguyen won the Main Event by heads-up against Gordon Vayo on the final table and walked away with $8,005,310. The top 1,011 players finished in the money this year and saw Vayo take second place with Cliff Josephy coming in third.

The 46th annual WSOP event took place in 2015, and it was held at Vegas's famous Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino (just like all the WSOP tournaments in the past 9 years). The event drew 6,420 players, creating a prize pool of a whopping $60,348,000. The top 1,000 players won some money, with all the final table players bringing home at least $1 million each. Joe McKeehen, the first-place winner, won $7,683,346. The second-place winner was Joshua Beckley and he won $4,470,896.

Once again held at Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the 2014 WSOP tournament had 6,683 entrants and a prize pool of $62,820,200. The first person who got out at the final table (also known as the ninth-place winner) was Mark Newhouse, and he brought home $730,725. The second-place winner was Felix Stephensen, and he brought home $5,147,911. Martin Jacobson placed first and brought home a cool $10 million.

The 2013 WSOP tournament had 6,352 entrants and a prize pool of $59,708,800. The first-place winner, who was Ryan Riess (also known as "Reiss the Beast"), won $8,359,531. Jay Farber was the second-place winner and he netted himself a prize of $5,174,357. The tournament was held at Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 43rd annual WSOP event took place at Vegas's Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in 2012. In this tournament, a prize pool of $62,021,200 was created with 6,598 entrants. Everyone who placed in the top 666 won some money. The top nine players brought home at least $750,000. The second-place winner, Jesse Sylvia, won $5,295,149, and the first-place winner, Greg Merson, won $8,531,853.

Hosted by Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the 2011 WSOP tournament attracted 6,865 entrants and a prize pool of $64,531,000 was put together. The first-place winner, Pius Heinz, got to bring home a good chunk of the prize. More specifically, he won $8,715,638. Martin Staszko, the second-place winner, made a pretty penny, too. In other words, he won $5,433,086.

With three WSOP bracelets and more than $14 million in poker tournament winnings, Jonathan Duhamel is a force to be reckoned with. In 2010 he nailed his opponents with a final hand of an Ace of spades and a Jack of hearts, beating out more than 7,000 players - the largest number of participants since 2006.

Joe Cada represented a return to seasoned professionals winning the grand prize. Joe scooped the $8.5 million winnings with a pair of 9s, but currently holds 4 WSOP bracelets and has won in excess of $10 million in tournament cashes. His prize remained on par with 2007 and 2008’s prize pool, but failed to reach the stunning highs of 2006.

“Isser” landed a win of more than 9 million dollars thanks to a final hand of an Ace of diamonds and a 5 of spades. The 22-year-old poker player beat 6,844 players to do so, and became the youngest Main Event winner, stealing Phil Hellmuth’s record who won in 1989 at the age of 24. He’s won another $300,000+ since then but hasn’t secured any more WSOP bracelets.

Jerry Yang, who took home the grand prize with a pair of 8s, was one of over 6,000 players who got in on the action in 2007. At just over 8 million dollars, his winnings were much smaller than what Gold won the previous year. This remains The Shadow’s only win of significance and the source of his sole WSOP bracelet.

Perhaps it’s appropriate that a player named Jamie Gold won what was, and continues to be, the largest prize of any WSOP Main Event. Competing against close to 9,000 competitors, Gold secured the big money with a hand comprised of a Queen of spades and a 9 of clubs. It remains his only significant tournament win, and he’s never won any other WSOP bracelets.

The number of participants in 2005 was more than double that of 2004. The prize pool also more than doubled, with over $50 million to play for. This was the first year in which the WSOP moved to the Rio All-Suites Casino and Hotel after the tournament was acquired by Harrah’s in 2004. Joe Hachem, the first Australian player to win the Main Event, took home $7.5 million thanks to a 7 of clubs and a 3 of spades.

The number of Main Event competitors was more than double that of the previous year, with more than 2,500 players in the mix and a huge prize pool of close to $25 million. Greg Raymer, or Fossilman, landed a $5 million jackpot with a pocket pair of 8s. This is his only WSOP bracelet win.

As the first WSOP Main Event winner who qualified via an online poker site, the appropriately named Moneymaker took home $2.5 million with a final hand of a 5 of diamonds and a 4 of spades. It’s ironic that such a mediocre hand saw him triumph over more than 800 competitors. Moneymaker doesn’t have many tournament wins except for this one, but remains an important figure to online players.

The year 2002 saw the grand prize associated with the WSOP Main Event rise yet again. Robert Varkonyi scooped the $2 million prize with a Queen of diamonds and a 10 of spades, beating out 630 other players along the way. It remains his only WSOP bracelet win. He never made much of a splash in the tournament scene afterwards, but given the size of his Main Event prize, we’re sure he doesn’t mind.

A record was broken in 2001 when Mortensen, known as El Matador, became the only player of South American descent to ever win the WSOP Main Event. He picked a fine year to do it, seeing off more than 600 participants and taking home $1.5 million. Since then, he’s more than doubled that figure, gaining over $3 million in tournament winnings.

2000 saw Chris Ferguson triumph over more than 500 players to scoop the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The grand prize of $1.5 million marked the first time that the winnings associated with the Main Event had risen in 9 years. Chris Ferguson has since racked up more than $5 million worth of tournament wins and an impressive 6 WSOP bracelets.

The final WSOP Main Event of the 90s was one to remember: 1999’s big game saw an Irish businessman named Noel Furlong take the big prize with a pair of fives. It would turn out to be his only WSOP bracelet and the only significant tournament win he’s had to date. It’s perhaps no coincidence that his triumph over established pros would be accompanied by a sharp rise in the number of participants and a larger prize pool the following year.

In 1998, The Train (or The Prince of Poker) took home a million-dollar prize thanks to a Jack of diamonds and a 9 of clubs. This accounts for one of his five WSOP bracelets and just a fraction of his $6 million total tournament winnings. Nguyen beat out more than 300 players to take home the grand prize.

After more than 15 years without a top 3 finish in the WSOP Main Event, 1997 saw Stuey take home the grand prize for a third time. He is one of just two people to win the Main Event three times (the other being Johnny Moss). Stu Ungar is regarded by many as the greatest Texas Hold ‘Em player of all time. He clinched the million-dollar prize with an Ace of hearts and a 4 of clubs.

One of the most interesting facts about the 1996 Main Event is that Huck Seed’s winning hand – 9 and 8 of diamonds – is exactly the same as the one Dan Harrington won the 1995 tournament with. Huck now has 4 WSOP bracelets and has won more than $2 million in his professional career. He saw off Bruce Van Horn, John Bonetti, and close to 300 other players in the WSOP Main Event.

Action Dan took home the grand prize at the 1995 WSOP Main Event thanks to a 9 and 8 of diamonds, providing a big spark to a professional career that’s seen him rack up more than 6 million dollars in tournament wins. He also added another WSOP bracelet to his Main Event win, so he now has one for each wrist!

Scoring the $1 million prize with a King of spades and an 8 of hearts, this marks Russ Hamilton’s only WSOP bracelet and the biggest win of his career. The Main Event prize in 1994 also included Hamilton’s body weight in silver! Since then Hamilton has, however, added another quarter of a million to his professional poker winnings. He also served as a consultant with Ultimate Bet immediately after winning the WSOP Main Event.

With the Main Event on the upswing in 1993 – 30 more players than last year and another $300,000 in the prize pool – Jim Bechtel faced stiff competition to land a $1 million grand prize. He won with a Jack and 6 of spades. Since then he’s won another WSOP bracelet and has almost doubled the value of his winnings playing professional poker.

Armed with just an 8 of hearts and a 4 of clubs, some daring play from Dastmalchi resulted in him taking home the second $1 million prize awarded at the WSOP Main Event. Since then, Hamid has earned another $600,000+ and a couple of additional WSOP bracelets, but didn’t manage to place highly in the Main Event again.

In 1991, the grand prize of the WSOP Main Event reached 1 million dollars for the first time. It remained at this level throughout the rest of the ‘90s. Daugherty took home the big money thanks to a King and Jack of spades. This remains his only significant tournament win, and only WSOP bracelet.

The first Main Event of the 1990s saw the Iranian-British Matloubi outlast close to 200 players for a grand prize of more than $800,000. He was able to do this with a fairly modest hand – pocket sixes. It remains his only WSOP Main Event win, but he has since made more than 6 million dollars playing poker professionally.

A true star of professional poker, 1989 remains The Poker Brat’s only Main Event win. He won the European Main Event as recently as 2012, however, and holds a world record with his 15 WSOP bracelets. He’s also won more than 14 million dollars in his professional career! In 1989, he had a pocket pair of 9s to thank for taking home the first Main Event prize to top three quarters of a million dollars.

More players competed in this Main Event than ever before. Chan took home his second (and back to back) championship win. This meant he won in excess of a million dollars in just a couple of years. He would go on to quadruple that figure in his professional poker career. His winning hand was a Jack and 9 of clubs.

The Main Event was starting to bounce back in 1987, with more players and a larger grand prize. Johnny Chan, also known as the Orient Express, took home more than $600,000 with an Ace of spades and a 9 of clubs. He beat out Frank Henderson and Bob Ciaffone to score his first, but not his last, Main Event win, and now boasts 10 WSOP bracelets.

The WSOP slowed down a little in the late ‘80s - the number of players in the Main Event remained fairly stagnant and Johnston’s prize was down more than $100,000 from the previous year. Still, Johnston took home more than half a million dollars thanks to an Ace of spades and 10 of hearts. Johnston went on to win a total of 5 WSOP bracelets and more than 2.25 million dollars in his career.

A pocket pair of 3s might not seem like the greatest hand in the world, but it was enough for Bill Smith to clinch the 1985 Main Event. This was his only major WSOP win and, with the exception of other minor winnings, the only real cash Smith ever made in big-name poker tournaments.

Jack Keller, also known as the Gentleman, scored $660,000 in the WSOP Main Event with a pair of 10s. This was Keller’s only Main Event win, but he racked up more than 2 million dollars in total tournament winnings and snagged himself a couple of additional WSOP bracelets along the way.

Grand Rapids Tom, as McEvoy is sometimes known, scored the grand prize in the 1983 Main Event with a pair of Queens. A regular on the WSOP circuit, Tom landed 4 bracelets (and well over a million dollars) in his career but this marked his only Main Event win. Even so, he’s a member of the Poker Hall of Fame! You’ll also notice a familiar name, Doyle Brunson, appear in the top 3 once again.

Landing the first grand prize totalling more than half a million dollars, Jack Straus landed his big win with an Ace of hearts and a 10 of spades. This was the player known as Treetop’s only major tournament win, but he was able to secure another WSOP bracelet in his career. 1982 also marked the first time the number of players competing in the Main Event exceeded 100 players.

Another year, another WSOP Main Event victory for Stu! Also known as The Kid, Stu took the grand prize with a great hand of Ace and Queen, suited in hearts. The grand prize was roughly the same as in 1980, giving Stu winnings of almost three quarters of a million dollars in just two years! This marked Stu’s last top finish at the Main Event for more than a decade but, as we’ll see later, it would not be the end of his story.

1980 marked Stu Ungar’s first, but certainly not last, Main Event win at the WSOP. With a hand of 5 and 4, both spades, he took home a huge $365,000 prize. Ungar was just 26 years old at the time of his victory, making him the youngest Main Event winner in history at the time (and for some time afterwards). This year also saw Doyle Brunson come in 2nd place, his third top 2 finish in the five tournaments held between 1976 and 1980.

The final WSOP of the 1970s saw Hal Fowler fight off more than 50 players to take home over a quarter of a million dollars with a hand comprised of a 7 of spades and a 6 of diamonds. An unremarkable hand, this marked Hal Fowler’s only WSOP bracelet and only significant poker tournament win. This year’s tournament drew lots of attention because it marked the first time an amateur player triumphed over established pros.

Bizarrely, despite beating 41 other players (a significant increase on the previous year) with a pocket pair of Queens, Bobby Baldwin took home a grand prize close to half that of the 1977 WSOP Main Event. This marked the third time Crandall Addington took 2nd place in the tournament, never again appearing in the top 3 of the Main Event.

Texas Dolly snared over half a million dollars in prize money in 1976 and 1977 alone. Unbelievably, his final hand in 1977 was the same as in 1976 – a 10 and 2 – but wasn’t even suited this time. He saw off 33 other players during the Main Event, a big jump from the previous year’s 22 players.

Doyle Brunson, who won the 1976 WSOP with a 2 and 10 of spades, holds a certain place in WSOP history: this year was the first tournament during which WSOP bracelets were issued. It’s perhaps fitting, therefore, that Doyle holds 10 WSOP bracelets in total which puts him (tied with Johnny Chan) second only to Phil Hellmuth. With a grand prize of more than $200,000, there’s no denying that 1976 was a good year for Texas Dolly!

Thanks to a pocket pair of Jacks, Bryan Roberts took home a grand prize of more than $200,000 after facing off against 20 opponents. Like Puggy, the player known as Sailor is one of a few early WSOP winners to win the tournament just once. He was, however, able to secure two WSOP bracelets in his poker career.

Taking first place once again in 1974, Johnny Moss achieved the staggering feat of winning 3 of the first 5 WSOP tournaments. Armed with just a pocket pair of threes for his final hand, he took home a grand prize of more than 5 times what he scored last time he won the WSOP. This also marked the first time Crandall Addington came in 2nd place, a feat he repeated several times, though he was never able to win a Main Event.

Walter Pearson, also known as Puggy, took home a hefty cash prize in excess of $100,000 with an Ace and 7 of spades. 1973 marked the first year that the WSOP Main Event was televised on CBS Sports, and the tournament was off to a fast start with no signs of slowing down. It’s worth pointing out that Johnny Moss – already a two-time WSOP champ – came in 2nd place, hot on the heels of Puggy.

Thanks to a well-timed King and Jack, “Amarillo Slim” was able to win his first WSOP championship, scoring $80,000 - more than double what the previous winner had taken home! His win was regarded by many as an upset, and he went on a publicity tour afterwards that brought the WSOP a great deal of media attention.

Taking first place once again in 1974, Johnny Moss achieved the staggering feat of winning 3 of the first 5 WSOP tournaments. Armed with just a pocket pair of threes for his final hand, he took home a grand prize of more than 5 times what he scored last time he won the WSOP. This also marked the first time Crandall Addington came in 2nd place, a feat he repeated several times, though he was never able to win a Main Event.

With its freeze-out tournament format, the first WSOP event was decided not with a single hand, but with a vote from the players who competed in it. As legend has it, all players voted for themselves as “the best player in the world” but a vote for the “second best player in the world” saw Moss crowned as the winner. Notably, many of the other players who competed in the tournament would go on to win WSOP titles of their own.