The World Series of Poker Main Event is the longest running and most prestigious poker tournament in the world.

Winning this event ensures that your name will go down in poker history.  The winner of the Main Event is made into a multi-millionaire and becomes world famous overnight.

The History Of The Main Event

The WSOP Main Event started in 1970 when Binion’s Horshoe Casino in Las Vegas hosted several high stakes poker players for almost a week of high stakes No Limit Texas Hold Em Poker.

The Main Event grew out of this original poker week into a $10,000 buy-in tournament.  In the early days, it was a winner-take-all prize with only a handful of professional poker players taking part.

The World Series of Poker Main Event initially attracted mainly professional players.  Over the years this has changed and it has grown into a larger event with mostly amateurs players taking a shot at the big time.

The biggest growth in entrants and prize money for the Main Event came in 2003 after Chris Moneymaker won the tournament after winning his entry through an online satellite tournament.

In 2006, the Main Event hosted 8,773 players with first place being paid a record $12 million.

The Entry Fee To The Main Event

The WSOP Main Event costs $10,000 to enter and is open to any and everyone.  This is the biggest poker event of the year and has amateurs and pros alike participating in record numbers.

In addition to buying in directly, many players now win their way to the Main Event by entering World Series of Poker Satellites.

With Chris Moneymaker only spending $40 on a satellite entry and winning $2.5 million, the popularity of online satellites and the Main Event has exploded.

The numbers of entrants for the Main Event exploded from 839 in 2003 to 8,773 in 2006.  Since then, the entry field seems to have leveled off between 6,000 to 7,000 players, making it the largest tournament of its kind.

When is the WSOP Main Event?

The World Series of Poker Main Event is scheduled to run from July 5^th until July 17^th.

With the large size of the field, there is the option for 4 different starting days from July 5^th to 8^th.  Once the final table is established on July 17^th, there is a break and the final table players resume play live in November.

This break ensures that there are no spoilers in the World Series of Poker TV broadcasts.  With all the hype built up to the final table and the winner not yet determined this is the most exciting poker event of the year.

View the full World Series Of Poker Schedule.

What is the Prize for the Winner Of The Main Event?

If you win the World Series of Poker Main Event, you are guaranteed to win the richest prize available in all of sports!

The largest payout for the Main Event took place in 2006 when Jamie Gold won a record $12,000,000 prize.

Over the past few years the 1^st place prize payout has ranged from $8,000,000 to just over $9,000,000.

Do you want to know the exact 1^st place payouts for the entire Main Event?

Then check out our World Series of Poker Winners page for the complete list of winners and their prizes.

Past Winners of the Main Event

Winning this tournament is guaranteed to make you world famous overnight.  Famous World Series of Poker Players include Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and more.

Well-known World Series of Poker Winners include Johnny Moss and Stu Ungar who both have a record three wins in the Main Event.  Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan also have two Main Event championships.

The WSOP Main Event is easily the greatest poker tournament on earth.  Winning this tournament will bring you life changing fame and fortune that is the stuff of Hollywood.

The exception is that this is for real!

With a new champion crowned every year and huge prize pools, several players are made into multi-millionaires annually.

Amateurs have now been winning the Main Event at a record rate due to the popularity of World Series of Poker Satellites that allow them to win their way into the Main Event dirt cheap, and in some cases, even for free!

The next winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event could be you.  This is your chance to take your shot at the big time!