The Best World Series of Poker Main Event Moments (part 1)

It seems almost surreal that the WSOP has been the headlining poker event for 40 years now: So in honor of the World Series of Poker here is a list of WSOP Main Event moments throughout the years:

1970: Johnny Moss, the grand old man of poker, wins the inaugural WSOP event. This was the first and only year the WSOP was played in a cash game format with the players voting on the winner. Rumor is that Moss won on the second ballot; apparently each player voted for himself on the first one!

1971: Moss wins again, the WSOP’s first back-to-back champion, cementing his place as the best poker player in the world. This was also the year the tournament took on the familiar freeze-out format that they have employed since.

1972: “Amarillo Slim” Preston becomes poker’s first celebrity after capturing the WSOP title. Unlike the mild-mannered Moss, Slim was known for his personality, and was able to parlay his WSOP win into mainstream appeal: Including appearances on the Tonight Show, as well as being the subject of books and songs.

1973: Walter “Puggy” Pearson, a longtime gambler and poker player, wins the first Main Event with a double-digit attendance. Still a winner-takes-all format, Pearson’s WSOP win netted him $130,000. Johnny Moss came within a breath of taking home his third title with his runner-up finish.

1974: Johnny Moss does it again, capturing his third WSOP title, and leaving no doubt as to who was the “Man” in the poker world.

1975: The old-time road gamblers continued their dominance of the WSOP as Brian “Sailor” Roberts took home the title. The slow rise in attendance continues once again, this time topping out at 21 players.

1976: When Doyle Brunson won the 1976 WSOP he was already considered one of the best in the game for years, but nobody realized that Doyle’s success would continue on to the present day. 1976 was truly the birth of a legend.

1977: Brunson became the event’s second player to win back-to-back titles when he beat 33 other poker players to win the event: 1977 also marked the last year the WSOP was a winner-take-all tournament.

1978: With attendance still rising, the 1978 WSOP was the first to award prize-money to multiple players (1^st - 5^th) and it was professional player Bobby Baldwin who took home the title. Baldwin would go on to be a Las Vegas Mogul; running casinos all over the city, and is respected so much in the poker world that the High-Stakes area at the Bellagio is known as “Bobby’s Room”.

1979: The 70’s closed out with the first unknown poker player taking home the title, Hal Fowler. Fowler gave recreational players the first glimmer of hope, that if they had the $10k they could take down the title. It’s no coincidence that a dramatic attendance increase occurred over the next few years.