In This Chapter

Finding out all about the World Series of Poker - Looking at No-Limit Hold'em, the Qadillac of card games
Playing in high-roller tournaments - affordably
Getting a glimpse at World Series highlights

Each year, from late April through mid-May, the world's best poker players converge on Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas (also known as "Glitter Gulch") to compete in the World Series of Poker. (For a closer look at Binion's Horseshoe Casino, see the sidebar "Real gaming at Glitter Gulch.") The World Series of Poker comprises more than 20 separate events - each costing between $1,500 and $10,000, and anyone with the buy-in is welcome to enter. The play generally begins daily at noon and continues until all but nine players are eliminated. The game reconvenes at 4:00 p.m. the next day and continues until one player wins all the chips.
There's only one event for low rollers, and it's free: the Press Invitational. This event is designed to provide members of the working press a first-hand World Series experience without putting any of their own money at risk. But risk and reward are closely related in poker, and the $1,000 prize paid to each year's winning journalist pales in comparison to the $1.5 million that the winner of the main event takes home. (Up until 1999, the big prize was $1 million.) That main event is a $10,000 buy-in, No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament. It's the Big Kahuna of all poker games, played out over four days in mid-May, and the winner is regaled as poker's world champion for the next 12 months.

How It All Got Started

The World Series of Poker began in 1970 as a small gathering of top poker pro- fessionals invited to the Horseshoe by its owner, Benny Binion, to play a few friendly games of poker at very high stakes. When the dust cleared, the assem- blage cast votes for the player to be named world champion. Johnny Moss, who passed away in 1996 and was still a competitive force among poker players in his 89th year, was chosen. Moss was a fitting choice, for it's Johnny Moss and his old friend Benny Binion who can take most of the credit for popularizing poker in Las Vegas.
Moss, the Grand Old Man of Poker, was an old-time Texas road gambler; a breed made redundant by the proliferation of casinos and legalized poker rooms. Back in 1949, however, Nevada was the only state that offered legal gaming. That's when legendary gambler Nick "the Greek Dandalos came to town. The Greek wanted to play no-limit poker, and he wanted to play against a single opponent. Binion agreed to host the game, and there was no question in his mind about the man for the job. He immediately called Johnny Moss, who caught the next plane from Dallas, took a cab to Binion's Horseshoe, and sat down to a friendly game With Nick the Greek.
Binion positioned the table near the casino's entrance, and the crowds - intrigued by the biggest game the town had ever seen - stood five- and six- deep to watch. The confrontation between Moss and Dandalos lasted five months, punctuated by breaks for sleep every four days. In the end, Nick the Greek, who had broken all the gamblers on the East Coast (including mobster Arnold Rothstein), stood up from the table, smiled, and said: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." Over that five-month period Johnny Moss had beaten Nick Dandalos for more than $2 million.

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