There was a time when poker had been reserved for back rooms and smoke filled bars. However, times have changed a lot in the last few years. Today, poker is a nationally recognized game that has received global attention. It is a game that has grabbed the interest of millions of people around. Large tournaments like the world series of poker are televised and are followed by everyone who is interested in the game.

The beginnings

The world series of poker had initially been held in Las Vegas for publicity initially. Today, it is a televised event which attracts huge crowds for most of the events. There have even been various books written on the tournament that have been on the best selling list. Women as well as men know about the world series of poker and also about the people who win the tournament. Men like Mike Matusow who had recently won a whooping $1,000,000 at Las Vegas. For that particular tournament, the game had begun with 114 players. The final table itself lasted for over 11 hours. Mike faced tough competition against poker star Phil Hellmuth.

Players who made a name

One of the best things about the world series of poker is that there are a lot of personalities who participate in the tournament. Rene Angelil, the manger of Celine Dion had made it to the event. The huge variety of personalities and people that can be found at the tournament is nothing less than exciting. From movie stars to stay at home moms, over the years people from all walks of life have played at this massive tournament. One of the most well known and oldest legends to play in the tournament had been Doyle Brunson who played in the year 2005 at the world series of poker with a career of 50 years behind him. Although he did not really make it far in the tournament, he was still remembered for years.

Steve Dannenmann, a pokerStar net mortgage broker and CPA from Maryland had also managed to get a lot of attention at the tournament’s main event by beating 5,617 players. He had been just one hand behind to achieve the status of the champion but instead ended up in the second place to Joseph Hachem. Nevertheless, Dannenmann won a prize money of $4,250,000. Despite his mild manners and personality, he had turned out to be a massive force with enormous talent in the tournament.

The world series of poker tournament is a fascinating and a very interesting event. Over the years, the event has grown in size and includes various different events. Today, players can even gain entry to this event through various satellite events that are organized prior to the event.