WSOP Main Event Champions

Finishing first in the World Series of Poker Main Event not only brings a gold bracelet and handsome cash prize -- it also ensures that player a permanent spot in poker history as one of a select group who have won the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

The WSOP was first staged at Binion’s Horseshoe and Casino in 1970. Seven players each competed in a series of games, with Johnny Moss being voted the best player and world champion. Rather than a cash prize, Moss received a silver cup to commemorate his achievement. The following year, the six entrants each put up $5,000 and played a winner-take-all, freeze-out no-limit hold’em tournament to determine the champion, with Moss again taking the title.

In 1972, Benny Binion matched the players’ $5,000 entry fee with $5,000 of his own money, and Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston came out on top. In 1973 the entry fee for the WSOP Main Event increased to $10,000, where it has remained ever since. Starting in 1978, the prize pool began to be divided among the top finishers of the event, with the top five players all cashing that year. The largest cash prize ever claimed in a WSOP Main Event was Jamie Gold’s $12 million for winning in 2006 when a whopping 876 entrants cashed.

WSOP Main Event Champions

1970 (7 entrants) -- Johnny Moss, no cash prize
1971 (6) -- Johnny Moss, $30,000
1972 (8) -- Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston, $80,000
1973 (13) -- Walter “Puggy” Pearson, $130,000
1974 (16) -- Johnny Moss, $160,000
1975 (21) -- Brian “Sailor” Roberts, $210,000
1976 (22) -- Doyle Brunson, $220,000
1977 (34) -- Doyle Brunson, $340,000
1978 (42) -- Bobby Baldwin, $210,000
1979 (54) -- Hal Fowler, $270,000
1980 (73) -- Stu Ungar, $385,000
1981 (75) -- Stu Ungar, $375,000
1982 (104) -- Jack “Treetop” Straus, $520,000
1983 (108) -- Tom McEvoy, $540,000
1984 (132) -- Jack Keller, $660,000
1985 (140) -- Bill Smith, $700,000
1986 (141) -- Berry Johnston, $570,000
1987 (152) -- Johnny Chan, $625,000
1988 (167) -- Johnny Chan, $700,000
1989 (178) -- Phil Hellmuth, $755,000
1990 (194) -- Mansour Matloubi, $895,000
1991 (215) -- Brad Daugherty, $1,000,000
1992 (201) -- Hamid Dastmalchi, $1,000,000
1993 (220) -- Jim Bechtel, $1,000,000
1994 (268) -- Russ Hamilton, $1,000,000
1995 (273) -- Dan Harrington, $1,000,000
1996 (295) -- Huck Seed, $1,000,000
1997 (312) -- Stu Ungar, $1,000,000
1998 (350) -- Scotty Nyugen, $1,000,000
1999 (393) -- J.J. “Noel” Furlong, $1,000,000
2000 (512) -- Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, $1,000,000
2001 (613) -- Juan Carlos Mortensen, $1,500,000
2002 (631) -- Robert Varkonyi, $2,000,000
2003 (839) -- Chris Moneymaker, $2,500,000
2004 (2,576) -- Greg Raymer, $5,000,000
2005 (5,619) -- Joe Hachem, $7,500,000
2006 (8,773) -- Jamie Gold, $12,000,000
2007 (6,358) -- Jerry Yang, $8,250,000
2008 (6,844) -- Peter Eastgate, $9,152,416

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