Tournament Strategies
After receiving pocket cards, you are immediately faced with a choice: play your cards and either raise or call the blinds, or fold.
Practice Matters
The idea of running a championship Poker tournament was first
The idea of running a championship Poker tournament was first brought to Benny Binion's attention in 1968 by Tom Moore, a Reno gambler and casino owner. The Horseshoe Casino hosted the first World Series of Poker Tournament in 1970. Most of Las Vegas' high-roller gamblers participated. The games played were California Draw Poker, California Lowball, Seven Card High, Seven Card Low (Razz), Seven Card High-Low Split, Five Card Stud, and a little-known Texas variation of Seven Card Stud called Hold Em. The winner of each division was named World Champion. The news media paid little or no attention to this tournament.
After the dismal publicity showing of the 1970 World Series of
After the dismal publicity showing of the 1970 World Series of Poker Tournament, Binion knew that to be successful his format needed improvement. In the 1971 World Series of Poker Tournament a few rule changes were made, as follows: The chip buy-in for the Hold Em segment of the tournament was increased to $5,000 per player and the game was to be played table stakes freeze-out fashion until one player had won the players' total chip buy-in. In the 1971 World Series Hold Em Tournament, six players were involved, each having purchased a $5,000 chip buy-in. Johnny Moss emerged the World Hold Em Champion and collected the $30,000 in prize money.