According to Gary Loveman, president and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., more than $20 million in official prize money is expected to be used at the 2004 Poker World Series in Binion's Horsoe.
Widely known as the highest authority of its kind, the Poker World Series has been taking place since its inception at Vinion's Horschoux Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Hara agreed to purchase the Horschoux after closing earlier this month.
Loveman said, "The competition has a long and colorful history, and we look forward to preserving the tradition that has been made into a phenomenon that is famous around the world today."
The month-long competition begins with a $2,000 buy-in limited hold-em event on Apr. 22 and ends with a $10,000 buy-in unlimited hold-em world championship starting on May 22. In between the dates, there will be more than 20 official tournament events and hundreds of satellite and live-action games. The final is expected to attract more than 1,000 participants, and last year's winner took home a $2.5 million prize.
Benny Vinnon came up with the idea of a world poker series in the 1950s when he hosted a high-yielding poker game between Nicholas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos and his friend Johnny Moss from Dallas as the best poker player of the time. The crowd gathered to watch the game, and Vinnon immediately saw the value of the publicity it produced.
In 1970, Binion regained the excitement of the original game when he started the first Poker World Series to win the "World Champion." Poker masters from all over the country descended on Binion's Horsch Hotel & Casino to win the title. The first winner of the tournament was decided by a referendum. Later, the competition developed into a "freeze match," the current format in which players are eliminated systematically until one player wins all the chips. 바카라사이트