Poker wouldn’t be the same game without tournaments. The championships allow the best players on the planet to compete face to face, whether virtually on the Internet or for real in casinos. And in truth, it is these many competitions that allow this discipline to keep its huge community of players around the world engaged and involved. Without going into more detail, we are obliged to specify that our platform would not be the same without the POWERFEST, our precious festival of more than 15 days of poker where several million winnings are distributed among all the participants. And the most important thing is that the buy-ins to participate are extremely low.
And this first example makes us want to take a look at the most important poker tournaments in the entire history of this game. In the world of poker, there are several tournaments, whether present or online, which are extremely popular , of those that the players mark with a red cross on their calendar. Nobody wants to miss them, and all the more that they offer prizes of stratospheric value extremely rare. As you will see, the majority of these tournaments are played in Texas Hold’em, the most popular variant of poker. But there are also parallel tournaments offered in other variants, and these are just as interesting, especially for those looking for something different.
The World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker must open this list, because it is considered the biggest tournament on the planet. And that’s been the case for more than half a century, with the finals played in Las Vegas to end on a high. The WSOP was first organized exclusively in the United States, but gradually they ended up arriving in Europe, South America and other continents where additional series are now disputed. It is in these tournaments that the famous bracelets are issued to the winners, which are now also offered to the winners of the online version.
If we had to remember one of these editions in particular, we are obliged to think of the Main Event of the 2006 season. Jaime Gold was crowned champion of the WSOP which offered the largest prize pool in the history of poker: 82,512,162 dollars. The man from Kansas inherited 12 million, much less than the Iranian Antonio Esfandiari who won 18 million dollars during the 2012 edition of The Big One for One Drop. A record that no one has managed to beat so far.
But if we talk about historical products having made it to the World Series of Poker, it is impossible not to mention the 2003 vintage, when Chris Moneymaker revolutionized poker by winning the main competition after qualifying there following an online satellite tournament. He was the one who changed the perception of poker among the general public, and who launched the great boom of online poker compared to live poker which was then considered the only way to access such tournaments. This has had an influence on the entire history of Texas Hold’em, poker and even the gaming industry in general.
Online World Championships
Among the countless online tournaments that exist, this one is undoubtedly the most important. the WCOOP or World Online Poker Championship is in a way the equivalent of the WSOP, but on the Internet. With multiple variants of poker playable, it is an appointment that brings together all the best online players on the planet, those capable of achieving the greatest feats with their cards.
The editions between 2008 and 2010 were certainly the most important in terms of prize pool. Just after the serious economic crisis, it was Carter King who imposed himself and won a gain of more than 1 million dollars. He was followed by Ukrainian Yevgeniy Timoschenko in 2009 with $1.7 million at the final table, but it was 2010 that was the most lucrative. The money on the final table soared to $12 million and the eventual winner, Tyson Marks, went home with over $2 million in winnings in his pocket.
The World Poker Tour
We also cannot forget in this list the world poker tour. It is quite similar to the WSOP, except that this tournament actually travels around the world. The world’s most luxurious casinos serve as the main stages of this championship which also features online events and other special competitions where the hardest and most talented players of the WPT are rewarded.
The most lucrative World Poker Tour took place in 2007 at the Bellagio, and the winner was Spaniard. carlos mortensenof Ecuadorian origin but of Spanish nationality, won a total sum of almost 4 million dollars, with over $15 million at stake on the final table. Here is another one that will forever mark the history of this game.
Other tournaments
As final examples, we would like to mention two tournaments that have also made a name for themselves in the poker world. L’European Poker Tour, as you can imagine, is a championship that takes place only on the Old Continent. In 2008, Canadian Glen Chorny won the most laudable tournament in EPT history with $3 million in prize money. And Triton Poker, a little less known, is an event that follows the same principles as the WSOP, and where buy-ins and re-buys are extremely popular.
