The world is abuzz at the moment with the anuual World Series of Poker (WSOP) in full swing and the final table having just been set of the $10,000 buy in 'Main Event' - the main event champion has the right to be called 'World Champion' for the year. Along with the main event there are also around 50 WSOP 'braclet events' each year. What is amazing is that poker player Joe Cada (who won the WSOP in 2009) has made the final table yet again. There has been multipe main event winners in the past (Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson and Stu Ungar) - however, no one has come close to winng two Main event in the 'modern era'
The Modern era of Poker
The first WSOP in 1970, had one event and was won by Johnny Moss (who defended his title in 1971). It took another 10 years for the event to attract more than 100 entries. WIth the rise in popularity of online poker in the early 2000s the number of entrants - in 2003 there was 839 entrants. 2003 was the year that changed poker forever - Ametuer play Chris Moneymaker (yes that is his real last name!) won his entry to the main event by playing a $40 'sattelite' online, and then ended up winning it all. What made it impressive was that he beat seasoned pro Sam (Sammy Farha) to win it all. Since 2003 poker has exploded with the main event attracting 6000 + players every year.
History in the making
When Joe Cada won the main event in 2009 there was a massive field of 6,494 entrants, and the final table was tough including one of the top pros in the world, Phil Ivey. Joe Cada became the youngest main event champion at 21 years of age. Joe has proven it was not just a fluke in 2009 by winning two other WSOP braclets (WSOP events) - one of which was earlier in 2018.
In this years main event the field is even bigger, at 7,874 entrants. Joe has a below average chip stack heading into the final table, but has much more experience than his table mates - including experience on the biggest poker stage of them all! I am really gunning for Joe Cada to make history and cement his name as a legend of the game!
