Poker Champions
One of the most acclaimed games of chance is Poker. It also serves many purposes, like providing recreation as well as making money to be used for charitable purposes. But the most important game is the World Series of Poker. This game is universally recognized as the Poker Championship of the World..
Tom Moore of San Antonio held the first World Series of Poker in 1969 in Texas. It was played in the Holiday Hotel and later, at a casino in Reno. It became a sensational event. The champion of the inaugural event was Crandall Addington.
The reigning champion of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is Jamie M. Gold. Gold's sum total winnings in the live tournament exceed a record $12,000,000. He was the first player to overshadow the $10,000,000 mark in a single poker tournament. Half of his $12 million dollars is frozen in the trust account of Clark Country, however. On August 22, 2006, Chief District Court Judge Kathy Hardcastle made the decision to freeze funds due to a legal battle between Bruce Crispin Leyser and Gold. Leyser said that he and Gold had an agreement with him, dictating that in exchange for Leyser’s advertising efforts to attract celebrity clients for Gold (an agent by profession), he would receive half of Gold’s earnings in the main event.
Another winner of the World Series of Poker main event is Joseph (Joe) Hachem. Unlike other recent winners, Hachem did not qualify through the Internet. He actually paid the total buy-in himself. Along with Raymer and Moneymaker, Hachem now represents PokerStars.
In the 2004 World Series, Greg Raymer defeated David Williams and won the $5,000,000 first prize in the $10,000 main event. In the final hand, Raymer's 8♠ 8♦ defeated Williams' A♥ 4♠.
The year before, Chris Moneymaker won the championship and $2.5 million. He earned his spot in the main event by spending $39 in an online satellite. The most significant feature of his win was that this was the first live poker tournament he had played. He fought Sam Farha in one of the most memorable heads-up battles of the WSOP. When Farha folded a pair of nines, it quickly changed the pace of the game. Moneymaker’s 5♦ 4♠ beat Farha's J♥ 10♦ on a board of J♠ 5♠ 4♣ A♠ 5♥, which gave Moneymaker a full house. Since then, Moneymaker has played on the World Poker Tour where he finished second at the Shooting Stars event earning $200,000.