Sky's the limit for Poker

There are many different tournaments around the world, but Poker tournaments have evolved into the biggest, richest and most high-profile of them all. Among them, the World Series of Poker is the oldest and most tradition-laden poker tournament in the world.

When the late Benny Binion, the legendary gambling pioneer, organized the first World Series of Poker in 1970 with seven poker pros at his landmark Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas, he predicted the tournament would grow in popularity and someday attract as many as 50 players or more.

Thanks to clever marketing strategy, Binion certainly was on target about the popularity of the World Series, but he was way off on the numbers. This year's WSOP, which ran for seven weeks from June 26 through Aug. 11 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Vegas, brought out a total of 48,364 entrants for the 45 events, a 50 percent increase over last year.

The legendary Doyle Texas Dolly Brunson, who has won the main event multiple times, and is widely regarded by many as the best poker player of all time said - there seems to be no slow down in the ratings for poker tournaments, so poker will be here for a long time to come.
This year's WSOP included poker players from 56 countries around the world and tournament officials are anticipating double-digit growth for the next several years, which means it's going to get better.