The World Series of Poker was first held in 1970. Unlike the WSOP events that followed it, which are decided using a freeze-out tournament, the 1970 champion was decided by voting. Jack Binion invited the best seven poker players in America to his Binion's Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas, Nevada to decide who was America's best poker player.
After a cash game session, Johnny Moss was voted the best in the world by "Amarillo Slim" Preston, Sailor Roberts, Doyle Brunson, Puggy Pearson, Crandell Addington and Carl Cannon. Moss was awarded a silver cup rather than a bracelet, as bracelet wasn't established as the prize until 1976.
According to an apocryphal legend, two votes were taken to determine the best player in the world. In the first, the players were asked to vote for the best player, and, the story goes, each voted for himself. In the second vote, they were asked to vote for the second-best player, and Moss won the vote.
Famous quotes containing the words world, series and/or poker:
“For the world hath lost his youth, and the times begin to wax old.”
—Apocrypha. 2 Esdras, 14:10.
“Life ... is not simply a series of exciting new ventures. The future is not always a whole new ball game. There tends to be unfinished business. One trails all sorts of things around with one, things that simply won’t be got rid of.”
—Anita Brookner (b. 1928)
“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)