With the WSOP quickly approaching us, I thought it would be fun to post some interesting historical facts and put a little perpective on the time when WSOP was introduced.
When the first annual WSOP was held in 1970:
- The cost of gasoline was 36 cents
- The average value of a single-family home in the United States was $65K
- The average cost of a domestic car was $3,708
- The average income household income in the US was $8,734
- Federal minimum wage was $1.60
- “Midnight Cowboy” won an Academy Award for Best Picture
- “Bridge Over Trouble Water” by Simon & Garfunkel topped Billboard Hot 100
- Richard Nixon was President of the United States
The WSOP has been in existence longer than:
- The right of 18-year-olds to vote in federal elections (1971)
- The Hacky Sack (1972)
- Legos (1973)
- Roe vs. Wade (1973)
- The Rubik’s Cube (1974)
- The VCR (1975)
- The Post-It-Note (1977)
By the Number (WSOP 1970 - 2008)
- $867,253,377 - Total prize money awarded to date
- 286,993 - Total number of participants who have competed in WSOP
- 27,685 - Number of entrants that have cashed in a WSOP event
- 36,979 - Total entrants to complete in the WSOP Main Event
- 731 - Number of gold bracelets awarded (In 1974, The Main Event winner received a gold bracelet. In 1975, became the first year all event winners received a gold bracelet. In 1982, gold watches were awarded instead of bracelets.)
- 11 - Number of bracelets won by Phil Hellmuth, the most of any player in history
- 53 - Number of multi-millionaire created by WSOP
- $0 - Amount Johnny Moss won for winning 1970 Main Event (He won a Silver Cup instead)
- 6,843 - Number of people Peter Eastgate beat to became champion in 2008 WSOP Main Event
- 6 - Number of people Johnny Moss beat in 1970 to become champion (by vote of his peers)
- 94 - Age of Jack Ury in 2007, the oldest person ever to complete in a WSOP event
- 22 - Age of Peter Eastgate, youngest Main Event champion in history
- 124 - Number of nations represented at the 2008 WSOP (80 nations were represented at the 2006 Winter Olympics)
- 1 - Number of countries represented at the 1970 WSOP
- 40 - Number of cameras ESPN uses to cover WSOP (NBC used 35 to cover Super Bowl XLIII)
- 1970 - Year the first WSOP was held at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas
- 2009 - Year that the 40th Annual WSOP will be held at the Rio in Las Vegas
