Tens of thousands of professional card players, wealthy amateurs, and hopeful tourists descend upon the desert to participate in the largest, richest, and most prestigious gambling event on earth.

The history of the WSOP is a fascinating story of how a small gathering of chain-smoking, gun-toting outlaws eventually transformed into a massive, heavily regulated, multi-billion dollar sports empire.

We will explore the legendary "Moneymaker Effect" that triggered the massive online poker boom, and examine how the WSOP completely changed the way the world views a simple card game.

From the smoky backrooms of the Horseshoe Casino to the massive ballrooms of the modern mega-resorts, the stakes have never been higher.

The Origins: Benny Binion and the Texas Gamblers

After fleeing a massive turf war in Dallas, Binion relocated to Las Vegas and opened Binion's Horseshoe Casino on the gritty, neon-drenched Fremont Street in 1951.

In 1970, Binion decided to host a massive promotional event at the Horseshoe. He invited exactly seven of the most famous, heavily bankrolled underground poker players in the country (mostly Texans) to his casino.

The event was a minor curiosity to the general public, but Binion recognized the massive promotional potential of gathering the world's best players in one room.

In a freezeout, players play until they lose all their chips, and the last person sitting at the table wins the entire massive prize pool.

2003: The Year the Internet Broke the WSOP

However, it remained largely a closed community; the participants were almost exclusively professional gamblers, wealthy businessmen, and seasoned Las Vegas veterans.

He won the online tournament, earning a fully paid $10,000 entry ticket into the live WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas.