World Series of Poker

World Series of Poker

Aired weekly on ESPN, The World Series of Poker is the premier poker tournament. Though Benny Binion (of Binion’s Casino) actually started hosting poker tournaments back in 1949, he didn’t make them “official” until 1970 when he created the “World Series of Poker.” Ever since then, poker giants have been made and broken in this fierce tournament.

“This poker game here gets us a lot of attention,” said Binion back in 1973. “We had seven players last year, and this year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It's even liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that.” Little did he know that years later, there would be nearly 8000 entrants in 33 competitions. A 33-day event, The World Series of Poker has, without a doubt, become the largest and most prestigious poker tournament anywhere. Games include 7-Card Stud, Pot Limit Omaha, No Limit Texas Hold’em, Razz and more.

The Hosts:

Norman Chad - A national sports columnist with a weekly syndicated column titled “Couch Slouch,” Norman Chad enjoys providing poker commentary and a few wisecracks to audiences everywhere. “Even though I’d never done [live poker commentary] like this before, I didn’t know I would take to it like a fish in water,” he says. “I’m pretty quick on my feet and sarcastic. Combine that with Texas Hold’em poker and gambling, that come naturally to me, and it was a made in Heaven mix for me.”

Lon McEachern - A poker analyst who provides play-by-play commentary on The World Series of Poker, Lon is also the host of FOX network’s “On the Pole.” More than anything, he loves the fact that we can now see the player’s cards via hidden camera. Before that, he said, it “was like having McEnroe and Boris Becker playing Wimbledon in the dark, then turning on the lights after the point was over to see who won. You never knew what skills they possessed.”