Titan Poker
Preview: The online Poker industry received the greatest endorsement it could ever have received when two relatively unknown Poker players upset the good ole boys to win back-to-back World Series of Poker titles. Though they seem to have come from nowhere, Jerry Yang and Peter Eastgate were both seasoned online poker players. This tremendous feat brought hope to thousands of Poker players awaiting the same opportunity.
Online Poker Phenoms Shock the WSOP
World Series of Poker fans were heartily surprised when they watched the conclusions of the two most recent WSOP main events. That’s when unknown online Poker phenoms, Jerry Yang and Peter Eastgate, respectively, upset traditional favourites to capture the 2007 and 2008 World Series of Poker Championships.
Until their victories, online Poker tournaments were regarded as the “little sister” to live Poker tournaments. Yang and Eastgate duplicated the feats of the initial online Poker stars, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, who rose to fame with successive wins in 2003 and 2004.
Until 2003, the winner of the “Father of Poker Tournaments,” The World Series of Poker, had come from a more traditional background, namely the World Poker Tour. However, things changed forever when online satellite tournament qualifiers, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, upset the apple cart and took the top honours in 2003 and 2004 respectively. When, in 2007, Jerry Yang arose as a qualifier from an online satellite entry tournament, fans were surprised, if not indignant. Still, no one expected him to win.
Some experts wrote off Yang’s win as luck, predicting that lightning would not strike twice in the same place. However, another online Poker phenom, twenty-two year old Peter Eastgate, proved them wrong not more than a year later. Eastgate defeated 6,844 entrants at the Rio Hotel and Casino in July, 2008, to become the second successive online Poker phenom to capture the WSOP. For his efforts, Eastgate amassed almost $9.2 million, and gave hope to hundreds of thousands of online Poker players who now also “dream the impossible dream.” Eastgate’s victory gave online players four of the last six WSOP titles.
World Series of Poker History
The first World series of Poker was held at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in 1970, with Johnny Moss defeating seven challengers to take the crown. He repeated the accomplishment the following year and won the top prize of $30,000.
The WSOP really took off when it was introduced to the public by famed television personality and commentator, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, in 1973. In 1978, an international audience witnessed the Main Event—a no limit Texas Hold’em Tournament with Snyder and sidekick, Brent Musburger, doing the honours at the microphones. The winner, Bobby Baldwin, took home $210,000 for his efforts in turning back 42 other competitors.
World Series of Poker Eligibility
Players gain entrance into the World Series of Poker via qualifying matches at the World Poker Tour or sanctioned online satellite tournaments. At peak hours, there are almost a million Poker players participating in tournaments in online Poker rooms across the Web.
Additional information on top Poker events can be found by visiting any Casino-Online recommended poker site.
