Who Will Be the Lucky One?

For each of the past few years, we at Card Player have talked about doing a special World Series of Poker issue. It always sounded like a great idea, but we never got around to it. This year, we planned months in advance. I talked to writer extraordinaire Lee Munzer and asked if he was willing to undergo the huge task of researching the history of the World Series of Poker and coming up with all of the content for this issue. He said he would sleep on it, and sent me 15,000 words of text the next day. In this issue, you can learn who all of the past world champions are, who has the most cashes, who has the most bracelets, how the World Series began, where it is going, and Lee's top 100 players to keep an eye on in the championship. Most likely, 6,600 people are going to play in the championship this year, and only 100 made Lee's list. I know you think you should have made the list, but when you write the entire World Series of Poker issue next year, you can be on your own list.

After the first week of the WSOP at the Rio, we have seen the youngest player ever to win an event (21-year-old Eric Froehlich), an opening event with 2,305 players, the largest poker room to date, and a vibe that has not been matched before. As you can see from the cover of this issue, there was a sea of people on hand for the opening event with the same goal on their minds – winning. Speaking of winning, I want to congratulate two phenomenal players who have been playing for a while and winning a ton of money, but haven't had too much television recognition. The first is Allen Cunningham, who won the opening event ($1,500 no-limit hold'em) and his third bracelet. The second is Erik Seidel. Erik won the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event (1,403 players) and his seventh bracelet. Good job, Allen, Erik, and everyone else who has won. Go to CardPlayer.com for all other World Series of Poker coverage.

ALLEN CUNNINGHAM – ERIC FROEHLICH – SCOTT FISCHMAN – ERIK SEIDEL – THOMAS KELLER

There have been a few people who have caught my eye while playing with them in the past month at the same table. I am not going to predict that one of these guys will win the championship, because due to the huge number of players, it will likely be a not-yet-famous player. However, Todd Brunson, Scott Fischman, and Thomas Keller sure are playing well. Todd is fun to watch, because it seems like he always has it. Fischman and Keller are similar, because it seems like they never have it. It shows how different styles can bring home the dough.

Enjoy the history and the photos – and good luck on becoming the next world champion. I sure hope it's me. Wouldn't it be cool to see my huge head of hair on the cover instead of stuck here on this page?

By the way, all of our regular columnists will return in the next issue.