PokerGO collates WSOP history with episodes now going back to 1973

Jon Pill
Posted on: April 16, 2021 16:37 PDT

Have you ever wanted to relive the classic WSOP moments of yesteryear? Now you can with PokerGO's new archive of WSOP episodes from as far back as 1973.

The poker content streaming site has got the license to stream old WSOP episodes under the title WSOP Classics.

"Watch the WSOP as it evolves," says PokerGO's ad copy. "From the small circle of legendary gamblers and accomplished poker players, to the massive fields full of savvy tournament veterans, charming personalities, and stoic amateurs. Everyone has a chance of claiming WSOP gold and etching their name in the WSOP history books."

What's available?

The series is split between two playlists. First, there is the somewhat spotty coverage of pre-Moneymaker events. There are a few big gaps in the record here. Stu Ungar's first win is missing, as is Huck Seed's ('96) win and Jack Straus's ('82). Neither of Doyle Brunson's Main Event victories are available ('76 and '77).

But there are plenty of unmissable events too. You can watch Johnny Chan win his back-to-back titles in '87 and '88, then watch him lose heads up to Phil Hellmuth in the '89 Main Event.

Or you can watch Stu Ungar on the day he became the "Comeback Kid," winning his third Main Event title in '97 less than a year before he died.

For real history buffs, you can even watch the '73 WSOP. This was the third-ever WSOP, the second in a freeze-out format, and the first one to be televised.

Almost everyone at the '73 final table is — or was — a poker legend. Amarillo Slim, Doyle Brunson, Walter "Puggy" Pearson, Johnny Moss, Bob Hooks, and Jack "Treetop" Straus are all there. And in what other show but the WSOP could you find a commentator going by the name "Jimmy the Greek?"

Then there is a playlist for the much shorter but more complete poker boom years between 2003 and 2010. These are probably more familiar to most players. Main Events after 2010 were already available on the site.

It's an archive of poker history, available only on PokerGO.

Full list of titles available as WSOP Classics on PokerGO

Year Winner Top Prize
1973 Walter Pearson $130,000
1978 Bobby Baldwin $210,000
1979 Hal Fowler $270,000
1981 Stu Ungar $375,000
1983 Tom McEvoy $540,000
1987 Johnny Chan $625,000
1988 Johnny Chan $700,000
1989 Phil Hellmuth $755,000
1990 Mansour Matloubi $895,000
1991 Brad Daugherty $1,000,000
1992 Hamid Dastmalchi $1,000,000
1993 Jim Bechtel $1,000,000
1994 Russ Hamilton $1,000,000
1995 Dan Harrington $1,000,000
1997 Stu Ungar $1,000,000
1998 Scotty Nguyen $1,000,000
1999 Noel Furlong $1,000,000
2002 Robert Varkonyi $2,000,000
2003 Chris Moneymaker $2,500,000
2004 Greg Raymer $5,000,000
2005 Joe Hachem $7,500,000
2006 Jamie Gold $12,000,000
2007 Jerry Yang $8,250,000
2008 Peter Eastgate $9,152,416
2009 Joe Cada $8,944,310
2010 Jonathan Duhamel $8,944,310

Featured image source: Mark Gorman curtesy of PokerGO.co