WSOP Bracelets

What is a WSOP Bracelet Worth?

Of course, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is worth its weight in gold. But the real value is in what it represents - Poker history.

Winning a WSOP bracelet is the dream of almost every poker player, and while millions have tried over the last 5 decades, only a few thousand have managed to win such a coveted piece of flair.

The bracelet was introduced during the 1976 WSOP - Before then, winners always received a silver cup (1970), a "funny trophy" (1971-74), or a silver bowl (1975) in recognition of their victory - and although the design has changed several times since then, the concept remains the same. That is, win a bracelet and win a spot in poker history.

Winning a bracelet is roughly equivalent to winning the World Cup in soccer, the Stanley Cup in ice hockey, or a Super Bowl ring in American Football. It is the standard against which other poker achievements are compared.

It's like the old saying. There are two types of poker players, those who have won a bracelet and those who don't have one.

The Advance of the WSOP Bracelet

In the early days of the game, a WSOP bracelet did not have the figurative value it has today. Doyle Brunson, 10-time bracelet winner has even said they "Mean Nothing." In fact, he chose not to even pick up two of his bracelets. To oldschool gamblers, they were just gadgets, and no one realized that they would become the gold standard of the game.

Had they known that, there would have been a good chance that legendary players such as Brunson, "Chip" Reese and Stu Ungar would have tried harder and played more tournaments instead of high-stakes cash games.

One player who understood the value of a bracelet from the beginning was Phil Helmuth, winner of the 1989 WSOP Main Event. He has won more bracelets than anyone else.

"For me, bracelets have always been important, more than for other players, because I saw that they stand for a place in poker history." Says Phil Helmuth.

When Poker exploded in the mid-2000s, winning a bracelet became almost every poker player's dream. When she won one at the 2005 WSOP Women's Championship, actress Jennifer Tilly said winning a bracelet was "better than an Oscar."

 

Bracelets outside of Las Vegas

For decades, the WSOP was only in Las Vegas, but that changed in 2007 with the launch of World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) in London. There, Thomas Bihl became the first player in WSOP history to win a bracelet outside of Las Vegas when he won the £2,500 World Championship H.O.R.S.E. event.

Since then, the WSOP has continued to expand, and with it the opportunities to win bracelets, such as at the WSOP Asia-Pacific (WSOP-APAC), WSOP Global Championship and online at both WSOP.com and GGPoker.

In 2015, the WSOP handed out the first online bracelet during Event #64 $1,000 WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold'em, in which 905 players participated and in which Anthony "holdplz" Spinella won for $197,743.

Over the next 5 years, the number of online bracelets only increased, especially in the summer of 2020, when it was the only option given the pandemic. In July 2020, WSOP.com handed out 31 bracelets and $26,871,265 to players from New Jersey and Nevada. For International players, there was the chance to play for one of the 54 bracelets on GGPoker.

The series proved an unprecedented success, with players such as Lev Gottlieb, Daniel Dvoress, Kristin Bicknell, Yuri Dzivielevski, David Peters, Fedor Holz, Connor Drinan, Juha Helppi, and two-time winner Alek Stasiak winning bracelets.

The GGPoker 2020 bracelet events concluded with the $5,000 Main Event, a tournament that grabbed an official Guinness World Record for largest prize pool in a single online poker tournament. With 5,802 participants, a prize pool of $27,559,500 was up for grabs.

Stoyan Madanzhiev of Bulgaria eventually won the tournament for $3,904,686, the largest prize for a win ever in the history of online poker.

Designers of WSOP Bracelets

When they were introduced, a WSOP bracelet cost about $500 to make. Starting in 1980, jeweler, Mordechai Yerushalmi of Las Vegas made the bracelets until Harrah's Entertainment bought the WSOP in 2004. Since then, several companies have produced the WSOP bracelets, including Diamond International, Frederick Goldman Inc, Corum, OnTilt Designs, Jason of Beverly Hills, and Josten's.

In recent years, a unique bracelet has always been designed for the winner of the Main Event. For example, the 2012 Main Event had a bracelet, by Jason Arsheben of Jason of Beverly Hills, the four suits encrusted with precious stones. Rubies for Hearts and Diamonds, and black diamonds for Spades and Clubs. The bracelet weighed 160 grams of 14-karat gold and more than 35 carats of diamonds.

In 2010, Peter Eastgate auctioned off his 2008 WSOP Main Event bracelet. The starting bid on Ebay was $16,000, but the bracelet eventually sold for $147,500. The amount went to charity, UNICEF.

WSOP 1992 winner, Hamid Dastmalchi, was not a fan of his Main Event bracelet. He even went so far as to say "It's worth $5,000, but I'd sell it for $1,500" Ted Forrest replied "sold" and tossed $1,500 in chips his way. With that, he bought himself a bracelet (He won six himself, by the way).

 

Phil Hellmuth, Who won a record 16 WSOP bracelets, gave away 10 of them to friends and family members.

In 2005, Johnny Chan became the first person to win 10 bracelets during his career, a few days before Doyle Brunson imitated this trick. Along with Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth, there was a "bracelet battle" going on in the late 2000s. Eventually Hellmuth took a lead with 16 bracelets, while the others are still tied at 10.

 

Bill Boyd (1971-74), Doyle Brunson (1976-79), and Loren Klein (2016-19) are the only players to have won bracelets in four consecutive years.

 

In 1980 and 1981, special bracelets were awarded for "Best All Around Player." These went to "Oklahoma" Johny Hale and Chip Reese, respectively. However, these bracelets do not count as official bracelets.

The first "Ladies Event" was the 1977 WSOP Event #9 $100 Ladies Seven-Card Stud. Jackie McDaniel won the event with 93 entrants for $5,580 and a bracelet

 

Five-Card Stud has not been played at the WSOP since 1974. Before that, it was organized four times and won four times by Bill Boyd.

No bracelets were issued during the 1982 WSOP. Instead, winners received gold wristwatches. The following year they switched back to bracelets.

Six players have managed to win three bracelets in one year, Puggy Pearson (1973), Phil Hellmuth (1993), Ted Forrest (1993), Phil Ivey (2002), Jeff Lisandro (2009), and George Danzer (2014).

Chinese Poker bracelet tournaments were played in both 1995 and 1996. Gregg Grivas won one of those tournaments.

Marcelo Jakovljevic of Brazil was the first player to win a WSOP bracelet at GGPoker when he won the 2020WSOP Online Bracelet Event #32 $100 The Opener for $265,880.