Top 5 poker winnings of all time

Who won the most money?

There's no question that millions of people all over the world have become utterly fascinated with witnessing poker tournaments in the capacity of spectator. What a strange idea this would have sounded like to some of the old timers who got started playing in dusty saloons in the first half of the twentieth century. Back then, those poker champs might've had a hard time envisioning people sitting in front of a small box with a glass screen to watch a game of football. Thus, you can imagine how utterly unfathomable it would be for them to picture millions of people carving time out of their busy schedules to watch a televised card game.

Well, if there's one thing we can say about the future it's that it is totally unpredictable. And there can be no question that professional poker is one of the leading spectator competitions being broadcast today. What makes watching poker so much fun? There are many answers to that question, but there can be little doubt that seeing a player walk away with a gigantic pot or main event prize is a tremendous thrill. Especially if you have taken the time to get to know the player, and thus have a genuine rooting interest in his or her success.

Listing the five greatest poker winnings of all time is a fool's errand, because there are just too many options to choose from. Therefore, I am going to limit the focus of this article to one very special time, the first five years of the World Series of Poker.

It is difficult to believe that back in 1970, when Benny Binion first launched the WSOP at his Horseshoe casino, poker was very much on the margins of society. In fact, it was this very tournament that helped to bring the game into the mainstream. Let's look at the winnings garnered during the WSOP's first five years, for they are all historic and worthy of mention.

In 1970, Johnny Moss won the very first WSOP title. No money was involved, but he won a very special silver cup as recognition for his tremendous poker play. You can bet that cup is worth a hell of a lot of money these days.

The following year, there was tremendous pressure on Moss to see if he could repeat his accomplishment. Against tremendous odds, he did just that and walked home with $30,000 for his efforts.

In 1972, Moss was knocked from his perch by one of his old friends/rivals, Amarillo Slim. After a grueling match, Slim took home a whopping $80,000.

By the time 1973 rolled around, the main event prize had mushroomed too a staggering total of $130,000. This was a huge amount of money back then, and all of it went to a fierce competitor name of Puggy Pearson.

The World Series of Poker held in 1974 included the biggest field ever, and there was $160,000 on the line. Proving that nothing is impossible, former champion Johnny Moss battled back to take home all the marbles