The History of the WSOP Bracelet: What You’ll Learn
- Origins and Introduction: Discover how Benny Binion, the founder of the World Series of Poker, first conceptualized the idea of a prize to symbolize the event’s prestige and how the bracelet became that iconic symbol.
- Design Evolution: Learn about the changes in the bracelet’s design over the years, reflecting advancements in both style and the increasing stakes of the tournament.
- Significance and Prestige: Understand why winning a WSOP bracelet is considered one of the highest honors in professional poker, akin to a championship ring in other major sports.
- Notable Winners and Moments: Read about some of the most memorable bracelet winners in history, including poker legends and record-breaking achievements.
- Cultural Impact and Legacy: Explore the broader impact of the WSOP bracelet on poker culture and its role in elevating the World Series of Poker to a premier global event.
Bracelet hunting has become synonymous with the World Series of Poker as players battle for a shiny piece of hardware along with some hefty cash winnings each summer in Las Vegas.
The idea of winning a gold bracelet as a trophy may seem a bit strange. But since the series began offering some wrist-wearing sparklers to winners in the 1970s, players can’t seem to get enough of these pieces of jewelry.
Most players would love to win a bracelet and there is a heated competition among pros to move up the leaderboard. Phil Hellmuth, winner of the 1989 $10,000 Main Event, leads the pack with 17 and could be credited with creating the race for the gold.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson once said that early players didn’t see much value in bracelets and they were treated more as a bonus, almost as a token of appreciation thrown in by WSOP founder Benny Binion. Later, Hellmuth saw collecting bracelets as a race to the top and a way to cement a player’s legacy in the game.
“To me, the bracelets have always been a really huge deal, to me more than the other guys, because I knew that they represented history,” Hellmuth told the Associated Press in 2006 after winning his 10th. “This is how they measure greatness.”
That eventually carried over to other poker players, and the WSOP bracelet has grown in importance in the intervening years. Here’s a look at the history of the WSOP bracelet.
A Golden Bonus at Binion’s Horseshoe
The World Series of Poker began as a way to bring in more gamblers to Binion’s Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas. Binion envisioned a poker spectacle that would attract passers-by who might also want to drop a few bucks on the property’s table games and slots.
That first event attracted just a handful of high-stakes poker players in a cash game that eventually saw Texan Johnny Moss voted as the best all-around player. There wasn’t a tournament format in those days and Moss is considered the series’ first Main Event champion (he went on to win it two more times).
The next year, the tournament format was introduced along with side events. The price point for the Main Event was set at $10,000 in 1972 and remains at that level today.
To add some cachet to winning an event, Binion began awarding tournament winners a gold bracelet in 1976. They weren’t seen as near the achievement as bagging a big payday by players of that era, but that would change in the coming years
Those first pieces of hardware replaced trophies for winners and silver plates that were awarded in 1975. Doyle Brunson won the first Main Event bracelet that year and went on to win the tournament in 1977 as well. The original bands were not as ornate as those seen in today’s events.
“The band looked like gold nuggets kind of hammered flat,” Binion’s daughter Becky Behnen said at the time.
Las Vegas jeweler Mordechai Yerushalmi designed the jewelry pieces before Harrah’s (later to be renamed Caesars Entertainment) purchased the WSOP in 2004. Gold wasn’t at the escalated prices seen today and Yerushalmi valued the bracelets at about $500 in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
“I didn’t even go pick two of them up because they didn’t have any real significance before,” Brunson said in 2006. “And I gave the rest of them away to family members. I’ve got one bracelet, the one I won last year.”
Changes to the WSOP Bracelet Through the Years
As the series grew, the number of bracelets handed out also increased and the design also ramped up. The awards were mostly unchanged under Yerushalmi and Caesars brought in some different jewelers to freshen up the design.
Gold and Diamond International came on board in 2005 to produce and that switched to Frederick Goldman the following year.
The WSOP Main Event bracelet saw some major changes during this time, with designers adding numerous jewels to up the price tag and make the piece stand out much more than those awarded in side events.
For example, the 2006 bracelet included 259 stones including 1.4 grams of diamonds and 120 grams of white and yellow gold.
Rubies, black diamonds, and sapphires were also used to represent playing card suits. This trend toward bigger and shiner bracelets, such as the trend in Super Bowl champion rings, continued in the coming years.
After producing some watches as part of winner packages in 2005, Corum became the bracelet manufacturer in 2007, with 53 winners awarded that year. OnTilt Designs took over in 2010 and returned the design to a more traditional style.
Jason Arasheben, designer and owner of the Jason of Beverly Hills jewelry store, took over the contract in 2012 and the bling was back. He previously designed Super Bowl and NBA Championship rings for the Green Bay Packers and L.A. Lakers.
That same year introduced a $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament that helped raise funds for the IOne Drop Foundation. Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari came out on top for more than $18 million and was awarded a special platinum bracelet.
Ramping Up the WSOP Main Event Bling
In recent years, designers have stuck to the motto “go big or go home” when it comes to producing the Main Event bracelet. For example, the 2016 Main Event edition won by Qui Nguyen was certainly huge and shiny.
Produced by Jostens, an American jewelry design firm, the company’s artisan jewelry team upped the ante creating a piece from over 40 uniquely-cast pieces made of 427 grams of white and yellow gold. The bracelet links were designed to look like playing cards as part of a diamond- and ruby-encrusted band.
The centerpiece of the band was “WSOP” in rubies surrounded by a row of black diamonds and backdropped by rows of white diamonds. In total, this jewelry spectacle featured: 1,356 white diamonds (25.5 carats), 626 black diamonds (14.8 carats); and 194 rubies (3.8 carats).
Beyond the bling, the bracelet opened up like a locket with a hidden compartment built to hold the winner’s two final winning cards. Recent Main Event bracelets have carried over similar design features and WSOP staff have valued the piece at more than $500,000.
“The value is priceless as you can’t buy one, you must win one,” a Caesars spokesman said at the time. “They have been fairly consistent as far as design the past several years. Everyone who gets one is always very pleased.”
Second Hands Bracelets Are Surprisingly Bountiful
In recent years, the number of bracelets passed out each year have really ramped up. Beyond the traditional series each summer, players can win bracelets online on WSOP Online and internationally on GGPoker.
There are also live international series as well, with the WSOP Europe set this year for Sept. 17 – Oct. 8 at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, and hosting 15 bracelet events.
Additionally, GGPoker parent company NSUS, which purchased the series in 2025 for $500 million, has promised to expand the number of international live series in the coming years. That means even more bracelets could be up for grabs.
The number now being awarded has drawn some criticism in recent years, with some players arguing that their value has been diminished and watered down.
The WSOP now regularly features events awarding the gold as low as a $300 buy-in level and some players feel awarding the gold at such lower levels may tarnish the brand.
Some winners have even attempted to sell their bracelets through the years. In May 2019, Tom Franklin’s $2,500 No Limit Omaha bracelet went up for sale on eBay for $50,000. In 2013, Jamie Gold’s bracelet was auctioned off for $65,725 as part of a “legal issue,” according to the 2006 Main Event champion.
“It’s a legal issue that I can’t talk about, but what I can say is that I am not selling it,” Gold told Card Player magazine. ” I’m not purposefully selling; I’m not involved in the auction and will not be making $1 if it does end up being sold.”
Tom McEvoy also tried to sell his 1983 Main Event bracelet on eBay in 2017. Despite these attempts to sell and criticism about their importance, those pieces of gold are still certainly sought after among players. Thousands mark their calendars for the WSOP each year – dreaming of cashing in and raising a gold bracelet in victory.Try Swerte99 online Casino today and be part of the future of online gaming.
