After 4 sucessful seasons of the World Series of Blackjack, GSN is getting ready for another hit year. With this in mind lets take a step back and see how the WSOB started.

The first year the WSOB was held it was a 7 round tournament with a top prize of $100 000. The tournament was hosted by Matt Vasgersian (broadcaster for the San Diego Padres) and Melana Scantlin (Average Joe) along with Max Rubin (Casino Pro) at the Mohegan Sun Casino and Resort. The tournament had 5 first round games from which the tables top finisher advanced to the final table. The second place finisher at each table were given a second chance in the Wild Card game in which the winner would advance to the 6th and final position at the final table. The last round was the championship table with the winner of the table winning the tournament. One of the competitors in this tournament was actually a member of the (in)famous MIT Blackjack Team. This MIT team member went by the name MIT Mike in the tournament and ultimately won the first WSOB tournament.

The Second tournament was help at the Golden Nuggent in Downtown Las Vegas. For the second season it was decided that the tournament needed more players so the number of seats was raised from 25 to 40 and an extra round of semi-final games were added to account for the extra players and add to the excitement. Mike Vasgersian return for the second season as the host but he had a new co-host Megan Riordan. The WSOB tournament consisted of 8 preliminary games, 2 wild card games, 2 semi final games and the championship game. Along with the increase in players the grand prized was also increased to $250 000. Ken Einiger took the honours as the second year champion.

For year three the WSOB tournament was moved from downtown Las Vegas out to thh Hilton Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Along with the move to a new casino a new host was also selected for the 3rd tournament. John F joined the WSOB crew as the host of the tounament. The tournament again had 40 players with two of the players being selected by a special qualifier event. 6 lucky participants were given the chance to win one of two seats in the tournament. The lucky participants were drawn through a contest held on AOL Games. Again this year the top prize was increased to $500 000 and some new rules were added to add to the excitement.

A Knockout card, the Burger King Power Chip and the Second Chance draw were all added to the tournament to make it more exciting for the TV audience. Our WSOB Rules page covers these additions in details.

The fourth year of the World Series of Blackjack didn't see a lot of change from the third year. Matt V returns as the host and the tournament stay at the Hilton Hotel and Casino. This tournament has a number of celebrities participating in it including Caroline Rhea, Orel Hershiser, and Penn Jillette.

The Knockout cards, and the Burger King Power Chip make a return as does the $500 000 top prize.