| Competition: | 2002 World Series of Poker |
| Location: | Binion's Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Dates: | April 19 – May 25 |
| Champion: |  Robert Varkonyi |
| Prev: | 2001 |
| Next: | 2003 |
The 2002 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe.
The 2002 WSOP was historically notable for two reasons. The series was the first WSOP in which pocket cams were installed to allow broadcasters (on tape delay) to show the players' hole cards, although only for the Main Event (today, the cameras are used at most WSOP events), and it was also the last WSOP before the 2003 Main Event victory of amateur Chris Moneymaker helped launch the 2000s poker boom.
| Event | Winner | Prize | Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $500 Casino Employees Limit Hold'em | David Warga | $47,300 | Leon Wheeler | |
| $2,000 Limit Hold'em | Mike Majerus | $407,120 | David Chiu | |
| $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | Perry Friedman | $176,860 | Greg Mascio | |
| $2,000 No Limit Hold'em | Layne Flack | $303,880 | Tom Jacobs | |
| $1,500 Seven Card Stud | Phil Ivey | $132,000 | Toto Leonidas | |
| $1,500 Limit Omaha | John Cernuto | $73,320 | Randy Holland | |
| $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Split | Paul Clark | $125,200 | Andrew Prock | |
| $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha | Jack Duncan | $192,560 | Lindy Chambers | |
| $2,500 No Limit Hold'em Gold Bracelet Match Play | Johnny Chan | $34,000 | Phil Hellmuth Jr. | |
| $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. | John Hennigan | $117,320 | Ben Tang | |
| $2,000 Pot Limit Hold'em | Jay Sipelstein | $150,240 | Barny Boatman | |
| $2,500 Seven Card Stud | Dan Torla | $115,600 | Bill Gibbs | |
| $3,000 Limit Hold'em | John Hom | $174,840 | Benny Wan | |
| $1,500 Razz | Billy Baxter | $64,860 | Chico Flynn | |
| $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha | Jan Vang Sørensen | $185,000 | Brent Carter | |
| $2,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo | Phil Ivey | $118,440 | Sirous Baghchehsaraie | |
| $3,000 Pot Limit Hold'em | Fred Berger | $197,400 | Chris Ferguson | |
| $1,500 Ace to Five Lowball | Thor Hansen | $62,600 | Brian Nadell | |
| $1,500 No Limit Hold'em | Layne Flack | $268,020 | Johnny Chan | |
| $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | Eddie Fishman | $135,360 | Doug Saab | |
| $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em | John McIntosh | $177,380 | Mel Weiner | |
| $5,000 Seven Card Stud | Qushqar Morad | $172,960 | Steven Banks | |
| $2,000 S.H.O.E. | Phil Ivey | $107,540 | Diego Cordovez | |
| $5,000 Limit Hold'em | Jennifer Harman | $221,440 | Brian Green | |
| $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout | Joel Chaseman | $96,400 | Gene Timberlake | |
| $1,000 Ladies' Championship | Catherine Brown | $39,880 | Marie Sohn | |
| $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha | Robert Williamson III | $201,160 | Patrick Bruel | |
| $1,500 Limit Hold'em | Meng La | $190,920 | Steve Kaufman | |
| $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split | Mike Matusow | $148,520 | Daniel Negreanu | |
| $3,000 No Limit Hold'em | Randal Heeb | $367,240 | Sherman Burry | |
| $2,000 1/2 Hold'em, 1/2 Stud | Dan Heimiller | $108,300 | Ram Vaswani | |
| $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw No Limit | Allen Cunningham | $160,200 | O'Neil Longson | |
| $1,000 Seniors' No Limit Championship | Bill Swan | $134,000 | Mike Sexton | |
| $1,500 Triple Draw Lowball Ace to Five | John Juanda | $49,620 | Paul Phillips |
There were 631 entrants to the main event. Each paid $10,000 to enter, with the top 45 players finishing in the money. It was the largest poker tournament (by prize pool) ever played in a brick and mortar casino at the time.
| Name | Number of chips (percentage of total) | WSOP Bracelets* | WSOP Cashes* | WSOP Earnings* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Shipley | 2,033,000 (32.2%) | 0 | 5 | $37,270 | |
| Russell Rosenblum | 927,000 (14.7%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ralph Perry | 766,000 (12.1%) | 0 | 6 | $43,780 | |
| Robert Varkonyi | 640,000 (10.1%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Minh Ly | 614,000 (9.7%) | 0 | 2 | $62,155 | |
| Scott Gray | 545,000 (8.6%) | 0 | 1 | $12,200 | |
| Julian Gardner | 394,000 (6.2%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tony Duong | 231,000 (3.7%) | 0 | 5 | $224,000 | |
| Harley Hall | 161,000 (2.6%) | 0 | 2 | $25,260 |
| Place | Name | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Robert Varkonyi | $2,000,000 | |
| 2nd | Julian Gardner | $1,100,000 | |
| 3rd | Ralph Perry | $550,000 | |
| 4th | Scott Gray | $281,480 | |
| 5th | Harley Hall | $195,000 | |
| 6th | Russell Rosenblum | $150,000 | |
| 7th | John Shipley | $125,000 | |
| 8th | Tony Duong | $100,000 | |
| 9th | Minh Ly | $85,000 |
Note: Phil Hellmuth, as part of ESPN's broadcast team, during the first hour of their final table coverage said he would shave his head if Robert Varkonyi won the tournament. At the conclusion of the tournament, Hellmuth is seen having his head shaved.
NB: This list is restricted to In The Money finishers with an existing Wikipedia entry.
| Place | Name | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13th | Martin de Knijff | $60,000 | |
| 14th | Yoshio Nakano | $60,000 | |
| 23rd | Phil Ivey | $40,000 | |
| 24th | Minh Nguyen | $40,000 | |
| 34th | Ross Boatman | $30,000 | |
| 35th | Randy Holland | $30,000 | |
| 36th | Tom Schneider | $30,000 | |
| 42nd | David Sklansky | $20,000 | |
| 43rd | Dan Heimiller | $20,000 |
In "Casino Night", the 22nd episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office, it is revealed that Kevin Malone, a character on the show, won a World Series of Poker bracelet for No-Limit Deuce-Seven Draw in 2002.[1]