World Series of Poker Main Event Champions
| Year | Entries | Champion | Country | Winning Hand | Prize | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 7 | Johnny Moss | United States | - | - | |
| 1971 | 6 | Johnny Moss | United States | - | $30,000 | |
| 1972 | 8 | Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston | United States |   | $80,000 | |
| 1973 | 13 | Walter "Puggy" Pearson | United States |   | $130,000 | |
| 1974 | 16 | Johnny Moss | United States |   | $160,000 | |
| 1975 | 21 | Brian "Sailor" Roberts | United States |   | $210,000 | |
| 1976 | 22 | Doyle Brunson | United States |   | $220,000 | |
| 1977 | 34 | Doyle Brunson | United States |  | $340,000 | |
| 1978 | 42 | Bobby Baldwin | United States |   | $210,000 | |
| 1979 | 54 | Hal Fowler | United States |  | $270,000 | |
| 1980 | 73 | Stu Ungar | United States |   | $385,000 | |
| 1981 | 75 | Stu Ungar | United States |   | $375,000 | |
| 1982 | 104 | Jack Straus | United States | | $520,000 | |
| 1983 | 108 | Tom McEvoy | United States |  | $540,000 | |
| 1984 | 132 | Jack Keller | United States |  | $660,000 | |
| 1985 | 140 | Bill Smith | United States | | $700,000 | |
| 1986 | 141 | Berry Johnston | United States | | $570,000 | |
| 1987 | 152 | Johnny Chan | United States | (born in China) |  | $625,000 |
| 1988 | 167 | Johnny Chan | United States | (born in China) |  | $700,000 |
| 1989 | 178 | Phil Hellmuth | United States |  | $755,000 | |
| 1990 | 194 | Mansour Matloubi | Iran |   | $895,000 | |
| 1991 | 215 | Brad Daugherty | United States |  | $1,000,000 | |
| 1992 | 201 | Hamid Dastmalchi | Iran |   | $1,000,000 | |
| 1993 | 220 | Jim Bechtel | United States | | $1,000,000 | |
| 1994 | 268 | Russ Hamilton | United States | | $1,000,000 | |
| 1995 | 273 | Dan Harrington | United States |   | $1,000,000 | |
| 1996 | 295 | Huck Seed | United States | | $1,000,000 | |
| 1997 | 312 | Stu Ungar | United States | | $1,000,000 | |
| 1998 | 350 | Scotty Nguyen | United States | (born in Vietnam) | | $1,000,000 |
| 1999 | 393 | Noel Furlong | Ireland |   | $1,000,000 | |
| 2000 | 512 | Chris Ferguson | United States | | $1,500,000 | |
| 2001 | 613 | Carlos Mortensen | Spain | (born in Ecuador) |  | $1,500,000 |
| 2002 | 631 | Robert Varkonyi | United States | | $2,000,000 | |
| 2003 | 839 | Chris Moneymaker | United States | | $2,500,000 | |
| 2004 | 2,576 | Greg Raymer | United States |  | $5,000,000 | |
| 2005 | 5,619 | Joe Hachem | Australia |  | $7,500,000 | |
| 2006 | 8,773 | Jamie Gold | United States | | $12,000,000 | |
| 2007 | 6,358 | Jerry Yang | United States | (born in Laos) |  | $8,250,000 |
| 2008 | 6,844 | Peter Eastgate | Denmark |  | $9,152,416 | |
| 2009 | 6,494 | Joe Cada | United States | | $8,547,042 | |
| 2010 | 7,319 | Jonathan Duhamel | Canada | | $8,944,310 | |
| 2011 | 6,865 | Pius Heinz | Germany | | $8,715,638 | |
| 2012 | 6,598 | Greg Merson | United States |  | $8,531,853 | |
| 2013 | 6,352 | Ryan Riess | United States | | $8,361,570 | |
| 2014 | 6,683 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden |  | $10,000,000 | |
| 2015 | 6,420 | Joe McKeehen | United States | | $7,683,346 | |
| 2016 | 6,737 | Qui Nguyen | United States | (born in Vietnam) |  | $8,005,310 |
| 2017 | 7,221 | Scott Blumstein | United States |  | $8,150,000 | |
| 2018 | 7,874 | John Cynn | United States | | $8,800,000 | |
| 2019 | 8,569 | Hossein Ensan | Germany | | $10,000,000 |
