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The two largest and most well-known poker tournaments are the World Poker Tour championship event and the World Series of Poker, both held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 2005 World Series of Poker was the first held outside of Binion's Horseshoe Casino, though the final few days of the main event were held in the legendary Benny's Bullpen. Future tournaments have been held at one of the Harrah's Entertainment properties; since 2005, the Rio has served as the host venue.
Arguably the most publicized European poker tournament is the Poker Million, which began in 2000 on Sky Sports, following on from the success of the Late Night Poker television show.
In addition to these poker events, there are other major poker tournaments throughout the year. The World Poker Tour broadcasts a series of open tournaments throughout the U.S. and Caribbean with buy-ins from $5,000 to $25,000, as well as a European event.
Additionally, tournament directors perform such other tasks as adjudicating disputes between dealers and players and also among the players themselves. Tournament directors are (generally) employees of the casino that the tournament is being hosted at, although this varies. For example, Matt Savage has appeared at various made-for-tv tournaments such as "King of Vegas", which do not take place at his place of employment.
Robert Thompson is another famous tournament director who has appeared on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown ever since season one. Robert is known for saying the famous words of "Shuffle Up and Deal" occasionally throughout each episode of the show. Robert would also help out when some of the players wanted to make a bet or a raise, assuring that the proper amount of chips were put out.
