The poker bracelet has become a symbol of achievement and respect in the poker world. It was originally introduced as a prize by Benny Binion in the year 1976 in the World Poker Series Event. It is one of the most sought after and reputable non-monetary prize and therefore is often known as the ultimate prize in the world of poker.

It is believed that there are two kinds of poker players, ones those who have won the bracelet and ones those who haven’t. The list of bracelet winners includes Phil Hellmuth, the winner of 11 WSOP bracelets followed by Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, each with 10 bracelets. In 2005, actress Jennifer Tilly won the Women’s WSOP bracelet and considered to be a bigger win than the Oscars. Jeffrey Pollack, State Commissioner for WSOP claims that the bracelet is equivalent to the Lombardi Trophy for Football or the Stanley Cup for Hockey.

Ever since its inception, the bracelet has evolved largely. From the year 1976 to 1989, only some bracelets were awarded and the design was pretty similar to the gold nuggets. However in the early nineties, there were 14 bracelets awarded for the World Poker Series Events. Last year, there were a total of 57 bracelets awarded. Until 2004, the bracelet was developed by Mordechai Yerusalami, whereas Fredrick Godman designed the new diamond clad poker bracelet in the year 2005 with as many as 259 stones and 7.2 carats of diamonds. The most recent bracelet is designed by Corum and there are about four variations of the bracelets to be awarded recently.

With time, the monetary value of the bracelet has also changed. For an instance, the original bracelet of the 80’s was worth a few hundred dollars; however with all the diamonds and precious gems, the latest bracelet is worth thousands of dollars.