| Main Event Year | Author's Finish | Author | Book | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970-2004 | N/A | Jonathan Grotenstein & Storms Reback | All In: The (Almost) Entirely True Story of the World Series of Poker | 2005 | Significant history of the World Series of Poker through 2004 |
| 1970-2006 | N/A | James McManus | Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker | 2009 | Excellent history of poker (not just Hold 'Em), with later chapters on the World Series of Poker (mentions Eastgate [2008] but not Yang [2007]) |
| 1970-2006 | N/A | Mark Rogers | 52 Greatest Moments World Series of Poker | 2006 | Stories cover various WSOP Main Events, including "Vera and a Dull Knife" (1972), "Bonetti's Blunder" (1993), "Fast and Furious Final" (1996), and Moneymaker (2003) [1970-73, 1977-79, 1981-84, 1988-91, 1993-2006 WSOPs all mentioned] |
| 1970-2008 | 1st (1983) | Tom McEvoy (with Dana Smith & Ralph Wheeler) | Championship Table: At the World Series of Poker | 2009 | Basic facts about each WSOP Main Event from 1970 to 2008, including the players at each final table |
| 1972 | 1st | Amarillo Slim Preston (with Greg Dinkin) | Amarillo Slim in a World of Fat People | 2003 | Autobiography includes the 1972 WSOP Main Event as does his Play Poker to Win |
| 1973 | N/A | Jon Bradshaw | Fast Company | 1975 | Detailed retelling of the 1973 WSOP Main Event plus some history from the earlier years |
| 1973 | N/A | David Spanier | Total Poker | 1977 | Chapter on Puggy Pearson includes stories of the 1973 WSOP Main Event |
| 1974-2006 | 1st/1st | Doyle Brunson | My 50 Most Memorable Hands | 2007 | Includes hands from 1974, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1993, 2004, 2006 WSOP Main Events |
| 1978 | N/A | Mike Caro | Bobby Baldwin's Winning Poker Secrets | 1979 | Good stories, including Baldwin in the 1978 WSOP Main Event |
| 1978-2001 | 1st (1983, McEvoy) / 2nd (1985 & 2000, Cloutier) | Tom McEvoy & T.J. Cloutier | Championship Hold'em Tournament Hands | 2003 | Advice on playing Limit and No-Limit Hold 'Em, especially preflop, plus an excellent collection of important WSOP Main Event hands including every year from 1978 to 2001 except 1980, 1986, 1989, 1996, and 1999. |
| 1980, 1981, & 1997 | N/A | Nolan Dalla & Peter Alson | One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey "The Kid" Ungar, The World's Greatest Poker Player | 2005 | Authorized biography of Stu Ungar, three-time Main Event champion |
| 1981 | N/A | Al Alvarez | The Biggest Game in Town | 1983 | The story of the 1981 World Series of Poker Main Event; final paragraph summarizes 1982 very briefly |
| 1984 | 2nd | Byron Wolford (with Dana Smith) | Cowboys, Gamblers and Hustlers: The True Adventures of a Rodeo Champion and Poker Legend | 2002 | Stories from the early days of rodeo and poker plus coverage of the 1984 Main Event |
| 1987-2005 | N/A | Steve Rosenbloom | Best Hand I Ever Played | 2005 | Biographies of 52 poker pros with their favorite hands, which include the 1987, 1998-2001, and 2003-05 WSOP Main Events |
| 1988 & 1989 | did not cash | Anthony Holden | Big Deal: One Year as a Professional Poker Player | 1990 | Writer and amateur player spends a year playing poker, including the 1988 and 1989 WSOP Main Events |
| 1989 | 1st | Phil Hellmuth | Poker Brat: Phil Hellmuth's Autobiography | 2017 | Autobiography, including the 1989 WSOP Main Event |
| 1994 | did not cash | Al Alvarez | Poker: Bets, Bluffs, and Bad Beats | 2001 | Some poker history and the author's 1994 WSOP (three events, including the Main Event) |
| 1996-2003 | 1st (1989) | Phil Hellmuth | Bad Beats and Lucky Draws | 2003 | Includes stories from 1996, 1998-2000, and 2002-03 WSOP Main Events plus other WSOP events in 1974, 1994-95, 1998-2000, and 2002-03 |
| 2000 | 5th | James McManus | Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker | 2003 | Sent by Harper's Magazine to write about the 2000 WSOP, McManus ends up playing and playing well! |
| 2001, 2004, & 2005 | 5th/did not cash/9th | Mike Matusow (with Amy Calistri & Tim Lavalli) | Check-Raising the Devil | 2009 | Includes stories from 2001 (6th), 2004, and 2005 (9th) WSOP Main Events |
| 2003 | 1st | Chris Moneymaker (with Daniel Paisner) | Moneymaker: How an Amateur Poker Player Turned $40 into $2.5 Million at the World Series of Poker | 2005 | The amateur who sparked the poker boom by winning his Main Event entry online |
| 2004 | N/A | Richard Sparks | Diary of a Mad Poker Player: A Journey to the World Series of Poker | 2005 | Writer attempts to qualify online for the 2004 WSOP Main Event |
| 2004 | N/A | David Kushner | Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids | 2005 | Magic: The Gathering players, including David Williams, turn to poker and play in the 2004 WSOP Main Event |
| 2005 | N/A | Richard Sparks | Getting Lucky: The Education of a Mad Poker Player | 2006 | In the sequel, the writer gets help from Tom McEvoy and aims for the 2005 WSOP Main Event |
| 2005 | 1st | Joe Hachem (with Peter Ralph) | Pass the Sugar | 2009 | Autobiography, including the 2005 WSOP Main Event |
| 2005 | did not cash | Peter Alson | Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker | 2007 | Writer plays in several events, cashing three times; also summarizes the final 2004 hand between Raymer and David Williams |
| 2005 | did not cash | Pat Walsh | How to Win the World Series of Poker (or Not) | 2006 | Fairly weak poker-playing author writes about 2006 WSOP Main Event experience |
| 2005 & 2006 | did not cash | Anthony Holden | Bigger Deal: A Year Inside the Poker Boom | 2007 | Another year of poker, including the 2005 and 2006 WSOP Main Events |
| 2005 & 2006 | 13th (2006) | Bernard Lee | The Final Table Volume I: Poker Columns from the Boston Herald: 2005-2006 | 2008 | Many hand analyses from the 2005 and 2006 WSOP Main Event |
| 2007 | 1st | Jerry Yang (with Mark Tabb) | All In: From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ | 2011 | Autobiography including the 2007 WSOP Main Event |
| 2007 | N/A | Des Wilson | Ghosts at the Table: Riverboat Gamblers, Texas Rounders, Roadside Hucksters, and the Living Legends Who Made Poker What It Is Today | 2008 | Selective history of poker from its roots to the WSOP (including a chapter on the 2007 WSOP and an attempt to track down 1979 champ Hal Fowler) |
| 2007 & 2008 | did not cash | Bernard Lee | The Final Table Volume II: Poker Columns from the Boston Herald: 2007-2008 | 2008 | Many hand analyses from the 2007 and 2008 WSOP Main Event |
| 2010 | 1st | Jonathan Duhamel (with translator Christina Palassio) | Final Table: A Winning Poker Approach from a WSOP Champion | 2012 | Poker strategy book with some Main Event stories |
| 2011 | 1st | Pius Heinz | Pius Heinz: My Hands on the Way to the Poker World Champion | 2012 | Actually titled "Pius Heinz: Meine Hände auf dem Weg zum Poker Weltmeister", as it's in German |
| 2011 | did not cash | Colson Whitehead | The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death | 2014 | Writer gets staked by Grantland to play in the 2011 WSOP Main Event |
| 2016 | 1st | Qui Nguyen | From Vietnam to Vegas!: How I Won the World Series of Poker Main Event | 2017 | Autobiography culminates with the 2016 WSOP Main Event |
| 2017 & 2018 | did not cash | Maria Konnikova | The Biggest Bluff: How I learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win | 2020 | Psychologist and author learns poker from Erik Seidel and targets the 2017 WSOP Main Event |
Most of these books fall into three main categories (history, biography, and journal):
Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town discusses the 1981 WSOP, but the author didn't play like he did in 1994.1
Holden, McEvoy, and McManus have each also written two books about the WSOP.
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