Most World Series of Poker Main Event Final Tables
In the early days of the World Series of Poker, reaching the final table of the Main Event wasn't much of an accomplishment because the fields were small. The tournament was winner-take-all until 1977, paid five places from 1977 to 1980, and expanded to nine paid in 1981.
Thus the following table includes only the winners from 1970 to 1977 and the final six from 1978 to 1980. The official final table has been nine players since 1981, but television added a confusing twist. To save time and money, the broadcast began when the field was down to six players until 2000.
Most Main Event Final Tables
| Top 9 | Player | Top 6 |
|---|
| 6 | Johnny Moss | 5 |
| 5 | Doyle Brunson | 5 |
| 5 | Jesse Alto | 4 |
| 4 | Berry Johnston | 4 |
| 4 | Dan Harrington | 4 |
| 4 | T.J. Cloutier | 4 |
| 4 | Johnny Chan | 3 |
| 4 | Stu Ungar | 3 |
| 3 | Al Krux | 3 |
| 3 | Bill Smith | 3 |
| 3 | Hamid Dastmalchi | 3 |
| 3 | John Bonetti | 2 |
| 3 | Jack Keller | 1 |
| 3 | Steve Lott | 1 |
Notes:
- If you don't count Moss's 1970 championship, he and Brunson are tied with five final table cashes.
- Expanding to the unofficial final table of ten players adds just one person to the list, Dewey Tomko, who finished tenth in 1986 in between his 1982 and 2001 runner-up finishes.
- Tomko's final table span of 19 years is a record, two more than Ungar and Harrington and four more than Moss and Cloutier.
