The Emergence of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E Event
From 1971 until 2003, the $10,000 buy-in No Limit Holdem event at the World Series of Poker was truly a who’s who in the poker world. The greatest poker players from around the planet came together in an attempt to try and stake their claim as a World Champion. Of course there were amateur players that either won their way into the event via satellite or that were independently wealthy. While it was true that “Anyone could win,” the truth of the matter was that usually the winner was a top notch professional player.
Robert Varkonyi shocked the poker world in 2002 when he won the Main Event as a rank amateur. He won his way into the event via a $1,000 satellite and went on a remarkable run that was deemed a total fluke. This feeling was affirmed the next year when he was eliminated on Day 1 of the 2003 Main Event. Later on an unknown player by the Chris Moneymaker went on the run of a lifetime and wound up winning the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. Moneymaker’s story was more amazing than Varkonyi’s due to the fact that Moneymaker turned a $40 satellite online into $2.5 Million.
After Moneymaker’s win, players from all over the world then started to come out of the woodwork to try and take their shot at winning their way into the Main Event. The 2004 Main Event grew to a then record 2,576. Another amateur, Greg Raymer won the event. Afterwards, the event grew and grew until 2007 when the number of players reaches 8,773 players. The number of amateur players outranked the professional players by nearly 100 to 1 or more. It was said by many that a top professional will never win the Main Event again.
By 2006, professionals were clamoring for one of two things, either raise the buy-in for the Main Event, or make a new high buy-in event that would be primarily for top pros. As a result, the $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event was born.
H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for five poker variants. Holdem, Omaha 8 or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud, and Stud Eight or Better make up the five games of H.O.R.S.E. When the event was announced, professionals hailed the tournament and even started talking about how that this event would crown a true champion of poker.
I personally played in Limit Holdem event at the 2006 WSOP and Erik Seidel was sitting at my table. I asked him if he planned to play the event. He hadn’t decided as of yet. When he said such, I figured that it would be a good time to get his pick. No sooner than I asked who he thought would win did he give me his answer of, “Chip Reese.” I will be the first to admit that I really had no idea who Chip was before the 2006 $50k H.O.R.S.E. Of course, now I know who he is.
The final table of the 2006 50k H.O.R.S.E. was a who’s who of poker. It is considered the strongest final table in the history of the World Series of Poker. Doyle Brunson, T.J. Cloutier, Chip Reese, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Jim Bechtel, David Singer, Dewey Tomko, and Patrick Antonius were all a part of the final 9. The final table of the first ever H.O.R.S.E event was played No Limit Holdem. This was changed the next year and now H.O.R.S.E. is played throughout.
Most of us have seen the final table broadcast on ESPN and saw the outcome. When I was at the WSOP in 2006, I happened to leave early the night of the final table. As a result, I didn’t see the outcome. I heard about it online and directly from Andy Bloch the next day. I had a chance to speak with Andy during a couple of tournaments and in the Full Tilt lounge and he told me and Richard Brodie about the bad beats he received. I honestly thought he was exaggerating due to being upset over losing. It was not until I watched the broadcast that I realize that Andy was actually telling the truth.
After the 2006 H.O.R.S.E. event, professionals started to hail the event as the true world championship of poker. Unlike the Main Event, H.O.R.S.E. forces each player to be skilled in five disciplines of poker. Also, the event is played in a limit structure. A player cannot just go all in and suck out to take someone’s entire stack. They must win pots.
The fact that H.O.R.S.E. has so many games takes a lot of the specialist out of contention. Phil Hellmuth for instance has only made it deep in one $50k H.O.R.S.E. and he did not cash. Doyle Brunson has 1 final table and one other cash in the three events so far. Many people will argue that overall stud specialist will have an advantage in H.O.R.S.E. since the game is so stud heavy. Unfortunately, a good Stud player does not necessarily mean a good Stud 8 or Razz player.
Also, with the high buy-in, it is not easy to just buy-in to the event or play a set of step satellites to enter the event. The H.O.R.S.E. satellite at the WSOP is $5,000 and for those that have watched it, you will notice a lot of top pros playing. The elite of the poker world and those that play high stakes poker are typically the ones that take on the challenge of the $50k H.O.R.S.E. event.
For the first 25 years of the World Series of Poker, the Main Event determined the world champion of poker. For all intents and purposes, the Main Event is still advertised as the world championship event. However, among top pros and those that know poker, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event is actually now the true World Championship of Poker. As, I am fond of saying, the Main Event champion is the World Champion of Holdem. The winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event is the World Champion of Poker.