The All-Around Rounders

The $50,000 buy-in HORSE event at the 2007 World Series of Poker featured the finest pros in the game, and not many others  

June 29, 2007

By Jason Brough
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

Las Vegas is famous for its exclusive clubs. There’s Rain at the Palms, Tao at the Venetian and Pure at Caesars Palace. All of them regulate their clientele through the lofty prices they charge for admission. In other words, if the riff-raff wants in, the riff-raff better be rich.

The $50,000 buy-in HORSE event at the World Series of Poker follows the same exclusivity strategy. With a cover charge that's five times larger than the WSOP's main event, only poker players with thick bankrolls or wealthy backers need apply.

The HORSE tournament, which started Sunday and finished Thursday at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino, featured just 148 entrants. In comparison, last year’s main event attracted 8,773.

It's shark eat shark at the $50K HORSE event where even superstars like Phil Ivey are eliminated by Day 3.

Of those 148 competitors, nearly all were big names: Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Mike Matusow, David Williams and the list goes on. Of the thousands of spectators who streamed through the doors of the Rio’s Amazon Room all week, the HORSE event was the one most came to watch.

HORSE alternates five versions of poker: Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and stud Eight or better. The versions switch from one to the next every 30 minutes with limits increasing every 60 minutes during flop games and every 90 minutes during the stud games.

Last year, Chip Reese won the bracelet, beating out a final table that included Brunson, Ivey, T.J. Cloutier and Jim Bechtel. All told, the final nine owned 27 WSOP bracelets between them.

Early Friday morning, after 341 hands at the final table, Freddy Deeb took the 2007 HORSE bracelet and $2,276,832, beating out Bruno Fitoussi in 7-card-stud-eight-or-better.

“This is a big accomplishment," said Deeb in an interview with ESPN. "I played great and I got what I deserved. This was a special tournament. The biggest in the world.”

The prospect of beating the stockpile of talent is what attracts most of the poker pros to the HORSE event. After all, there are surely easier ways to make a buck in Las Vegas than throwing down with the best poker players in the game.

For poker pros like Doyle Brunson, the HORSE event's fat prize pool isn't as important as its bracelet.

“Just ask Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu; they wouldn’t be playing if it wasn’t for the bracelet,” said WSOP tournament director Jack Effel. “Even for a guy like Doyle (Brunson), it used to be about the money because that’s what he was, he was a gambler, but at some point when you have enough money… it’s about the bracelet.”

The desire to compete with the best-of-the-best is also a big draw for confident, young stars looking to prove they’re more than just online whizzes.

“It’s just such a prestigious event,” said Bodog pro Justin Bonomo, 21, before Day 4’s action Wednesday. “You have all the best players in the world…I definitely want that bracelet.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for Bonomo, who was eliminated in 18th place, just two spots shy of finishing in the money.

The All-Around Rounder

Poker’s explosion in popularity the last few years has almost completely surrounded the game of hold’em. It’s the version Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) endorsed in Rounders and it’s the one most often shown on TV.

In contrast, HORSE demands mastery of five games and the rapid-fire structure makes it tough for some specialized players.

Young up-and-comers like Team Bodog's Justin Bonomo proved that HORSE isn't just about the old guard.

“I started off as a hold’em player,” said Bonomo. “It’s all I played for the first year of my poker career. I’m not nearly as experienced in HORSE as I am in no-limit hold’em.”

A lack of familiarity with Omaha, stud and razz greatly differs from the wily veterans who play more live than online and still remember when 7-card-stud was the most popular poker game in the casinos.

“These guys play HORSE every day in their home games,” said Effel. “The best player isn’t the one who just plays no-limit hold’em.”

Beefing the Buy-In

The quality of field the HORSE event attracted has led some to suggest raising the buy-in for the main event. The intent would be to limit the amount of gamblers who simply hope to get on a lucky streak versus play smart poker. After all, a handful of those gamblers succeed and their success often comes at the expense of pros.

“There’s talks of (raising the buy-in),” said Effel. “It’ll be looked at and analyzed by the player advisory committees and polls.”

“Fifty thousand dollars (versus ten thousand) is pretty steep. It chokes a few people up. They get a little nervous, play a little tighter, take a bad beat and get a little scared.”

When Effel refers to “they”, he is, of course, referring to amateurs. For big-name pros that regularly play in high-stakes games, it’s a different story. “Fifty thousand is like one bad hand for (pros),” said Effel.

To be fair, though, the affordable buy-in might be why the main event is so special in the first place.

“The thousands and thousands of players is what makes it the main event,” said Bonomo.

David Williams is happy with the WSOP buy-ins as they are. Why shouldn't he be? The more tasty fish the better.

Bodog pro David Williams, who finished second in the 2004 main event and made it to Day 3 of the 2007 HORSE tournament, agrees.

“The main event is fine as is," Williams told Bodog Nation. "Notice that a few established pros make the final table every year. There will always be lucky players that knock out good players. That’s how poker works. Anyone can win.”

Ditto for Effel: “I don’t think the main event is broken. The buy-in is reasonable. A lot of people can come up with ten thousand, and that’s the event that crowns you the world champion of poker. That’s the one where you have to beat everyone in the world that wants to compete.”

The Winning HORSE

While his victory at the 2007 HORSE event might not make him the “world champion of poker”, Freddy Deeb will no doubt settle for the title of best all-around player, a WSOP bracelet and a check for over $2.2 million.

PHOTO: Freddy Deeb about to make the move that will earn him the coveted HORSE bracelet. (AP Images)