2006 HORSE Event at World Series of Poker (WSOP)
Every poker player in the world knows there’s only one tournament that can only tell who the best in the world is: the World Series of Poker. This yearly event in Las Vegas attracts thousands of players around the world and the number of players is increasing exponentially.
The World Series of Poker started in Reno, Nevada in 1970. The event was held in Horseshoe casino located in the same city. The first World Series of Poker is an invitation only tournament hosted by the casino’s owner, Jack Binion. The event featured five poker games. The event eventually bloomed the next year as the casino started offering cash prizes to those who joined the game. Today’s main event, the no-limit Texas hold ‘em poker started in 1973. From that time on, the event continued to gain popularity expanding not only in players but on variations of poker as well. Today there are 45 events a poker player can join in.
The 2006 World Series of Poker was a special year. There were record setting participants which meant more prizes, media participation has never been better; and a record setting buy-in was launched by Harrah’s (the new host of the tournament): a $50,000 buy-in for the poker game of HORSE. HORSE is an acronym of five different poker games: Texas Hold ‘em, Omaha Eight or Better, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud (Eight or Better variety). The buy-in was set to separate those simple players to the some of the world’s renowned poker player. The satellite events (or eliminations) are also a record setting $2,500 buy-in. If ever you win in the satellite, you can get away from paying $50,000 to participate in the bigger event in Las Vegas.
The 2006 winner in HORSE was David Edward “Chip” Reese, a professional gambler. Stories tell that ever since he was a kid, he already showed signs by beating older people in the game. Also in his college days, he also taught people how to play poker and beat others more experienced than him. But it was in his visit to Vegas that changed his life. Participating in a tournament in Vegas, he won $40,000. Even though he’s already admitted to Stanford Business School, he opted to be a professional poker player. He’s also one of the writers in a world renowned book for poker “Super System”. Before joining the $50,000 HORSE in WSOP Chip already had two bracelets. A bracelet is given to a poker player who championed in one of the 45 poker events. But his biggest winning is in this event, giving him a total of $1.7 million in total earnings.
The 2006 HORSE WSOP event is the longest one on one battle between two poker players. The game lasted for seven hours with a total of 286 hands. Chip was playing against Andy Bloch another professional poker player, in this main event.
Even though HORSE is not the main event in World Series of Poker, its entrance in 2006 has created quite a buzz and a great following. Even though not everyone could join the game because of the high buy-in, it’s set to separate the good and crown the best all around poker player every year.