You wouldn't know it by the poker orgy that has broken out in the usually staid convention area at the Rio, but the World Series of Poker's championship event is still a couple of weeks away.
At noon today, however, 100 to 200 of the game's most talented all-around players are expected to duke it out for a title some of them think will determine poker's true world champion.
Poker players call it the "HORSE," or mixed-games, tournament.
Although it's just one of 44 preliminary tournaments taking place at the Rio, it's by far the most eagerly awaited event on the World Series' undercard.
HORSE - each letter in the acronym stands for a form of poker played in the tournament - differs from the World Series' main event in several key ways.
For one thing, it's a lot more expensive to enter. The main event, known for years as the "Big One," carries a $10,000 entry fee - just as it has since the World Series' inception in 1970. You'll have to pony up $50,000 to play in the HORSE event, a record high for the World Series.
And whereas the main event is nonstop, wall-to-wall no-limit Texas hold 'em ? everyone's favorite TV tournament game - HORSE appeals to poker purists with a five-game rotation.
As a result, today's HORSE tournament will leave the gates with a much smaller field than the main event. While the Big One is projected to draw 7,500 to 8,000 entrants, estimates of the size of the HORSE field top out at 200 players. (We won't know for sure until noon today.)
The catch is that nearly all of the HORSE players will be top-level professionals. Very few, if any, will be low-rolling online qualifiers or amateur poker players taking a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a big score.
"I think whoever wins will have much more of a claim to be considered the world champion than the winner of the main event," Las Vegas professional gambler Andy Bloch said. "Of course, the exception would be if a well-known pro wins the main event, then they would have a large claim to the title as well."
ESPN, which televises the World Series, plans to give the three-day HORSE event a big splash when its coverage airs later this year.
"Because of the $50,000 entry fee, you're going to see a lot of professional players, the stars that everybody has seen on TV again and again," Bloch said. "It makes the competition that much tougher."
Most in poker expect an unknown player to win the championship event, which begins July 28, simply because the overwhelming size of the field injects an element of randomness into the result that will be hard for professional players to overcome.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson, the world champ in 1976 and 1977, believes a mixed-games tournament is a more effective vehicle for determining the game's best player.
"I think you'll see a well-known, name player win it," Brunson said.
Once the HORSE field has been pared to a final table, the game will shift to no-limit Texas hold 'em for the duration of the tournament. Brunson, ever the purist, doesn't like even that concession to TV poker fans.
"I would like to see them keep playing the same games they were playing, even at the final table," Brunson said. "Obviously they're doing it for TV, but I don't think it's fair."
The variety of games in a HORSE event appeals to longtime poker pro Mike Caro, who said the tournament winner should probably be considered poker's all-around champion.
"It's such a great test of all of the poker skills," said Caro, author of "Mike Caro's Book of Tells: The Body Language of Poker." "You have three seven-card games, two games with community cards and the high-low games. This shows you who the most well-rounded player is."
Not everyone is convinced that the HORSE winner should be hailed as the game's world champion, though. Veteran tournament pro T.J. Cloutier has an alternate solution: He says the buy-in for the championship event should be increased to $25,000.
"A lot of people think the HORSE event should be for the world championship," Cloutier said. "Personally, I don't. I like it the way it is, but I think there should be a bigger buy-in (in the championship event). I just want to make sure that the guy called the world champion really is the world champion."
Even so, Cloutier considers a big buy-in HORSE event a welcome addition to the World Series schedule.
"It's mostly limit poker, but the final table is no-limit, so it incorporates everything," Cloutier said. "And you can bet it'll be all the best players playing in it."
That "limit poker" format - meaning players can wager only a set amount and cannot bet all their chips at once, as in no-limit - incorporates another subtle twist into the HORSE tournament.
"Limit is a whole different world," professional gambler Alan Boston said. "You have to figure out ways to win one extra bet here, or save an extra bet there. It's a whole different way of thinking."
Bloch, who just finished eighth in a field of 752 in a World Series hold 'em event to win $69,537, concurred.
"There's a lot of skill in limit," he said. "You have to make a lot of decisions, and they can be more difficult than decisions in no-limit."
That's fine with poker pro Paul "Eskimo" Clark, who has won World Series championship bracelets in seven-card stud, seven-card stud eight or better, and razz.
"I've won a lot of tournaments, but most of them were before no-limit got so popular on TV," Clark said. HORSE "fits much better with my style."
Like Clark, Caro seemed concerned about how the HORSE tournament's format would affect him personally. In a discussion about whether the winner of the HORSE event should be poker's bona fide world champion, Caro said, "Well, if I win it, then yes, it will definitely be true."
At noon today, however, 100 to 200 of the game's most talented all-around players are expected to duke it out for a title some of them think will determine poker's true world champion.
Poker players call it the "HORSE," or mixed-games, tournament.
Although it's just one of 44 preliminary tournaments taking place at the Rio, it's by far the most eagerly awaited event on the World Series' undercard.
HORSE - each letter in the acronym stands for a form of poker played in the tournament - differs from the World Series' main event in several key ways.
For one thing, it's a lot more expensive to enter. The main event, known for years as the "Big One," carries a $10,000 entry fee - just as it has since the World Series' inception in 1970. You'll have to pony up $50,000 to play in the HORSE event, a record high for the World Series.
And whereas the main event is nonstop, wall-to-wall no-limit Texas hold 'em ? everyone's favorite TV tournament game - HORSE appeals to poker purists with a five-game rotation.
As a result, today's HORSE tournament will leave the gates with a much smaller field than the main event. While the Big One is projected to draw 7,500 to 8,000 entrants, estimates of the size of the HORSE field top out at 200 players. (We won't know for sure until noon today.)
The catch is that nearly all of the HORSE players will be top-level professionals. Very few, if any, will be low-rolling online qualifiers or amateur poker players taking a once-in-a-lifetime shot at a big score.
"I think whoever wins will have much more of a claim to be considered the world champion than the winner of the main event," Las Vegas professional gambler Andy Bloch said. "Of course, the exception would be if a well-known pro wins the main event, then they would have a large claim to the title as well."
ESPN, which televises the World Series, plans to give the three-day HORSE event a big splash when its coverage airs later this year.
"Because of the $50,000 entry fee, you're going to see a lot of professional players, the stars that everybody has seen on TV again and again," Bloch said. "It makes the competition that much tougher."
Most in poker expect an unknown player to win the championship event, which begins July 28, simply because the overwhelming size of the field injects an element of randomness into the result that will be hard for professional players to overcome.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson, the world champ in 1976 and 1977, believes a mixed-games tournament is a more effective vehicle for determining the game's best player.
"I think you'll see a well-known, name player win it," Brunson said.
Once the HORSE field has been pared to a final table, the game will shift to no-limit Texas hold 'em for the duration of the tournament. Brunson, ever the purist, doesn't like even that concession to TV poker fans.
"I would like to see them keep playing the same games they were playing, even at the final table," Brunson said. "Obviously they're doing it for TV, but I don't think it's fair."
The variety of games in a HORSE event appeals to longtime poker pro Mike Caro, who said the tournament winner should probably be considered poker's all-around champion.
"It's such a great test of all of the poker skills," said Caro, author of "Mike Caro's Book of Tells: The Body Language of Poker." "You have three seven-card games, two games with community cards and the high-low games. This shows you who the most well-rounded player is."
Not everyone is convinced that the HORSE winner should be hailed as the game's world champion, though. Veteran tournament pro T.J. Cloutier has an alternate solution: He says the buy-in for the championship event should be increased to $25,000.
"A lot of people think the HORSE event should be for the world championship," Cloutier said. "Personally, I don't. I like it the way it is, but I think there should be a bigger buy-in (in the championship event). I just want to make sure that the guy called the world champion really is the world champion."
Even so, Cloutier considers a big buy-in HORSE event a welcome addition to the World Series schedule.
"It's mostly limit poker, but the final table is no-limit, so it incorporates everything," Cloutier said. "And you can bet it'll be all the best players playing in it."
That "limit poker" format - meaning players can wager only a set amount and cannot bet all their chips at once, as in no-limit - incorporates another subtle twist into the HORSE tournament.
"Limit is a whole different world," professional gambler Alan Boston said. "You have to figure out ways to win one extra bet here, or save an extra bet there. It's a whole different way of thinking."
Bloch, who just finished eighth in a field of 752 in a World Series hold 'em event to win $69,537, concurred.
"There's a lot of skill in limit," he said. "You have to make a lot of decisions, and they can be more difficult than decisions in no-limit."
That's fine with poker pro Paul "Eskimo" Clark, who has won World Series championship bracelets in seven-card stud, seven-card stud eight or better, and razz.
"I've won a lot of tournaments, but most of them were before no-limit got so popular on TV," Clark said. HORSE "fits much better with my style."
Like Clark, Caro seemed concerned about how the HORSE tournament's format would affect him personally. In a discussion about whether the winner of the HORSE event should be poker's bona fide world champion, Caro said, "Well, if I win it, then yes, it will definitely be true."
