Big HORSE, Little HORSE
2008-06-30 17:18:38
By:
Gene Bromberg
I covered the final table of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship last night (well, this morning), which was of course won by Scotty Nguyen. A number of players stopped by to sweat Scotty last night, including Daniel Negreanu, Layne Flack, Mike Matusow, Gavin Smith, Todd Brunson...and Phil Hellmuth, who hopped up on stage a couple of times (resplendent in a black-and-gold UB hockey jersey) to wish Scotty well.
And maybe bask a bit in the good fortune the Poker Gods shone on Scotty during his historic run. You can't win a bracelet without a little bit of luck (or, at the very least, avoiding lots of bad luck) and Scotty's particular brand of positive energy would be most welcome to Phil right now. Because Phil is the chip leader going into Day 2 of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E event. The popularity of the $50K event has spawned new interest in mixed games and the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, introduced last year, attracted an incredible 803 players this time around. Think about that--803 players voluntarily playing Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud/8 and, yes, Razz. Anyone who says that poker is in decline needs to think about that.
This World Series is becoming known as "The Year of the Pro", because so many big names have collected bracelets. Maybe this is the tournament where the guy with the MOST bracelets makes it an even dozen. What better way would there be for the 2008 WSOP to segue into the Main Event than by having it's most-decorated player pick up yet another piece of jewelry? Phil still has to negotiate his way through 179 players, and we shall see if he can add to his record total of WSOP cashes, WSOP final tables, and, yes, WSOP bracelets.
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