Event #31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Day 1 Started
2010 World Series of Poker
Event #31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$1,117,800
Entries
827
Level
30
Blinds
0 / 0
Ante
0
H.O.R.S.E.ing Around
![[user75032]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
It's a very busy day at the 2010 World Series of Poker, with six events already in action. It's only going to get busier at 5pm local time when roughly 800 mixed-game players take their seats for Event 31, $1,500 H.O.R.S.E.
Mixed game tournaments are designed to draw out the best all-around poker players. With two flop games and three stud games in the H.O.R.S.E. mix (limit hold'em, limit omaha hi/lo, limit razz, limit stud and limit stud hi/lo), a premium is placed on having many different skills and being able to switch gears as the game switches. Having a weakness in even a single game is a huge handicap in this type of tournament.
In 2009 James Van Alstyne overcame a field of 770 players to win his first WSOP bracelet in this event. It followed several near-wins throughout his career, including a 2nd-place finish a week earlier in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Woe to the seven players who draw Van Alstyne's table to start the tournament.
Play will begin in the Amazon Room in about 35 minutes. We'll be spread out all over the room, with "every empty table" (according to a floor) in the Blue Section, Orange Section and Red Section pressed into service to accomodate the field. In fact, the daily deep stack tournament, which goes off at 1pm every day in the Blue Section, was just put on an unscheduled break so the whole tournament could be moved to the Pavilion Room to make way for H.O.R.S.E. players.
See you at 5pm.
Level: 1
Blinds: 25/50
Ante:
A Few Names
After our initial walk through the orange section, the following players have been spotted.
Alex Kravchenko
Cliff Josephy
Norman Chad
Marsha Waggoner
Paul Wasicka
Mel Judah
Tom Koral
Adam Geyer
Anthony Yeh
Shannon Elizabeth
Marc Hodge
Fabrice Soulier
Blue's Crew
The bulk of the field (for now) is in the Blue Section of the Amazon Room. Some players are late to their seats but here's who we've seen:
Chip Jett
Michael Craig
Al Barbieri
Daniel Negreanu
Scott Clements
Perry Friedman
Lacey Jones
George Lind III
Katja Thater
David Sklanksy
...and more. Check out the chip counts page for a complete breakdown of who we've noticed so far.
Interesting Tables
In an 800-player field, it is inevitable that a few players will wind up with tougher table draws than others. None of the tables we've seen so far are "Tables of Death", but a few are pro-heavy. In Orange, mixed-games specialist Marsha Waggoner is seated with Cliff Josephy and ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad. Over in Blue, Michael Craig, Al Barbieri and Daniel Negreanu all drew the same table at the back of the room. In the front of the room are a couple of bracelet winners and a November Niner: David Sklansky, Katja Thater and Ylon Schwartz.
Confusion on Level 1 Antes
The structure for this event calls for a button ante for the stud games in Level 1, due to the fact that the limits are so small. However, it was first announced that the blinds should continue posting in the Stud games (which was clearly wrong). Eventually it was sorted out that the button should ante 25. This is better but also seems to be wrong. Most likely the button was intended to ante 75 chips, but now that the decision has been made to ante 25 they're sticking with it.
Overall the decision won't have much impact on the tournament because once Level 2 starts, every player will ante during the stud rounds. But Daniel Negreanu recently posted to Twitter, "That essentially breaks down to $50-$100 limit with a $3 ante. If you play anything but the nuts it's pure spewage."
The Champ Makes His Presence Known
Razz:
Opponent 1: (X)(X) / 
FOLD
Opponent 2: (X)(X) / 
FOLD
Van Alstyne: (X)(X) / 
One player limped into a razz pot with a 9 at James Van Alstyne's before a 5 completed the bet. Van Alstyne had brought it in with a king and called. The original limper also called.
On fourth street, the player who had completed had the low board and bet. Only Van Alstyne called. Van Alstyne caught a baby to his opponents bad one on fifth. His opponent checked, prompting Van Alstyne to bet.
"I can't believe you stayed with a king," the player said. Then he mucked his hand.
Event #31: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Players
Bax Miscalls His Hand, Still Wins Pot
Razz:
Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy: {X}{X}/
/{X}
Opponent: {X}{X}/
/{X}
Josephy completed on third street, then bet fourth street and fifth street. His opponent called until sixth, when Josephy's board paired. Josephy's opponent check-called bets on sixth and seventh street and was surprised to hear Josephy announce, "nine."
"Ninety-six,", said Jospehy's opponent.
"Oh wait, I misread my hand. I have a seven," replied Josephy. He tabled down cards of 
for a 7-6-5-4-2 low to win the pot, upping his stack to 4,800.