WSOP Event No. 45 Winner Scotty Nguyen
Event No. 45 of the World Series of Poker was a $50,000 buyin H.O.R.S.E World Championship that has ran the longest starting on June 25th and finishing on June 29th. There were a total of 148 players all trying for the big money and the prize pool was quite nice at $7,104,120 dollars.
Only the top 16 finishers would see any of that remarkable amount of money though. H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for the five most popular games that are played in most poker rooms both online and off. H.O.R.S.E. tournaments include Texas Hold'em, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Omaha High Low Split and Seven Card Stud High Low Split and the games are rotated throughout the tournament.
The $50,000 dollar buyin ranks as the largest buyin of any annual poker tournament in the world. H.O.R.S.E. was first thought of by various poker players. They wanted to create poker's version of an all star game. Three years ago Daniel Negreanu took the idea of holding an exclusive tournament for superstars to Harrah's Entertainment,
The idea was accepted and the tournament was added to the World Series of Poker schedule in 2006. Negreanu's role in creating the H.O.R.S.E. event was acknowledged in an announcement before the tournament by WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. He also cited the contribution made by Vice President of Specialty Games for Harrahs Entertainment, Howard Greenbaum for his acceptance of the idea.
The World Series of Poker Main Event still remains as the undisputed world championship of poker but some consider the H.O.R.S.E title to be even more prestigious. David Reese won the first ever H.O.R.S.E. event at the World Series of Poker and became the first ever H.O.R.S.E. world champion.
The 2007 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship final table lasted 14 and a half hours, which currently stands as the fourth-longest final table in WSOP history. Freddy Deeb ended the final table as the first place winner and won the top prize top prize of $2,276,832.
Since the buyin is rather large at $50,000 dollars the event usually has the best of the best entered in or those that are wealthy. There were 143 people entered in 2006, 148 in 2007 and again this year there were 148 people entered into the event.
There were going to be 149 entries which would have set a new record but the other player, Erik Seidel made it to the final table of a conflicting event and therefore he couldn't compete in this event. In an effort to open up the event to as many players as possible the WSOP offered satellites into the game that costed $2,250 to enter.
Seven satellites were completed and three players were awarded their entire buyin and two others got partial buy ins. The rotation of games in the tournament lasted for 30 minutes at a time. There were two honorary “Shuffle Up and Deal” announcements made over course of the event.
On day one 2007 Champion Freddy Deeb had the honor and on day five prior to the start of the final Doyle Brunson joined in of the festivities and said a few words in memory of his closest friend, Chip Reese.
This event was the third of three H.O.R.S.E. tournaments on the 2008 World Series of Poker schedule. The other buy ins were considerably smaller one at $1,500 dollars and the other $3,000 dollars.
The 2008 H.O.R.S.E. World Champion is Scotty Nguyen the same player that won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1998. This was also his fifth WSOP gold bracelet win. He originally began playing in tournaments in 1994 and got his first cash at the WSOP in 1995 and then went on to get his first bracelet in 1997.
“When I was first coming into poker, I wanted to be playing with Doyle (Brunson), Chip (Reese), and Stuey (Ungar),” Nguyen said. “Now, two of them are gone. I wanted to win this trophy to be the first winner to honor Chip.”
As proud of he was of this victory, Nguyen still referred to his 1998 WSOP Main Event win as his most satisfying poker accomplishment. He won $1,989,120 dollars for his first place finish and after he won he thanked his wife Julie as well as other players and fans for their support.
The final results for Event No. 45 are below.
1 Scotty Nguyen $1,989,120 Las Vegas Nevada
2 Michael DeMichele $1,243,200 Las Vegas Nevada
3 Erick Lindgren $781,440 Las Vegas Nevada
4 Matt Glantz $568,320 Lafayette Hill Pennsylvania
5 Lyle Berman $444,000 Las Vegas Nevada
6 Barry Greenstein $355,200 Rancho Palos Verdes California
7 Huck Seed $284,160 Las Vegas Nevada
8 Patrick Bueno $230,880 Paris France
9 Rafael Perry $177,600 Las Vegas Nevada
10 Raymond Davis $177,600 Bell California
11 David Bach $159,840 Athens Georgia
12 Phil Ivey $159,840 Las Vegas Nevada
13 Daniel Negreanu $142,080 Las Vegas Nevada
14 Joseph Michael $142,080 Austin Texas
15 Andrew Bloch $124,320 Las Vegas Nevada
16 Doyle Brunson $124,320 Las Vegas Nevada