Today marks Day 1 of Event #15: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. It's the first H.O.R.S.E. tournament of this year's World Series of Poker, and, as with all of the mixed games, should attract some of poker's best and brightest.
Last year, it took four days of grueling mixed-game play to determine a winner in this event, as 889 players showed out for the chance to showcase their versatility and prowess. In the end, Ylon Schwartz, best known for his fourth-place finish in the 2008 main event, took down the bracelet and $267,081 after defeating David Chiu heads up when his pair of queens held up in Stud Eight or Better. Well-known pros Allen Cunningham, David Williams and Cliff Josephy made deep runs, and we expect to see some big names do the same again this year.
Players will begin with 4,500 in tournament chips, and games will be changing every eight hands. Ten levels are scheduled to be played here in the Brasilia Room. Action begins here shortly at 12 p.m. local time. Well-known players such as Scott Fischman, John Racener, Cyndy Violette and Jonathan Little are already taking to Twitter to let the world know they'll be playing in this event, so be sure to tune in here to see how they do.
David "ODB" Baker raised from an early position and was called by a player in middle position and the small blind.
The flop came . The small blind checked, Baker bet and only the middle position player called. Both players then checked through the and . Baker rolled over for jacks and tens, and his opponent mucked.
Baker, who took down the eight game event last year, is certainly a player we'll be keeping an eye on as the tournament progresses.
Three players were involved in a pot on sixth street with the following boards:
Seat One:
Jeff Madsen:
Seat Seven:
The player in seat one bet, Jeff Madsen raised and the player in seat seven reraised. The first player folded, and Madsen made it four bets. His opponent called. Madsen fired again after seventh and was called once more.
Madsen showed in the hole for a flush and a seven-low. His opponent had , so Madsen, who is sporting a pair of birthday balloons tied to a bag behind him, scooped the pot.
"Happy birthday," his opponent said to the now-28 year old.
Daniel Negreanu completed with a , and the bring-in called with . Negreanu fired again after catching a against his opponent's . Negreanu started the table talk as his opponent contemplated.
"I'm betting everything I've got, buddy," he said, tossing all chips in the middle. "So, if you're got a set or something, just start raising.
"I'm not there yet. I'll let you know when I get there."
His opponent only called, however. Negreanu bet when he caught good again with on fifth, while his opponent was dealt .
"Are you there?" his opponent asked. Negreanu just shook his head, but his opponent folded.
"See," Negreanu said, turning over . "I wasn't there yet."
Attention players and fans, if you frequent the PokerNews Live Reporting blog, then you've probably noticed a new tab here at the 2013 World Series of Poker. If you haven't yet, or you're new to our live coverage, then let us be the first to introduce you to the Player Updates tab powered by the PokerNews My Stack app.
You can download the app for iPhone or Android now to get started. Then, create a new PokerNews account or update your current one to start updating your status immediately. Your followers can see all the live action that you're involved in.
Be forewarned, however, any abuse of the app will result in account suspension or termination.
We look forward to your updates at the 2013 WSOP in Las Vegas!
Oh, and if you want to check out who's been using it, here's some video evidence as Lynn Gilmartin introduces the innovation:
We found Jeff Lisandro all in for the last of his chips with against an opponent with . Lisandro's board after six cards: . He already had the low locked up since his opponent hadn't improved his deuces and had an eight-seven.
"One pair," Lisandro's opponent said after seeing his last card. Lisandro turned over another jack to scoop the pot.
According to Andy Bloch, Jason Mercier started with a queen up and made an eight-low, but the player in Seat 1 made both a seven-low and a straight to scoop Mercier and send him to the rail.
Tim Duckworth put enough in the pot preflop to get two short stacks all in.
Duckworth:
Seat 1:
Seat 3:
The board ran out . Duckworth was entitled to half of both the high and the low with jacks and eights with ace kicker, and the nut low, respectively. Unfortunately, the dealer swept all the chips into one pile, and the two short stacks weren't even in chips to start the hand. It took a few minutes to sort everything out, but Randy Ohel managed to direct the splitting of the pot until every player was paid out the correct amount.
. The small blind checked, Baker bet and only the middle position player called. Both players then checked through the 
and 
. Baker rolled over 
for jacks and tens, and his opponent mucked.
in the hole for a flush and a seven-low. His opponent had 
, so Madsen, who is sporting a pair of birthday balloons tied to a bag behind him, scooped the pot.
. Negreanu fired again after catching a 
against his opponent's 
. Negreanu started the table talk as his opponent contemplated.
on fifth, while his opponent was dealt 
.
. He already had the low locked up since his opponent hadn't improved his deuces and had an eight-seven.
. Duckworth was entitled to half of both the high and the low with jacks and eights with ace kicker, and the nut low, respectively. Unfortunately, the dealer swept all the chips into one pile, and the two short stacks weren't even in chips to start the hand. It took a few minutes to sort everything out, but Randy Ohel managed to direct the splitting of the pot until every player was paid out the correct amount.