Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The World Series of Golf Is Coming Again

Poker players are bored, it seems, so combining the betting of poker with the skill of golf is the World Series of Golf that is set to arrive in May. You can even sign up for it right now. Its only accepting amateur golfers and you actually wager every hole you play on for who can get the best score.
Players ante on each tee. The ante is followed by a pass, bet or fold on each golf shot, combining the skill of golf with the finesse of betting. When a player is out of money, they are out of the hole and out of the tournament. The players do not play against the field; they play against those in their group.

The objective is to win all the money from the other players in the group. Whoever does that, wins the match and advances to the next round. Players are paid after advancing through the first round.

The challenge of this type of competition is to win all the other players’ money in each group in each match. This is not about shooting the lowest score, it’s not a stroke play format. The World Series of Golf® tournament allows players to compete in successive elimination matches and use the pressure of betting and the skills of golf.

The event itself will take place May 12 - May 15th and requires a $1,000 registration deposit to play so the prize pool (aka all the money people use to enter the tournament) should be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Last year's event had a top prize of $250,000.

So far, this gambling event has attracted the likes of poker pros Phil Ivey, Phil Gordon, Steve Dannenmann, Rhett Butler as well as former Bond girl Tanya Roberts and former Miss Nevada Michelle Yegge. Superstars in their own minds for sure.

I've always thought that golf should be more exciting and nothing quite matches the excitement of gambling so the combination of the two thoroughly intrigues me. If this event ever gets televised somewhere they might be on to something. Most people play golf and gamble anyway, ask Michael Jordan, this is just a more formalized event for it all and if I was any good at golf, I would think about signing up myself. Too bad I suck harder than a Dyson vacuum cleaner at it.

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