05.18.07
World Series of Golf - What a Tourney!!
I flew down to Las Vegas to watch the final round of the World Series of Golf earlier this week. By the time I got to Primm Valley Golf Course where they played the tournament the players were already on the 4th hole and one player had already been knocked out. I wrote about my experiences playing in a test tournament for this format about 2 months ago. It’s where golf and Texas Hold’em poker combine to make the greatest new betting format around! Essentially, all the players must ante before each hole (the ante doubles every 3 holes) and then the players bet after each shot during the hole and each player can call, raise or fold. Whoever ends up with all chips at the end of the day wins the tournament. The players had to qualify each day to move on to the next round. It was a very exciting finish in this inaugural event.The final four players included two professional poker players (Phil Ivey & Rhett Butler), Paul Schuller (an electrician from Washington) and Mark Ewing (an ex-daytrader from Orange County). Ivey got taken out early in the back nine and the remaining three players lasted through the 16th hole when Ewing went all-in and took out the other two players. For his great play, Ewing took home $250,000!!! Not bad for a 10 handicapper! He definitely seemed the most steady of all the players, although Butler looked like a pretty good player himself. There were camera crews following them and interviewing them after each hole. It was amazing they kept their composure with all the pressure on them. The World Series of Golf will be televised on NBC June 23rd and 24th. Make sure you watch it and see how much fun it was. Then next year, find an extra $10,000 and enter the tournament yourself!!
Ted said,
May 22, 2007 at 12:33 am
Sounds like you had fun. I wish I could have gone.
jay said,
June 24, 2007 at 3:27 pm
1. It seems to me that a scratch golfer would have a huge advantage over these guys. How does an 11 handicap end up in the finals?
2. I was watching on TV and saw 3 golfers hit the 9th green. All 3 had similar 20 foot putts. One of them bet $40,000 and the other 2 folded. Why did they fold when they had just as good a chance as he did?
rich said,
June 25, 2007 at 10:25 am
They let the higher handicap players hit from the white tees and the lower handicap players had to hit from the championship tees so the yardage difference was pretty significant on each hole. Plus, the betting strategy is a huge part of the game…I think Phil Ivey is a 16 handicap and he made it to the final group.
I think they probably folded because they thought it was too early to make such a large bet or they just weren’t confident in their putting ability.