Harrah’s Listens to Players, Adds H.O.R.S.E.

When Harrah’s announced the schedule for the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP), many high stakes professional poker players were up in arms about the high proportion of hold’em tournaments included. Obviously catering to the masses in order to bring in more entry fees, Harrah’s had eliminated some less popular events and added more hold’em events, as it is by far the most popular game amongst the general public. This week, however, Harrahs’ showed that it does, in fact, listen to the professional players, and added a H.O.R.S.E. event to the schedule.

H.O.R.S.E. is a mixed game tournament. Rather than just playing hold’em, or just Omaha, five different games are played in the same tournament. The rotation includes hold’em, Omaha, razz, seven card stud, and seven card stud high/low. Professionals love a tournament like this because it is considered a true test of poker skill, as it requires players to be strong in all disciplines.

As if that weren’t enough, the H.O.R.S.E. event is going to have a whopping $50,000 buy-in. Yes, you read that right – fifty thousand dollars. That is five times more than the Main Event. Now, not only will this event be a true test of skill, but it will likely be played only by the top professionals (with some exceptions). The prize pool will likely be enormous, very possibly bigger than any tournament other than the Main Event.

Additionally, in another player-friendly development, WSOP officials announced the creation of a Players Committee, which will meet regularly with Harrah’s VP of sports entertainment and marketing, Jeffrey Pollack, to discuss how to make the WSOP an even better festival for all players. The six members, who will be serving one year terms, are Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harmon, Robert Williamson III, Howard Lederer, and Scotty Nguyen. One amateur player will be added at a later date.

While it is tempting to look at these changes with a cynical eye and think that the corporate big-wigs at Harrah’s are just doing these things to appease the players, Harrah’s should be applauded. The company has received criticism for not being interested in the game of poker – only the business of the poker. These announcements show that at least someone at Harrah’s understands that the players are important, that the game is important. Hopefully it is a sign of greater things to come.

Originally published January 11, 2006