WSOP Lake Tahoe

Ever since the World Series of Poker instituted a $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event two years ago, player interest in multi-game tournaments has increased dramatically.

Many players recognize that the supreme test of all-around poker skill is perhaps best demonstrated in a mixture of games. Indeed, H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for the five most popular casino poker games played in rotation – hold’em, Omaha, razz, seven-card stud, and eight-or-better.

For the first time, this year’s World Series of Poker Circuit at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe featured a H.O.R.S.E. competition. The turnout was even stronger than anticipated, with 91 players each paying a $500 entry fee to compete for the H.O.R.S.E. championship. In fact, an event that was expected to last a single day was played instead over two days, lasting a total of nearly 22 hours.

The winner of Lake Tahoe’s 2007 H.O.R.S.E. championship was Marc “Myst” Karam. He is 27-yeard-old and lives in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, Ontario. Mr. Karam was a college student up until a few years ago, when he decided to play poker for a living. He also does freelance web design part-time.

Winning on the WSOP Circuit marked Mr. Karam’s first major tournament victory. However, he was the runner up at the European Poker Tour’s championship event held in Monte Carlo in 2007. He also took fourth place in that same event a year earlier. First place in this event paid $11,916.

The runner up was Jeff Welch, from Greenfield, IN. Second place paid $6,804. Also of note, three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Paul “Eskimo” Clark finished in fourth place.

Since this year’s tournament series began a week ago, the poker room and tournament area has been standing-room only. What tables were not used in tournament play have been filled to capacity with cash games. So, in response to player demand, an 11th event has been added to this WSOP Circuit schedule. This Sunday, 18 November, starting at 1pm a $200 buy-in no-limit hold’em event will be offered.

The WSOP Circuit championship will also conclude on the same day.