2008 WSOP Forecast, Day Thirteen: Ride the HORSE

  Today is the lucky thirteenth day of the 2008 World Series of Poker, and there will be plenty of players hoping a little of that luck will rub off on them as they take their seats to continue, start, or finish an event. One new event this year is a cheaper version of the Big One (in terms of buy in), a $2,500 HORSE.  HORSE, as you may not know, stands for Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Omaha Eight or better. This is a round robin style game that really puts the brain to work, calling upon constantly shifting strategies; or, if not constantly, then as often as the levels change. The best tip for winning the game is to not lose it (which could be said for just about any kind of poker tournament) and the way to do that is to stop-loss your worse games. If you rule at Holdem and stink at Razz, then play so tight your hands bleed during the Razz rounds, and go to town on Holdem.  Of course, most of the players in the event know this, and a lot of them don't have a weak game. At least, that was the case in the $50k HORSE event when it was introduced to the WSOP. Now that there is a $2,500 version, there is bound to be a lot more dead money in the match.  So, on to the predictions. Last time Chip Reese won the event, and would have been a favorite this year if he were still with us. Andy Bloch, whom we already have tagged for being a force in the $10k events, was second; guess who we like for this HORSE event?