No Limit Holdem satellite that pays a seat to 10 players. There are 11 players left. Average stack is 35,000.  You are in 5th chip position with 41,000 with blind of 1000 – 2000 with a 100 ante.  The chip leaders have over 100k each, and 2 short stacks are below 15k.   One of the chip leaders raises from middle position and your on the button with A, A.   What do you do?

Stud 8 or Better.  You have rolled up 9’s in a loose game that has 6 players see 4^th street.  Besides yourself, the other callers are a 9, A, K, 2, and 4.   The Ace pairs up on fourth and bets.  The King calls.  You raise and all other players but the other 9 folds.  On 5^th, the King now pairs up.   Your hand has not improved.  Aces bet, and the kings raise.  What is your play?  This is only the 2^nd hand you have played in this game.

Razz.   You have rolled up Aces and last to act.   A king brings in, and every other card on the table is 9 and above.  A Jack and a 9 call the bring in.  What should be your play here?

Omaha 8 or better.  This is a $2 – $4 game and every player at the table saw the flop with no raise.   You hold A, 3, J, 10 with no suits.  The flop comes 4c, 5c, 8h.  There was a bet and 5 players including you called.  Turn comes the 9c.  It is 3 bet by the time it arrives to you.  What is your play here?

Limit Holdem   You are dealt a Jh, 10h in the big blind.  3 people see the flop with you.  The flop comes Ah, 4h, Kd.   What is the best play here?

Stud.  You are dealt Kc, Qc, Jc.   You and three other people call the bring in bet from the 9s, which is the lowest card showing.  The other up cards are the As, Ks, Qh.  Fourth street unravels as follows.  You catch Ac.  The other three are showing As Kc,  Ks Qc,  Qh, Ah.  What is your play here?

Pot Limit Omaha.  50 – 100 blinds.  You have 25,000 in chips.  You are dealt As, Ad, 5c, 9h.   The bet is potted and repotted to you.  What is your play here? 

The 50k HORSE event on the other hand is a total different beast. You cant just be a Holdem specialist or an Omaha specialist and win the event. You have to be skilled in at least 5 forms of poker to win this event. In addition it’s a LIMIT event. You cant just suck out early on in the event on one hand or go on a run and build up an insane amount of chips and then coast. You have to play. I personally think that the 50k HORSE event should be the Main Event. Will that mean I will ever be able to play the Main Event if it was switched to 50k HORSE. Chances are I will not. I will however be able to look at the winner of that event and be confident that they are true World Champion.

HORSE is nowhere near as exciting for the casual poker fan as NL Holdem. I understand this. In the real world however, which players are really more feared in a mixed game. Do you think Phil Hellmuth is feared in a mixed game? Not hardly. Is Chris Moneymaker or Joe Hachem feared. I doubt it. Let Phil Ivey, Cindy Violette, Greg Raymer or the like sit down, and anyone that knows anything about poker will tell you that your in trouble in a mixed game. Players that can play all the games get respect. Holdem gets boring after a while. Negraneu has said so and many other pros have said so.

The Main Event should be HORSE. Anything else is just another NL Holdem tournament. I am not saying don’t have a World Championship NL Holdem event. What I am saying is don’t deem someone a World Champion of Poker because they did well in a big NL Holdem event. Let someone prove their prowess in HORSE and THEN I will buy into the claim that they are a World Champion.

Jerry Yang is the current World Champion of NL Holdem. Freddy Deeb is the World Champion of POKER.