SOURCE: The Las Vegas Sun

It's the most expensive tournament to enter at the World Series of Poker, and many professionals consider its champion the game's best all-around player.

The world championship HORSE tournament, which begins Sunday at the Rio, carries a $50,000 price tag just to buy in. The HORSE event - each letter in the acronym stands for a form of poker played in a rotation of games - is expected to draw a field made up of poker's toughest pros and last a grueling five days.

Given the event's status as the most highly anticipated tournament on the World Series' undercard, speculation on who will win is taking place far beyond the confines of the Amazon Room at the Rio Pavilion.

As a case in point, oddsmakers at the offshore sports book Pinnacle have issued a comprehensive list of betting odds on who will emerge as the HORSE champion.

Pinnacle, based in Curaçao, in the Netherlands Antilles, caters to bettors worldwide - with the notable exception of the United States, where online gambling remains under attack by politicians. (Wagering on the outcome of poker tournaments is not permitted in Nevada sports books)

The offshore oddsmakers are giving poker bettors a fair shake considering it's a rather specialized form of gambling, with 99 individual players listed, many at odds ranging from 80-1 to 100-1.

Phil Ivey, who finished third in last year's inaugural $50,000 HORSE event, was installed as the favorite at 25-1 , followed by Patrik Antonius, who also advanced to last year's star-packed final table before finishing ninth, at 35-1.

Several players are listed at 40-1, including defending champ Chip Reese, Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu.

Because of the large entry fee and the relative obscurity of some of the games involved (razz, anyone?), the HORSE tournament figures to attract a relatively compact field.

Last year's event drew 143 entrants, providing a safe and sane refuge for poker aficionados from the fire-breathing dragon the World Series of Poker has become in recent years, with its frenzied atmosphere and overflow tournaments drawing thousands of players.

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