The twentieth event of the World Series of Poker is currently taking place, and has turned out to be one of the most high-profile tournaments in the WSOP's 37th annual competition.  With a $50,000 buy-in, this year's  H.O.R.S.E. tournament is the largest in the tournament's history.  As a result, less amateurs are participating in the H.O.R.S.E. series of poker games, but rather, the biggest names in poker are staking the tournament out, including Andy Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Annie Duke and Scott Fischman.

For those who are unfamiliar with H.O.R.S.E., it stands for Holdem, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Eight or Better.  Tournament entrants start by playing games of Texas Hold'em, which after a set duration of action has elapsed, ushers in Omaha Hi/Lo and so on.  After reaching Eight or Better, the action starts back over at the Texas Hold'em table.  All games are limit varieties, and stakes are raised each time a cycle of games has been completed.

World Series of Poker Commissioner, Jeffrey Pollack, commented that it is typical for the middle part of the 48-day series of tournaments to be somewhat of a professional players all-star league, although this year's H.O.R.S.E. tournament has been the most star-studded to date.  All in all, 143 players paid up the $50,000 buy-in, raising the first prize award to $1.8 million and the second place award to still over $1 million.  The last sixteen players will all take home cash, with a minimum of over $137,000 being awarded to the last place finishers.  The final table will culminate in session of Texas Hold'em, which will be taped by ESPN on Friday, July 14.

The action at the tables has already been filled with drama - most notably at the table of Andy Bloch, who bent the cards he was dealt and asked the dealer to take the deck out of play.  According to Bloch, the cards were marked, which the tournament directors did not recognize.  Bloch was given a ten-minute penalty for his actions, although when Annie Duke did the very same thing only minutes later, she was spared of any penalty time.  Scott Fischman spoke out about the marked cards and commented during the first break that his table went through two marked decks before getting a clean one.  A spokesperson for the WSOP said that it was a mistake that used cards were put into play, and that new decks were supposed to be at every table.  He went on to say that no foul play was suspected and that the markings on the cards were from normal wear and tear.