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You love to golf, right? And of course you love to gamble. Well here is a perfect tournament for you – The World Series of Golf. It’s a Las Vegas based, 3-day amateur event that combines golf and betting taking place on May 13-17 2007. The tournament is being held at the Primm Valley Golf course. It’s being billed as “The Texas Hold ‘Em of Golf”. They are accepting 180 entrants at a $10,000 dollar buy-in. The prizes are pretty good too, $250,000 for first place, down to $10,000 for 7th through 36th place for a total of $750,000 in prize money.

Here’s how it works. Players ante before they tee off of each hole. The ante starts at $100 and doubles every 3 holes. Players play only with group of five or six players that are playing together. With each shot, players get to pass, bet or fold. Once a golfer is out of money, they are out of the tournament. The last golfer in the group advances to the next round.

This sure seems like an interesting mix of betting strategy and golf skills. But, I don’t think anyone will be able to bluff in this game. Terry Leiweke, the president and chief executive officer of the World Series of Golf Incorporated, said “every golfer has thought, either alone or to himself, ‘I’d bet anything I can make this shot.’ Well, now is their chance to prove it.”

Here is a summary of the rules of play:

• The World Series of Golf, the Texas Hold ‘Em of golf, is a hit-and-bet, ameteur-only event, designed for medium to high handicap players.
• Players compete only against the players in their own pairings group
• Pairing will be based on skill level; players will be paired with others of similar skill level
• There will be no strokes given based on handicaps.
• Players can bet, raise, check or fold with no limit after each round of shots and may go all in even if they cannot match the bet.
• Players are eliminated when they do not have enough money in their purse to ante on the next hole.
• Players who advance to Round II are guaranteed at least $10,000 in cash.
• Each player is allowed to bring one financial advisor/caddy on the course.
• Participants must be at least 21 years of age and never have held a professional status in golf at any time.

The final will be aired on NBC June 23 and 24. With the popularity of poker on television, and the regular viewers that golf gets, this could be a well watched tournament.

You can sign up at the official World Series of Golf website.