/ Editor / 25 October 2007 / Leave a comment

High-stakes golf attracts Phil Ivey but there are not handicaps this time. There is also no limit on the number of clubs that players are allowed.

FLICKING through our copy of USA Today, the Poker Anorak reads a story on poker players and golf.

We baulk. Poker - all style, skill and bluff; golf - a game played by misogynist middle-manages and their fusty wives dressed his 'n' hers Comfi Slax.

But poker can save golf. Maybe. "Golf is another form, like an outdoor pool hall or an outdoor poker table, for us to compete in," says Dewey Tomko, a regular in the World Series of Poker. "We do this almost every day so we're used to it. But there's pressure. Unlike the PGA Tour, if we miss a putt, we could lose $1 million cash of our own money."

Yes, the golf is a pretext for gambling. All hail the Doyle Brunson and Dewey Tomko Golf Invitational, staged at the Bali Hai Golf Club near the Las Vegas Strip. It's part of the High Stakes Entertainment Golf Tour.

(Note: How this golf in the desert game got passed the Al Goreans, we don't know. But it did.)

Featured golfers are Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu, Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth, Phil Ivey and Erick Lindgren.

As for the game, nine players each put up $1 million of their own money. A second event features nine pairs playing "best-ball matches" for a purse of $4.5 million. That's a $250,000 buy-in for each player.

"Instead of using handicaps to even the playing field, six different tee boxes are used to create a more level competition. There also is no 14-club rule; some players carry as many as 40 clubs."

No diamonds (geddit?)...

Tags: Golf