World Series of Golf (unofficial event)

The World Series of Golf is an annual golf competition. The competition differs from traditional golf tournaments in that the winner is decided not by the lowest stroke-play score or by winning a bracket-style elimination in match play, but by winning wagers bet on each hole in a betting scheme similar to poker.

The first event was held May 13–16, 2007, and was televised by NBC June 23–24, 2007. The second event was played May 12–15, 2008, and was televised by CBS on June 28–29.

The event takes its name from the World Series of Poker, and has no relationship to the original World Series of Golf tournament played at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio from 1962 to 1998.

Each hole is conducted in a manner similar to a hand of Texas Hold 'Em. Each player begins the round with a stake, and a playing group consists of three to six players. In the inaugural tournament, the buy-in for each player was $10,000, just like the WSOP main event.

Before teeing off for each hole, each player bets an ante. The ante starts out at 1% of the opening stake for the round, i.e., $100 on the first hole of the opening round, and doubles every three holes. After the tee shots, players then check, raise or call bets, or fold and do not play the rest of that hole. Betting follows a prescribed order that rotates on each hole, just like "the button" in Hold 'Em, and playing of shots follows the same order, unlike traditional golf where the player whose ball is furthest from the hole shoots first on each shot. The pot is won by the player with the lowest score on each hole, or by the remaining player if all others have folded. A tie score on a hole ("halved" in match-play parlance) results in a split pot, much like a tie hand in poker.

If a player does not have enough money remaining in his or her stake to cover the ante for the next hole, he or she is eliminated and the remaining stake goes into the pot for the next hole.

The round ends when one player has won all the money from the others in his group, which may take more than 18 holes.

Aside from rule variations involving betting and the order in which players take their shots, the event is played under standard United States Golf Association rules.

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