Full Tilt Poker has stepped up to the plate so to speak, even though that particular metaphor is from the wrong sport! They are sponsoring the 2009 World Series of Golf once again and they plan to make it into as big an event as it was in the previous years. With names like Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren and Phil Ivey backing them up, it is perhaps not that surprising that many analysts predict this event will be as big in 2009 as it was in previous iterations.

The World Series of Golf, quite simply put, is a combination of shootout poker tournament rules and the actual golfing activity. The day starts off with the full list of entrants and then those entrants are paired off with each other with the winner eventually taking all of the chips and advancing into the next round of golf. Those are exactly shootout rules, but the twist is that instead of betting on poker hands, they will be betting on their performances during a particular golfing hole.

It starts before any of the players in the group have teed off. They need to place an ante in order to get up and take their tee shot and then once everyone has had a chance to take that shot, different players will place bets based on the amount of confidence they have in their game and the shot that they just took. Players can check, bet if there has been no bet, raise a bet or fold, giving them the full range of options available to a player when they are in a shootout poker tournament. In the end, victory does not necessarily go to the player that plays the best golf game, but rather the player that is able to get all of the chips. A single good hole can make or break a person’s night, just as a single good hand can do the same for the poker game.

No golf pros are allowed and the buy-in is $10,000, simulating the main event of the World Series of Poker. First prize wins $300,000 and the next 24 places split the remaining $400,000 left in the prize pool.