My Great Fold, Then A Big Blunder

The Los Angeles Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino was one of the best events of 2002. The first event, a limit Holdem poker game $300 buy-in with rebuys, had a first-place payout of over $160,000. Now that’s starting out with a bang! Many of the $300 and $500 buy-in events had a first-place payout of more than $40,000, and when the $1,500 buy-in with rebuys event began, that guaranteed $1 million in prize money.

Austin Powers was laughed at and told by number two that “one million dollars” isn’t much money, but seven card stud the highest-stakes players in the world were licking their chops over the possibility of winning $570,000 for first place in this glorious event! I applaud the Commerce Casino for putting together such a well-designed tournament 1999.

I hope they continue to run this event every year. Yes, a player from Palo Alto did win the $570,000 first prize, but it wasn’t me! It was Diego Cordovez, and he didn’t even consider making a deal. Nice job, Diego!

I flew into Los Angeles on Wednesday, February 6, 2002, to warm up with a $300 buy-in pot-limit Holdem event. I was feeling pretty good about my play, since I had finished in the easy gaming money in three of the last five tournaments I had played in, down in Tunica. As the tournament moved along and I made it into the money, the players were all joking, “Here comes Phil, he pops into town and knocks off the first event he plays in! Not exactly. When we hit the final two tables, Steve “Country” Riehle (who had been at the final table with me at the World Series of Poker 2001) was playing very aggressively. I noted this and told myself, “He’s going to go through some chips playing that fast. I’ll just sit back and pick him off when I have a hand.” So much for planning your tactics.

When we were down to five at each table, the following hand came up between Country and me. I had just witnessed him to all-in with A-6 against his opponent’s K-K, and he made a straight and aces (5-7-8-9-A!) to win that pot. With the blinds at $800-$1,900, country opened for the maximum of $5,900 in first position. I had 10-10 in second position, and I was getting ready to move my $16,000 all-in.

I was studying Country when I suddenly thought poker, “Wow, somehow I know he has Q-Q or better this hand. With that read, I must fold my hand right now.” To me, this would be a world-class laydown, throwing away 10-10 five-handed against a guy who’s raising every hand, for a single pre-flop raise. Anyway, I went with my gut and threw my hand away. Country then showed K-K, and I jumped out of my seat, pumping my first and shouting, “”That’s how you play poker card game, baby! Throw away 10-10 when you know it’s no good!” I showed the pocket tens to everyone at the table, and thought, “This is my tournament to win right now.”

Sure, sure. I made a bonehead play merely three hands later that left me shaking my head in disgust.

With a second-place chip position of $16,000, I was a strong favorite to make it down to the final three. All I had to do was stay with the safe style that I had played all day long. Just wait for others to make mistakes, and then pounce like a lion on their chip stacks. Only once all day did I move all-in someone, and I had Q-Q that time.

I was sitting in the small blind, and Country raised it to $5,900 to go on the button (he raised the max again). I looked down at Kc-Jc, and started to ponder what to do. Normally, I would throw this hand away, but Country was playing so aggressively that I was considering moving all-in with it. After much deliberation, I thought, “OK, country has A-10, and he can’t call me if I move all-in.” So I announced, “I’m all-in!” After the bigs blinds folded, country jumped out of his seat (never a good sign!) and said, “I got him! I have two aces, Phil.”

What in the world was I thinking? I never risk all of my chips on a bluff or a semi-bluff. I always sit back and wait for people to give their chips to me when they overplay their hands. This time it was I who was overplaying my hand! I couldn’t believe I’d made such a bad play. No one to blame but myself. Was I unlucky that Country had survived ten hands earlier with his A-6 against the opponent’s K-K? Was I unlucky that Country picked up K-K when I had 10-10, and then picked up A-A against my Kc-Jc on the button when I was in the small blind ? No, it was entirely my fault; all I had to do was throw away Kc-Jc for $5,900. All I had to do was wait and move my chips the way I’ve learned to move them over the years. All I had to do was wait-for either the first-place trophy or a bad-beat story.

I should at least come up with a good bad-beat story when I’m eliminated from a tournament. Maybe this time it would have been “Boys, I took A-K all-in against Country’s A-Q and he hit a queen.” Or perhaps I would have left that night with a first-place trophy!