Kept Up at Night Wondering, 'What If ...

The cameras and lights didn't bother me, I'm used to all of that. The big crowd and the live Internet broadcast … well, that's what was supposed to be happening when I won my second World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship. Over the years, I have seen myself win the WSOP championship for the second time many times in my mind. It seems like everyone I know in poker expects me to win it again. This year, I was on top of my game; I made four final tables and had seven top 15 finishes in only 18 events! I played the best tournament poker of my life in the "big one" this year to make it to the final table. I was all in only one time on the second day, and was never all in again until late on the fifth day (with A-K against Carlos Mortensen's A-10). I was moving my chips at the highest level I possibly could. I wasn't exceeding my expectations, I was just doing what I was supposed to be doing. But why did I have to read Mike Matusow so well? I mean, I had plans for Mike. If I waited long enough, I hoped that he was going to make a reckless play and give me all of his chips. I had plans for Carlos as well; he was going to give me a spectacular amount of chips with top pair when I had him drawing nearly dead! Phil Gordon was acting like there was a bounty on my head, and I knew that he couldn't help himself; he would continue to risk his whole stack against me time and again with weak cards (yum-yum). I believed that this was my tournament for the taking; I would just wait for them to make mistakes and then win my second WSOP! So much for the best laid plans of mice and men! Phil Gordon did move all in weak against me, and I smelled his move and called his $548,000 bet very quickly with 9 9 (the same hand with which I had won my first WSOP!). Sure enough, he had pocket sixes, and I was a 4.5-1 favorite to have more than $1.5 million in chips. Then he hit a 6 to win the $1.1 million pot, but that was OK, because I still liked the way I was moving my chips and I still had $500,000 left. But again, why did I have to read Mike Matusow so well? The 9-9 hand doesn't haunt me or keep me up at night. I mean, sure, I really believe that if I had won that pot, I would have won the WSOP, but that hand doesn't haunt me at all. The hand that has me up writing this "Hand of the Week" at 1 a.m. Father's Day morning is the one that I didn't play – the K-10 offsuit that no one in the world knows about except me. I had almost forgotten that hand until I read Andy Glazer's report in Card Player; thanks, Andy! Now I can't seem to fall asleep. I just keep wondering, "What if …" What if I hadn't read Mike Matusow for having K-J or K-Q? It was the first time all day long that he had limped into a pot, so how did I know that he had K-J or K-Q? I mean, all of a sudden, Mike just calls $30,000 two off the button (the blinds were $15,000-$30,000), and I look down (on the button) and find K-10. I counted out the $30,000 and thought to myself, "Of course I need to call this hand; Mike probably has 10-9 suited, or 8-7 suited, or something like that." But right before I put the chips in, I thought, "Wait a minute here, why does something smell bad to me right now? Let me think about the call for another minute or two … I need to call here, yes; wait, no, for some reason I think Mike has K-Q suited or K-J suited. OK, let's go with my read and throw this hand away; that's why I am here right now, because I have been reading people great all week!" I now watch the small blind call $15,000 more and the big blind (Phil Gordon) check. Here comes the flop: K-K-Q. Darn it! I had a king, but wait a minute; maybe I just saved myself a fortune, because Phil bets out $60,000 and Mike calls the bet! The turn card is a 10, which would have given me kings full of tens! Darn it! But wait a minute, Mike may well have K-Q; let's wait and see. Phil now checks, and then Mike checks. Hmmm, what's going on here? The river is a low card, and Phil bets out $200,000. Wow, now Mike the calls $200,000 and raises $200,000! Yippee, what a laydown I made; Mike must have K-Q! Phil calls with Q-J, and Mike rolls over K-J – darn it, darn it, darn it! Oh, man, if I had played this hand for only $30,000, I would have made $1million, busted Mike Matusow, and beaten Phil Gordon out of at least $150,000 when I bet out on fourth street! I would have been leading the tournament with more than $2 million in chips, and maybe wouldn't have lost that pot with the nines against Phil Gordon later. Maybe I would have gone on to win the WSOP without ever being all in, just as I had done in an earlier no-limit hold'em event that I won during the tournament. Maybe I would have been the first player to pass the $3 million mark on the all-time WSOP money list – and the $4 million mark as well, in one fell swoop! Maybe I would have won my eighth bracelet and tied Doyle Brunson for the all-time lead in that WSOP category! Maybe I would have become the fourth player in history to win two or more WSOP championship events! Maybe I would have won $1.5 million for first place! Maybe this hand won't haunt me 10 times a year for the next 20 years! Then again, maybe not!Editor's note: Phil Hellmuth can often be found playing poker online at www.ultimatebet.com, where you can play and chat with him and other people from around the world.