A Champ Plays it Cool

In 1992, I won the limit Omaha title at the World Series of Poker in heads-up play against Berry Johnston. I've always regarded that victory as one of my sweetest ever, because of the great respect that I have for Johnston as a skillful player and a genuine gentleman. In addition to Johnston, there were some other extremely fine players at the final table – Frank Henderson, Brent Carter, Mel Judah, An Tran, and Jim Boyd – another reason why I treasure that bracelet so highly.

But it was while we were still playing in a full-game situation at the final table that a key hand came up, one that shocked me. I was in the big blind in an unraised pot with a really junky hand, something like the 6 7 8 Q. When the flop hit the table, I was amazed to find that I had flopped a straight flush! Unbeknown to me, Mel Judah had flopped the ace-high flush. At that point in the tournament, he was trying to survive and move up the ladder, and had been playing extremely solid poker. I decided to lead with the straight flush rather than slow-play it because I figured that if someone had the ace-high flush, I might get some action. I fired at the pot. Judah called and everybody else folded. The turn card was a blank. I bet again. He just called. The river card was nothing spectacular. I bet again. Again, he just called.

"How the hell could you just call with the ace-high flush?!" I asked in disbelief when Judah turned over his hand. "I smelled a rat," he answered. "What else could you have?" This showed how smart he is. Almost anybody else would have raised with that nut flush, I thought, but my writing partner, T.J. Cloutier, disagreed with me when I told him about the hand: "If you have an ace-high flush and a man has led at you three times, what hand are you going to give him if there's a straight-flush possibility there?"

"Would you have played it differently, T.J.?" I asked.

"I don't even know if I would've made the last call," he answered. "It's hard to lay down an ace-high flush, but here, you've made one and the other man's a player and he's doing the leading. Figure it out. Against a player of your caliber, what's Mel gonna do? Do you really think that he figured that you'd lead out with the second- or third-nut flush three times in a row?!"

"Well," I recalled, "when Mel called me that last time, he did squirm in his chair a little bit! But he lost the absolute minimum on the hand and I was impressed with his play. The average player would've raised with an ace-high flush and lost a lot more."

Mel went on to win a bracelet in 1998 in seven-card stud, and took third place in the championship event in 1997 against Stu Ungar and John Stzremp. T.J. won his first WSOP bracelet in limit high Omaha, but claims that he can't remember a single person who was at the final table with him. After his win, he played the Cajun Cup in Lafayette, Louisiana, and won the same event there, giving him back-to-back titles in Omaha – and those were the first two times that he'd ever played limit high Omaha in his entire life!

"At the Cajun Cup," he told me, "Carl McKelvey and I played four and a half hours heads up for the championship. That was a battle. I guess the only reason I won is that I was really aggressive. Anything that came out there, I was representing. And I wouldn't slow down – I was firing all the way. You know, if a guy's firing all the way like that, sometimes it's hard to call without having the nuts."

That's similar to what happened when I played Berry Johnston heads up. He definitely was playing a little more conservatively than I was, and he had the chip lead most of the way. He made a couple of laydowns in situations where, if he had called my aggressive raises, I don't know if I could've taken the pot. At one point Berry had 90 percent of the chips. Making a comeback from so far behind is another reason why I'm so proud of that victory. Of course, Berry himself has done the same thing and has recovered from seemingly hopeless deficits to win. Actually, anyone – including you – can come back from near disaster and make a fine finish in a tournament. It just takes determination, skill, and timing. Oh, yes, did I mention that it also takes a tiny bit of luck?

If you and I can emulate the superior skills of Judah and Johnston – and Cloutier, too – there's a good chance that we'll meet one day soon in the winner's circle.

Tom McEvoy and T.J. Cloutier are the authors of the Championship series of poker books, including Championship Omaha, Championship Hold'em, and Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em. Visit the web for information on their books at www.pokerbooks.com.