A Tale of Two Cities

This column will eventually be about knowing when to hold 'em (actually, raise 'em) and knowing when to fold 'em. First, however, I must say a few words (OK, I rarely say just a few words!) about the management of poker tournaments. A major reason that poker tournaments grow is the playing structure the tournaments choose to use. The more time players have to work their chips, the better review the tournament gets, and, therefore, the faster the tournament grows. For example, when the Rio hosted the first Carnivale of Poker (COP) tournament, I didn't even know the tournament existed until I started to receive phone calls from my friends telling me what a great structure the event had (which was set up by Tom McEvoy, who is also, I am pleased to say, helping the World Series of Poker with its structures). Even though the COP was held in the previously unpopular January time slot, it grew like gangbusters to be one of the biggest tournaments in the world by its second year. Most of us pros attributed the COP's success primarily to the slower structures it had in place. This enabled players to move their chips without too much pressure from the clock.

I must also give the prize structure very high importance in the growth of tournament poker. I believe paying more places so that some players can win "twice their buy-in" is a mistake. Players don't come to these tourneys in order to get twice their buy-in back; they come for a shot at the big money. I believe (and so do many of the players I know) that a big first prize lures a lot more players to an event than more players receiving twice their buy-in back. In my opinion, some events have lost players and prestige because of the smaller amounts of money that are paid for first place. Europeans tell me they would love to see 50 percent of the prize pool go to first place, and many of them skipped the Tournament of Champions (TOC) this year because they realized they would receive only approximately 25 percent for first place. Imagine $1 million in prize money and only $250,000 for first place! I ask poker tournament directors and managers to please keep the first-place prize money high and the length of time we play the events long, and then we will see some sustainable growth in poker!

The World Poker Finals at Foxwoods has a winning formula, with 40 percent for first place and plenty of time to work your chips. In the $1,000 buy-in stud event, the following hands came up. We were playing $200-$400 when I "brought in" the action with the 2 up and a hand of (5-2) 2. An opponent (a young fellow with a Florida State hat on) raised with the Q showing and the next two people folded their small cards. I called his raise and then caught the 7, for (5-2) 2 7, and he caught the 4, for a board of Q 4. He bet $200 and I called. I then caught the 3, for (5-2) 2 7 3, and he caught the 7, for Q 4 7. He bet $400, and I studied him for a second. I had put him on a steal early in the hand, so I decided to raise and find out whether he had anything or not. I made it $800 to go, but he reraised me, making it $1,200 to go! Maybe he thought I had a flush draw, because I had hit the 3 to go with my 2. Anyway, I thought I had him beat, so I called. He then caught the 4, for a board of Q 4 7 4, and I caught the 5, for (5-2) 2 7 3 5. He bet his open pair right into my possible flush. This seemed fishy to me, but a $400 bet into my possible flush meant that he had either a full house or nothing. Of course, the 5 that I caught gave me two pair, which could beat only a bluff. On the end, I caught a meaningless card and he bet out. I called him very quickly, even though I could beat only a bluff, and he said the magic words, "You got it." Here is a case in which a good read of my opponent made me a lot of extra bets, especially considering that I would have just folded my hand instead of raising had I had no read at all.

The next hand, I raised with an ace up on a steal of my own; my hand was (J-3) A. My opponent called me with a 9 up. I immediately caught another ace and he immediately caught another 9. It was now A-A showing against 9-9 showing. Even though I could bet $400 instead of $200 because the board was paired, I bet $200 and he raised me $400. After careful deliberation, I decided that he must have three nines in order to raise me; therefore, I decided to fold my hand. Seven-card stud poker, you have to love it! One hand, you stick in a fortune when you think your deuces are good, and the next hand, you fold open aces right away. That's stud poker, a very read-dependent game. As we left the table a few minutes later at the break, my opponent told me that he did indeed have three nines. That was when I decided to write a Hand of the Week about putting all of my money in with deuces one hand, and then folding open aces the next hand.

I hope you enjoyed this Hand of the Week. Good luck playing your hands this week.

Editor's note: Phil Hellmuth can often be found giving poker demonstrations at www.ultimatebet.com. To learn more about Phil, go to www.philhellmuth.com.