Luck or Destiny - Part I

Luck plays a role in our lives every day, and some people certainly know how to take advantage of their good fortune better than others. We've all heard that saying, "You make your own breaks." I suppose we would agree with that to some degree. I relate it to my favorite quote regarding "luck." Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player once said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get."

We all know luck is a factor in poker. There is much discussion, however, as to how much luck is involved in poker. Let me ask you a question. Are people who win the world championship of poker "lucky," or are they "destined" to win?

Two of the most dramatic moments in World Series of Poker (WSOP) history certainly involved luck. The first (and, in my opinion, the most dramatic hand in poker history) occurred during heads-up play in the championship event of the 1991 WSOP. Mansour Matloubi, a top high-stakes player who was the first European to play heads up for the world title, was battling Hans "Tuna" Lund, a sensational player from Reno, Nevada. Tuna was one of the top four or five no-limit hold'em players in the world at that time.

This was a classic matchup. Here were two phenomenal players battling for poker immortality in a jam-packed environment. "The hand" came down as follows: Nearly even in chips, there was a small raise and call preflop. Mansour had two tens and Tuna had A-9. The flop came 9-4-2. All the money went in on the flop. The atmosphere was electric as the crowd stood and pressed nearer the table. The pot set the world's record for the largest poker pot in history.

On the turn, an ace came off, giving Tuna two pair. A riveting roar went up. Tuna had caught a "five-outer" to take the lead! Mansour was now a huge underdog (21-1) to win the hand. He needed a 10 on the river to survive (a "two-outer"). Incredibly, off came a 10! Another roar went up, this one in astonishment. Fate and poker history had reversed itself on two consecutive cards. It was "30 miles" that will never be forgotten. Meet World Champion "Rin-ten-ten" Mansour Matloubi.

I would consider what happened in the 2000 championship event between T.J. Cloutier and Chris Ferguson to be the second-most dramatic moment in WSOP history. This heads-up clash was between the most successful tournament player in history (Cloutier) and a "rising star" on the tournament circuit (Ferguson).

Cloutier was the short stack when the final table began, while Ferguson was the chip leader (a monster chip leader, at that). Most of the other players fell quickly. T.J. played like Mozart. He came from being a short stack to putting himself in a position of near equality in chips while playing heads up. Then, the final hand – no, make that the final card – came that was heard around the poker world.

With Cloutier holding A-Q and Ferguson A-9 (with an ace on the board and all the money in the pot), "Jesus" had to catch a 9 on the river to win the hand. Wham – 9-ball in the corner pocket! Game over. Meet World Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Luck or destiny?

As a side note, let me add that after this devastating blow at the river, T.J. displayed class with a capital "C." He didn't moan about the bad beat or his bad "luck." He congratulated Chris and simply said, "That's poker." Winning the title could not have gained T.J. more respect from the poker community than how he handled that defeat.

Many think Ferguson was quite lucky to win. No one would argue that he wasn't lucky on that last hand (and a few others), but take a step back and look a little deeper. In every hand that was shown down at the final table, T.J. held the better cards. Wasn't he lucky to hold the better cards? Did Chris create his own "luck" by having built up a gigantic chip lead prior to arriving at the final table? Did he make his own breaks along the way? (He kept gathering chips and putting pressure on his opponents.) Was it luck or destiny for him to be crowned the world champion?

In my next column, I'll tell you about three more amazing hands in WSOP history. All involved luck and "drawing out," and all led to the winner becoming the world champion.

Take care.