What the Heck Were You Doing?!

In the $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em championship event at the 2002 World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi, the chips were flying early, but I was in the mood to last all day, since this was a four-day event. I had already thrown away pocket kings on the flop after making a preflop raise and then having the board come down 10 8 7. Three players checked to me, and I bet $1,700. Dolph Arnold check-raised me $3,000 more, making it $4,700 to go. As I studied him, I was certain I had him beat, but I thought he had a big draw, so I believed I was only a small favorite to win the hand (maybe 13-to-10 or so). So, I saved my last $7,000 and threw my hand away. This was a good strategy because I believed that if I waited long enough, I would be a 4.5-to-1 favorite later in the tournament.

A few hands later, I called a small raise from the big blind with the K Q, and the "Judge" called as well from first position. The flop came J 10 4. What a flop for me! I had flopped an open-end straight-flush draw and had two overcards. I checked, the Judge checked, and the button bet out $500. I quickly decided to just call the $500 bet (there was already $1,500 in the pot). The Judge then called the $500, and raised all in! The original raiser studied for a moment and then folded his hand. It was up to me. There was $3,000 in the pot and the Judge had raised my last $6,000. What to do, what to do? I hate drawing for all of my chips, but even if the Judge had flopped a set, I was almost even money to win this pot. I didn't think he had an ace-high flush draw, but if he did, I was still almost even money to win the pot. And if he had two pair or one pair, I was a favorite to win the pot. No matter how you sliced it, it looked like I was at worst a very small underdog to win this pot (11-to-10), and at best a 3-to-2 favorite to win. On the other hand, the bet was for all of my chips. My chips in a championship no-limit hold'em event are very valuable, especially if I am on top of my game. If I called and lost, I was out of the tournament. If I called and won, I would have $15,000 pretty early in the tournament. If I folded, I would still have $6,000 left. Finally, I decided that I could afford to fold this hand, because the blinds were only $100-$200, and I thought someone would mess up and put their money in against me as a 4.5-to-1 underdog. So, I folded my hand faceup. When I did so, I didn't know it would cause a firestorm of talk and discussion. Every other top pro I talked to said he would have called with my hand! Huck Seed was in shock, saying, "What the heck were you doing? You were even money against a set!" I defended my play, saying, "I just decided to wait for a better situation."

Sure enough, about an hour later, I had $5,000 in chips and I put them all in before the flop with pocket kings against pocket queens. I was a 4.5-to-1 favorite. The flop came Q-J-5. The turn card was a jack, for a board of Q-J-5-J, and I thought to myself, "Well done, Phil, you're out of the tourney, but you waited for the right situation." By now, there were roughly 20 other players standing around the table, and some of them were calling for a king on the last card. Wham! A king rolled off and I was back in business. My situation as a 4.5-to-1 favorite held up, albeit it took the "long way home." Amir Vahedi said he knew a king was coming, and that I didn't even as much as pump my fist when it hit. He said I just sat back down calmly and never showed any emotion at all. I was resigned to the outcome either way, and I understood that I still had a long day ahead of me if I pulled it off.

Was throwing away an open-end straight-flush draw the right move? If you're confident you'll be a bigger favorite later in the tournament, yes, it is the right move! By the way, I went on to finish in 17th place. Congratulations to Humberto Brenes for taking home more than $500,000 and the first-place bracelet.

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 playing poker online at UltimateBet.com. For more information about Phil or to read more Hand of the Week articles, go to PhilHellmuth.com.