Feeling Helpless in L.A.

I'm ready to go, baby! The $7,500 buy-in championship event at the L.A. Poker Classic is about to begin. My sleep schedule is perfect. My workout schedule is perfect. I'm pretty much in "stroke" right now. I'm not in stroke quite as well as Scotty Ngyuen or Daniel Negreanu, who have won two events apiece so far, but I have been hot, as well. As Jack Nicklaus once said, "Most people are looking for excuses to lose in the 'majors.' I just decided that I didn't have any excuses in each major that I played in." I, Phil Hellmuth, have no excuses. I am truly ready to win this event. But, alas, as is the case with golf, poker requires not only great skill, but also a little bit of luck. I can fade the ball over the trees, around the corner, more than 320 yards off the first tee, right into the center of the fairway, but if my opponent steps on my ball, I have to play it where it lies! And so it goes with poker.

During the first day of the championship event, I play like I want to play, but someone keeps stepping on my golf ball! I have A-K, someone has A 4; I raise, he calls. He makes a flush. I hit a pair of tens in one hand, and someone calls a bet with ace high with one card to come and hits the ace! I can't even call, but he would have paid me off with ace high if he had missed his hand. I have A-K and someone has A-A, but he forgets to reraise me before the flop or I'm probably gone right then and there.

So, it is the last hand of the first day. I have had $5,000 or less for most of the day, but have managed to run it up to $13,500 by playing my butt off. With the blinds at $100-$200 and the antes at $25 a man, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson puts on the stall, knowing there's only 45 seconds left before the end of the day. I don't mind Chris' tactics here, because he is smart enough to wear a watch so that he knows there's only 45 seconds remaining. (I never know stuff like this!) If a player stalled every hand in this spot or took too long, I would think it was bad. Anyway, as he is stalling, I look at the K. Then, I look back at the K, but it isn't the K – it is the K! Woo hoo! Pocket kings on the last hand is terrific news for me. Chris finally folds and a man moves all in for $6,600. Wow, this is good, as no one would open for $6,600 with A-A! I decide to just call in case Allen Cunningham has A-A in the big blind. (Allen has me covered. I might be able to get away from the hand if he moves all in over the top, because he would make that move only with A-A). The man right behind me moves all in for $8,250 total. This isn't good, but he could have Q-Q. In any case, it is only about $1,500 more to me, so I call quickly. The first guy flips his A-K faceup, and I show my K-K. The guy behind now shows me A-A, and I'm dead to one card in the deck. After fighting my way all the way up to $13,575, I am sent right back down to the $5,325 level one more time. Worse yet, I have to leave the building after this cold-blooded hand. Ugh!

After some agonizing, I say to myself, "OK, it's over; I survived and overcame a lot even to be in there. In fact, I have been a short stack many times in the past after the first or second day, and have come back and won a bunch of times in no-limit hold'em. I'll just do it one more time!"

Fifty-four of us come back the next day to continue to vie for the $380,000 first prize, and I'm ready to fight the good fight again. Twenty minutes into the battle, I pick up A-K, and the same guy who had A-A against my A-K the day before calls my all-in bet with two black nines. (That's my hand! My website is named the two black nines room.) The flop comes down K 8 4, and now I'm going to double up. Here comes a harmless jack on the turn – but the river brings a deadly 9! The only card that can beat me has appeared, as T.J. Cloutier would say, "Like falling off a log." OK, it was an even-money pot, so I choose not to dwell on the fact that the man hit a two-outer on the last card to beat me. I calmly say, "Nice hand," and exit stage left. I do some soul-searching all the way to the airport in the limo and home on the plane. What could I have done differently? Am I losing a step? What can I do to improve my no-limit hold'em game?

Yes, I can always improve my no-limit hold'em game, but sometimes luck can play a bigger role than I would like. Sometimes you just can't win no matter how well you play. Sometimes you cannot overcome having someone step on your ball!

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. To learn more about Phil, or to read more Hand of the Week columns, go to philhellmuth.com.