Drug Causes Fast Play!

All right, I'll bet the title of this column got your attention, didn't it? I was actually on drugs when this hand came up. You see, I asked my M.D. wife to prescribe a strong sleeping pill for me the night before the "big one" (the $5,000 championship event) in Reno at the World Poker Challenge. I guess the lingering effects of this sleeping pill helped remove some of my inhibitions. In other words, I was totally out of control at the poker table as far as my hand selection was concerned, and I was acting as if I didn't have any fear, as well! During one stretch, I raised 12 pots in a row, and if anyone called me, I bluff-bet on the flop. Not only that, I showed all 12 bluffs and was singing the song from the Volkswagen commercial on television – you know the one, "Zoom, zoom, zoom." I was having a grand old time ramming and jamming, bluffing and rebluffing, raising and reraising, and singing the whole time! John Bonetti, who was at my starting table that day, told me at the break, "You are putting the fear of God into these people today with your fast, reckless play."

With Richard Tatalovich playing very conservatively on my direct right-hand side, I thought there was a good chance that he and I might go a little crazy against one another. You see, Richard is not known for his tight, conservative play. In fact, he is a known "megalomaniac" (Daniel Negreanu's word), which is not a bad thing. It just means that you are capable of playing very fast at times and calling other players' big bluffs when you are weak. In fact, Daniel won't take a piece of a player in a no-limit hold'em tournament unless he is a megalomaniac! With Richard's known fast-play tendencies, and me stuck in hyperfast mode, you can see why I was expecting something crazy to eventually happen between us. Anyway, Richard had accumulated some chips by using his tight-aggressive style, and now that he had some chips, he started playing "bully" at the table by raising lots of pots and making lots of bluffs. He took my place as the "aggressor," minus the singing of "Zoom, zoom, zoom"! With Richard pounding the blinds every hand, I decided that I'd seen enough; it was time to make some moves! It was time to be a player!

With the blinds at $50-$100, and me ready to gamble, the following hand came up between Richard and me. Richard opened the pot for $350 on the button, and I decided to reraise him $900 more in the dark (without looking at my hand, although I did pretend to look at it), making it $1,250 total. Richard called the $900 and the flop came 6´ 5 3. Without even seeing my hand yet, I bet out $1,400, and Richard reached back and moved all of his chips (about $10,000) into the pot. So, I slowly peeked at my cards; first I saw a deuce, and then I saw a 6. I had flopped top pair and a gutshot-straight draw. OK, if Richard was bluffing or semibluffing with a straight draw, my hand wasn't too bad. My focus turned to Richard. "What the heck does he have here, anyway?" I asked myself while I studied his face and movements, and replayed the preflop action in my mind. As I further contemplated putting in my last $6,000 with this very weak hand, I sensed that Richard was even weaker than I. The more I thought about it, the more I put him on a pair of fives with an ace kicker, or an ace with a 4 kicker for a straight draw, or pocket fours, which would give him a pair and a straight draw. After a minute, I decided that I had the best hand, so I pushed all of my remaining chips into the pot. It turned out that Richard had the 5u 4u, giving him an open-end straight draw and a pair of fives. I was right, I did have the best hand! But, could I hold him? He could win with a 5, for three fives, or a deuce or a 7 would give him a straight. The next cards were blanks (Q, 8), and I won the pot. The rest of the table just looked at Richard and me as if we were a couple of space aliens! I mean, here we were early in a $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament putting in thousands of dollars with 5 high and 6 high! Of course, everyone there was expecting to see us holding big pairs as our holecards! Richard and I shook hands, smiled, and said to each other, "Boy, was that a fun pot to play, or what!" I really like Richard and the way he plays poker, but I have to avoid those prescription sleeping pills in the future – or do I? I hope that you enjoyed this "Hand of the Week." Good luck playing your hands this week.Editor's note: Phil Hellmuth was voted "The Best Poker Tournament Player in the World" a couple of years ago by his peers. You can play poker with Phil online at www.ultimatebet.com or learn more about him at www.philhellmuth.com.