Where is the 'Big Game'?

I was dealt the 9u 6u and 2-2-2, and the wild card turned up was a deuce! I now had one of the best-possible hands that could be dealt! I could play the 9u 6u, and then use my three wild cards to make a 10-high straight flush. The chips literally began to fly into the pot with raising and reraising as we drew cards and turned up a "fitter" (common card). These amateurs are as bad at poker as they are rich, I thought. As the pot grew in size, I had to pinch myself for two reasons: first, because of the hand I had, and second, because of the opulence of this house. I had to admire the guy who owns it. He has an exercise room that's bigger than any I have ever seen in any hotel (I'm not kidding). It contains four brand-new, gleaming StairMasters, four beautiful treadmills, weight machines, a steam room, hot tub, and so on.

For his only child, who is now all of 2 years old, he built an amusement park-quality slide in the backyard that is 2 stories high. His refrigerators were filled with 10 different kinds of beer, the wine cost at least $100 a bottle, the food was catered and vast in both selection and quantity (including Sushi), and he had expensive cigars available for everyone - gratis. He must have spent at least $1,000 to host this poker game. Apparently, he is worth north of $400 million, and has planes and a yacht, as well.

With the last card now being turned up, and nearly 85 percent of the chips in the whole game in the middle, I smiled my victory smile. But then they took the deuce away, and said, "This is the final wild card," and turned up a king. What? (Settle down, Phil, it's your first time in the game, so don't be a jerk!) I smiled as I folded my hand, and rebought.

The host asked, "How much do you want, Phil?"

"Give me $60 worth," I said, whereupon he pushed me a small mountain of chips.

"Boy, that was a nice pot," said one of the participants in the game - a venture capitalist worth more than $10 million.

"I sure would have liked winning it," said a former CEO of a high-tech company.

"I bet there was $330 in that one," said another wealthy player in the game.

As I left the game, I noticed two Mercedes 600s in the lot, a Lamborghini, and a rather ordinary in comparison Lexus 430, as well. The players all had been wearing expensive Italian sweaters, silk shirts, and Ralph Lauren dress-downs. I drove 10 minutes north to Lucky Chances Casino for a poker game, and noticed lots of Toyotas, Chevrolets, and other nondescript cars in the parking lot. I walked over to the main game ($5,000 buy-in, $10-$10-$20 blinds), which was filled with a bunch of individuals in T-shirts and sweat suits. There had to have been at least $50,000 on the table, and I saw two $30,000 pots in the four hours I was there.

What the heck is going on here? The extremely rich are playing for nothing, whilst the not so rich gamble for everything! To some people, poker is a social game, and to others, it is a way to make a living. Some players like to keep the amount of their net worth that's on the table to well below 0.5 percent, and others like to have 50 percent of their net worth on the table. Bill Gates allegedly likes to play small-stakes poker, while Bill Smith liked to play as high as he could afford, and higher!

It is all good … I just wish I could get the guys in that game up north to play for everything! If that were the case, I might soon be worth tens of millions, and it wouldn't be long before I also wanted to play only "social poker." Good luck playing your hands this week.

Editor's note: Phil can often be found playing $4-$8 limit hold'em online at UltimateBet.com, table "philhellmuth." For more info about him, or for more Hand of the Week columns, go to PhilHellmuth.com.