Phil's Big Bluff

The $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Championship is number two on my list of tournaments that I want to win. Only the coveted $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker championship event is above this tournament in my book. Thus, when this event began recently at Bellagio, I was ready to rock and roll. Or, was I?

Had I played any of the 20-plus events in Tunica, Mississippi, in 2004 other than the WPT's championship event? No. Had I played any of the 20-plus events at the L.A. Poker Classic other than the two WPT events and the million-dollar-guaranteed limit hold'em event? No. Had I played even one of Bellagio's 15-plus events preceding the WPT Championship event? No. Had I played any of the 20-plus events held in Reno other than the WPT finale? No. Had I been playing any poker before the WPT Championship event? No. Am I looking for an excuse for poor performances so far this year? Yes! Am I retired from poker? No!

I've been very busy with the business side of poker lately: first, writing my new book (Bad Beats and Lucky Draws, due out in October); second, making a series of videos (Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker System); third, creating the new, first-class "Phil Hellmuth Chip Set" – available at philhellmuth.com – a set that includes two videos, high-quality chips, and my book Play Poker Like the Pros; fourth, representing a new cell phone hold'em game that will be released on a major carrier soon (yes, you can play hold'em on a cell phone!); fifth, signing a contract to represent the new Edge Television (a new cable station for gaming shows); sixth, playing at UltimateBet.com; seventh, selling The Madison Kid movie about my life, up to age 25, to Beacon Pictures; eighth, creating and selling my own reality show; ninth, doing my "Poker Nights" for $25,000 a night; 10th, teaching a poker class for the "Learning Annex"; and finally, talking to some very cool mainstream companies about sponsorship and a clothing line. Yikes, it's no wonder I'm so tired every day; just reading this list makes me tired!

What happened to simply playing poker and winning tournaments?! My number one goal is still the same: I want to be the best poker player of all time! Can I have a good WSOP in 2004? I'm trying to put the business stuff to rest for a while and kick some serious butt.

Anyway, I woke up at 1:30 p.m. in Santa Monica, California, on the first day of the WPT Championship, even though the event began at noon sharp in Vegas. I just couldn't go in there without the proper amount of sleep, and I reasoned that even if I missed the entire first day, I would still have $42,000 of my $50,000 in starting chips. (I did try to go to sleep the night before at 10:30 p.m., but finally fell asleep at about 3:30 a.m.) Some would say that I'm insane for using this tactic, and believe me, I respect their viewpoint. In any case, I arrived for the tourney at roughly 4 p.m., and I still had about $47,000 in chips, which I promptly ran up to more than $70,000. At around 7 p.m., I noticed that we had eight minutes to go before the 15-minute break. At that point I was really hungry, and said to myself, "Just go get some food early, as we have 90 minutes left in the last period, and you know that you sometimes play badly when you're hungry like this." Then, I thought, "No, I just won't do anything stupid in these last eight minutes or so." Yeah, right!

The next thing I knew, John Esposito was making it $2,000 to go, and, smelling weakness in him, I called with the Q 9. If I smelled weakness in him, why not raise? One reason was that John had just complained about my busting him in L.A. with Q-9 offsuit not 10 minutes before this hand came up. The flop came 8 7 3, and John checked to me. I bluffed $3,000 quickly, and he called me. The turn was the J, and John checked to me. Again, I bluffed, $6,500, and John studied for a while and called. I had the distinct impression that he had the A. The river brought the 5, and John bet out $6,500. I decided that John had a hand, but not a good enough one to call a $25,000 raise. Without much thought, I raised $25,000, and John said, "This damn kid is lucky enough to have the straight flush. I better just call him." Oops!

John rolled over the A 3. Yes, John, now I'll agree with you and say, "You played the hand perfectly!" I bluffed off $40,000 for no reason at all! What was I thinking? Of course, I ignored everyone on the break – sorry, Dave Colclough, but I was steaming out of my mind! Why didn't I just leave eight minutes earlier?

After the break, filled with food, I felt as sharp as I did reckless only 20 minutes earlier, and I finished the day with $37,000 in chips. I should have stayed in Santa Monica and slept all day; I would have been better off for it! On the positive side, it takes nerve to bluff that much money, and I was feeling that kind of move would help me later on during day two.

On day two I lost all of my chips in a very satisfying way. I was a huge favorite to win a $75,000 pot, but I will not tell that bad-beat story here today, or ever! I'm trying to stay positive for the WSOP.

Editor's note: Phil Hellmuth can often be found playing poker or chatting at UltimateBet.com. To read more Hand of the Week columns or learn more about Phil, go to PhilHellmuth.com.