World Poker Tour Caribbean Adventure - Part III

With just 45 players remaining, my stack of $108,300 was good for fourth overall. As long as I didn't do anything too stupid, I felt like I just might crack the ice and make a WPT final table. With five tables left, there were several familiar faces: Hoyt Corkins, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Paul Wolfe, Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Surinder Sunar, and Billy and Kristi Gazes, just to name a few.

Now, I can't say that I've played with Paul Wolfe too much, but I have played with him enough to know that he is a dangerous player. I've been at two final tables with him in the past, and I have a pretty good idea of what he is capable of doing.

By the time the following hand came up, we were playing $600-$1,200 blinds with a $200 ante. Paul was in early position and raised it to $3,600. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure if Paul held a very strong hand or not. I looked down at the 5 2 and thought the price was right. I called because I was right next to the button and believed I could win the pot in one of two ways: (1) I could make some type of a hand and possibly win a big pot, or (2) I might be able to represent a big hand and get Paul to lay down his hand somewhere along the way.

The small blind also called, which I wasn't too crazy about, and we took the flop threehanded: Q J 7. I'd already decided that if both players checked to me, I was going to bet, hoping to pick it up right here. The small blind checked and Paul quickly fired out $10,000. Based on my read of his body language, he had at least a queen. He seemed confident, but not "top set" confident. I thought he may have a hand like A-Q or K-Q, giving him top pair.

Nonetheless, with $13,800 already in the pot, I called $10,000, getting about 2.4-to-1 on my investment if I caught, not including the potential implied odds. The small blind folded, and thoughts were racing through my mind as to how I would proceed depending on what card hit the turn. Would I bluff at an ace? What if the jack paired?

The turn brought the 9, and Paul checked. It was clear to me that that card scared him. I believed he had a hand, but couldn't beat a straight or a flush. I pounced on the pot, betting $20,000. Paul hesitated for just a second, and then quickly called my bet.

Now, I had a whole new set of fears. I was still pretty certain that my flush was the best hand, but I was also sure that Paul wasn't drawing dead. He probably had a big spade in his hand, or possibly even a set. If the board paired on the river or another spade hit, I was already contemplating whether or not I would shut down.

The river brought the 4. It was a great card for me. It couldn't have helped Paul, so unless he was trapping me with a bigger flush, I had him. Now, it was time to sell it. Paul checked, and I was faced with the decision as to how much Paul would call.

I took a quick glance over at his stack and counted roughly $44,000. Since I had already bet $20,000 on the turn, I felt like I had to make the river bet bigger than that. If I bet $25,000, that would leave Paul with $18,000 and a fighting chance to make a comeback if he called and lost.

I wanted to make a bet that he thought he had to call. I finally decided on $25,000, and Paul went into the tank. It was a huge decision for him at this stage of the tournament. If he called and lost, he'd have just $18,000 left. If he called and won, he'd have a monster stack of more than $140,000. If he took the safe route and folded, he'd be in decent shape with $44,000.

Paul folded two black kings faceup. Of course, after he had gone through that much agony, there was no way I was going to let him know that he had made a fantastic laydown. I thought I'd be much better off leaving him wondering.

You can stop wondering now, Paul – well done.

I ended day three again in fourth chip position with $151,700. Day four started out beautifully for me. Twenty-seven players started on day four, and with just 12 remaining, I was the clear chip leader with well over $500,000. To my left were three short-stacked players, none of whom had more than $60,000, with one exception – Gus Hansen with $127,000.

The following hand created a lot of controversy, but both Gus and I believe I played the hand correctly. With the blinds at $3,000-$6,000 and a $1,000 ante, I was two off the button with the A 4. A standard raise here would be in the neighborhood of $18,000 to $24,000. Now, if I made a raise like this and got reraised, I would be forced to call against any of the remaining players, except possibly Gus.

By moving all in here, though, I would likely force Gus to fold a hand like 7-7 or 8-8, as well as hands like A-Q, A-J, or A-10. Basically, Gus could hurt me only if he happened to wake up with a monster hand.

As it turned out, I moved all in and Gus did have a hand, Q-Q. Still, I was only about a 2-1 underdog to win the pot and eliminate a very dangerous opponent. On the other hand, if I lost this pot, I would make a monster out of the one guy I didn't want to see with lots of chips.

The flop came 6-6-4, giving me five outs. The river was an ace! I made aces and sixes with a queen kicker. Huh? That's right; I forgot to mention that the turn card was a queen, so I was drawing dead and got there. What a waste!

Not too long after that we were down to the final nine. My once mighty lead was now lost, and I started seeing a string of 6-2 and 8-2 hands that kept me out of action. In the meantime, both Hoyt Corkins and Gus Hansen were making big moves, and I knew I'd have to deal with them sooner or later.

Going into the final table, I was second in chips behind Corkins and ahead of Hansen. Hoyt started the final table with $609,000, I started with $408,000, and Gus came to the final six with $314,000. It was the makings of a rather interesting show.

In my next column, you'll find out how it all unfolded.