Two Sets to Love - No Valentines

A week after Valentine's Day, the big day at Commerce Casino finally arrived – the World Poker Tour championship event of the L.A. Poker Classic – and I was pumped. On the heels of winning a seat in the previous night's supersatellite, I was ready.

Seeing a big crowd, I knew there would be more than 350 entrants, and I was hoping for a great mix of amateurs and pros at whatever table I drew. It turned out not to be that way, as I looked around the table and saw Paul Wolfe on my left and Tommy Hufnagle on my right. Other notables were Irish Mike, Tony Cousineau, and "The Professor," Howard Lederer.

In the first round, with $25-$50 blinds, I was dealt J-J, made a standard raise to $150, and got called by Paul Wolfe and two others. The flop came J-10-4 rainbow.

I bet $475, not liking the straight cards, and was immediately called by Paul. The turn was the A. I hated that card and put out a test bet of $600. Paul smooth-called, and a red flag went up.

With $1,225 now invested in this pot, if the board didn't pair I was going to check-call up to $2,000. Paul must have been reading my mind, because that's exactly what he bet. I called and he showed me the nuts, K-Q for the straight.

I showed my hand and he screamed, "No! I could have made more money there." I told him I agreed, and put $1,500 behind my stack and said, "Paul, these chips should have been yours." This is a ploy I sometimes use to try to induce a player to overbet when I have the nuts.

In the second round, with blinds of $50-$100, I limped in from second position with pocket threes. Paul called; he was moving lots of chips, and if I hit, I wanted some money in the pot to climb out of the hole. Three others also called, and the flop came 9-8-3. Yes! I had flopped a set again, but there was a straight draw and two spades out there, so I bet the pot, $500. Paul called immediately, and a red flag went up again. Did he have J-10, two spades, a higher set?

The turn card was a 6.

I thought this was a relatively safe card, thinking Paul couldn't have called with 10-7, so I bet it. Again, he smooth-called. Unless the board paired, I was done with the hand.

The river card was the K, putting a three-flush on the board.

I checked, and Paul bet $600. I called not for the strength of my hand, but for the size of the pot.

He turned over 7-5; he had hit a gutshot on the turn.

I showed him my set of threes, and he yelled, "No! I could've gotten more out of you again."

I put another $1,500 with the previous stack of $1,500 and told Paul that should have been his. I was now down to $6,000.

After the dinner break, I decided I needed to gamble with a big hand and try to trap to get some chips.

I didn't have to wait long. On the second hand, I got A-A under the gun. I limped in and got called in five spots. (My limp-and-trap strategy hadn't worked. I sure wished someone had raised so I could have popped them. I hate going against five players with aces.)

The flop was 6-3-3. I checked, as did everyone else, and the turn card was another 3. This time, I bet $600, hoping to get played back at by someone with a 6 or a higher pocket pair. I got called in one spot.

The river was a 9, and I bet $600 again, hoping he had hit a 9. He raised me, but only to $1,200. My first instinct was to move in on him, but I thought, "Jeez, that's too small a raise." I just called the $600, and he showed me the A 3 for quads.

I decided to combine my now lowly stack of $3,300 instead of keeping the chips I thought many would have gone broke with on previous hands separate.

Howard said, "Well, Warren, it looks like now you're freerolling on whatever happens from here on."

Everyone laughed, as did I, but inside I was feeling pretty beat up.

The blinds went up to $100-$200 and I found A-K offsuit in second position. I made a standard raise to $700. The gentleman who had the A-3 in the previous hand called, and then Irish Mike raised me $2,000 more.

This is when I thought I really played badly. Mike had never been the third player in a pot with a raise the entire tournament. My instincts told me he had aces, but my hands heard queens, and with $8,000 to gain and a shot to get back into it, I reraised all in. Of course, Mike had aces.

I was out of the tournament and felt black and blue. I had had several shots to blow all of my chips but had hung in there with sound thinking – three times. Then, I made a fatal mistake.

Next time, maybe the sets and full houses will hold up … and maybe they won't; it's a great game.

Editor's note: To ask Warren poker questions and get poker answers, visit his website, www.PokerMD.com.