Limit Hold'em at the 2004 World Series of Poker

I've said it before and I'll say it again: While limit hold'em and no-limit hold'em may seem similar, the optimal strategy for both are worlds apart. No-limit gives you more freedom of expression, if you will, while there is less room to get creative in limit hold'em.

I can't say which I like better, as I enjoy playing both variations. A few years ago, limit hold'em was the tournament game, but now with the popularity of no-limit hold'em on television, limit hold'em has been neglected.

Personally, I still find it a fascinating game, as most of the key decisions are made post-flop. That's fun for me. Call me crazy, but I like to see more than just two cards before all of my money goes into a pot!

My goal this year was to win the best-all-around-player award at the World Series of Poker, and looking up at the leader board at the tournament, I had my work cut out for me. Minh Nguyen had already won a bracelet (his second in as many years), and also had captured a 14th-place finish as well as a seventh-place finish. Oh, and he was also the chip leader in the $2,000 limit hold'em event.

As for me, I cashed in the first event, as I mentioned in my last column, and finished a disappointing third in the $1,000 no-limit hold'em rebuy event. This would be my second consecutive limit hold'em final table, as I also had a seventh-place finish in the $2,500 limit hold'em event a few days earlier.

So, the man to beat, Minh Nguyen, came to the final table with $100,000, but I was right on his heels in second place with $91,000. Unlike the $2,500 limit hold'em event, I got off to a great start and seized the chip lead within the first 30 minutes.

I held my ground for most of the way, and when we got down to fourhanded, the stacks were as follows:

Chris Hinchcliffe, $204,000 (Yes, that Chris Hinchcliffe!)

Daniel Negreanu, $153,000

Ted Park, $120,000

Minh Nguyen, $100,000

I thought this Chris Hinchcliffe guy was supposed to be a beginner! If so, why in the world do I keep bumping into him at final tables, where he is the chip leader? Never mind, I know why: He has natural talent – great instincts, feel, and creativity, the types of things you can't really teach.

I had a good track record against Chris, though, and I was hoping our last encounter at the PartyPoker Million was fresh on his mind.

Chris was doing a pretty good job of controlling the table, but I wasn't about to let him run right over the game. With the blinds at $2,000-$4,000, I raised from first position with the 10 7. My favorite hand is actually 10-7 offsuit (that way, I can make two flushes), but this hand would have to do.

Minh Nguyen called from the button, Chris called from the small blind, and Ted Park reraised from the big blind.

Ted may not be a household name in tournament poker, but I knew he was a very successful high-stakes limit hold'em player. I'd noticed that he was a regular in the $80-$160 game at Bellagio, and I had also seen him play $200-$400 when the game was available.

For Ted to reraise in this situation, he simply had to have a legitimate hand. Four of us took the flop at $12,000 a man: 7 6 5. This was not exactly the kind of flop I was looking for, but I did have a piece, and you simply can't underestimate the power of 10-7.

Chris checked to Ted, who bet $4,000. I wasn't going to fold here, so with that much dead money in the pot, I thought I'd try to thin the field and hope that Ted might have a hand like A-K. Also, even if he did have an overpair, he had to be very worried about a flop like that. If a scary card came on the turn, I might get a free card (scary cards being a diamond, 4, 8, 9, or an ace).

Minh folded to the raise, but Chris called two bets cold. Uh-oh, that looks like a Hinchcliffe flop! Then, to my surprise, Ted went ahead and reraised. At this point, I was now pretty sure that Ted had A-A or K-K, but Chris' hand was still a mystery to me. I called the reraise, as did Chris.

The turn card was the J. Chris checked and Ted bet once again. Decision time. It was pretty clear I didn't have the best hand here, but that didn't necessarily make folding the correct play. I had Ted on A-A or K-K, and Chris on a straight draw, flush draw, or possibly both.

I still figured that if I hit a 7 or a 10 on the river, I'd win the pot, giving me four pure outs and possibly the 10, depending on what Chris was drawing to. So, here again, once I'd made my read, it came down to simple math:

There was $92,000 in the pot already, which gave me 11.5-to-1 pot odds. There were 44 unseen cards (I already knew that Ted had either A-A or K-K), and I had either four or five outs. If I had four outs, my odds against hitting were 10-to-1, but if all five of my outs were good, I'd improve to 7.8-to-1.

I'd already decided that if I didn't improve on the river, I wasn't calling a bet, so my implied odds made this close call even more favorable.

Now that I have spelled out all of that meaningless math for you, I'm going to share with you the real reason I made the call: risk versus reward.

Even if I was certain that I had only four outs, I'd still make the call. When you play cash games, all you are looking to do is make profitable bets. In other words, if you are getting only 7-to-1 pot odds, you should never try to hit an 11-to-1 shot on the river. In the long run, it's simply a losing play.

Tournaments are different. If I call this bet and miss, it costs me a small portion of my chips. However, if I call this bet and get lucky, I'm now in the driver's seat to win the tournament. This simple concept is one of the key differences between live play and tournament play. Cash-game players may think, "Why would I want to make a bad call?" An experienced tournament player may think, "Oh, baby, there is a lot of power in that pot, and I want it!"

Well, I wanted that pot, and I wasn't about to let this hand go here. So, I called, as did Chris. Guess what hit the river. Take a wild guess. Need a hint? The power of the 10-7, my absolute favorite trash hand, never fails … the 7 hit the river.

Chris checked, Ted bet once again, and I went ahead and raised. Chris folded his draw, and Ted reluctantly called with his A-A. I picked up an extra $16,000 on the river and was now in command.

After knocking out Minh in third place, I could now make up some ground on him in the best-all-around race. Chris and I were now heads up. Amazingly, we had played the entire tournament together, as we started at the same table.

I was expecting a long, drawn out battle. Well, Chris just didn't seem to get any hands, and that battle never materialized and I was OK with that! I'd won my third bracelet and was now sitting pretty in the best all-around standings. Through 15 events, it was a very close race between Minh Nguyen, Scott Fischman (who'd already won two bracelets), and me. I knew I'd need to finish strong if I was going to have any chance of winning that title. Stay tuned for the next issue, where you'll find out how things turned out.

Daniel can be reached through his website: www.fullcontactpoker.com. Due to extremely high volume, Daniel doesn't have the time to answer strategy questions and isn't available for coaching.