Spider-Man Can Play!

After watching "Amarillo Slim" successfully host his Super Bowl of Poker tournament for many years, I finally had my own tournament. It started by accident; I was looking to do something with Hollywood Park Casino during my book (Bad Beats and Lucky Draws) and DVD (Phil Hellmuth's Million Dollar Poker System) tour. By the way, on Page 181 of my new book, I predict that Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire will become two of the greatest poker-playing celebrities. In any case, my "event" sort of morphed into the $2,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em Phil Hellmuth Invitational Poker Tournament.

When 123 players showed up from all over the country, I was ready to rock and roll. First place would pay $95,480. I was particularly pleased to see that four satellite winners from the Detroit Poker Club were in attendance. And one fellow came all the way from Baltimore; he had won a satellite on UltimateBet.com. Having a couple of celebrities there – Tobey and Danny Masterson from That '70s Show – was terrific, as well.

Although I controlled the microphone, needled people, and turned it into a less intense event, there was one person I avoided teasing for a while – Player X. Meanwhile, I kept needling John Juanda, Amir Vahedi, Rod Peate, David "The Dragon" Pham, Stan Goldstein, Andy Bellin (author of Poker Nation), celebrity lawyer John Moonves, Kenna James, Internet legend "neverwin" (Dustin), Hollywood producer Houston Curtis, Chris Karagulleyan, Glenn Cozen, David Levi, and a few others.

The structure was terrific, maybe too much so, because the tournament started at 7 p.m. and lasted until 8:45 a.m. Finally, with three tables left, I negotiated the right to needle the player I referred to as Player X. Of course, this player was none other than Tobey Maguire. As we made it down to two tables, Tobey told me, "Phil, I'd like nothing better than to have your inaugural tournament as my first tournament victory." That was a nice thing for Tobey to say, and it made me feel pretty good.

In truth, with two tables left, I was rooting for Tobey to win and Stan Goldstein to finish second, as everyone loves Stan and Tobey. By all accounts, Tobey has always shown everyone in poker maximum respect. Earlier in the month, I pulled him aside after he was harassed a bit and told him, "Look, Tobey, everyone loves your enthusiasm for the game. You're not here for us players, but because you love the game and want to become a great player someday. Tobey, you're just flat-out good for the poker world."

I watched Tobey go card dead from 16 players down to the final nine, while anteing himself out of 50 percent of his chips. With 17 players left, Tobey was all in before the flop with A-10 against his opponent's 6-6. The first four cards came down 7-5-3-9, and Tobey needed an ace or a 10 on the last card. Bang, an ace came! Meanwhile, quite a few other players were acting desperately (not patiently, like Tobey), and busted themselves out. Although Tobey entered the final table as the short stack, he really was playing well and giving himself the maximum chance to win.

After Stan busted out seventh, I thought Tobey was the favorite to win the title. Although it was only his second final table, this kid gets it! At this point, Tobey had to have his A Q hold up all in against his opponent's K-10. This time, he flopped an ace to end it quickly.

During the final table, Tobey came up to me and said, "I folded 5-5 there because I knew he had to play all in with me this time," and, "I folded 7-7 because I knew I would get multiway action if I moved all in." His reasoning was pretty flawless: If you're all in with these types of hands, the exit door looms pretty large. I must say that throwing away these two hands would have been tough for most pros to do.

When things got down to threehanded, Reza Payvar busted Marcel Sabag (who had had the chip lead all day long). Reza had Q-J, Marcel A-9, and the board came K-10-9-A-7. Now heads up, Tobey moved all in with Q-Q versus Reza Payvar's A-K for 80 percent of the chips in the tournament. I must say that Reza played a tough style of poker, and would have won had his A-K beaten Tobey's Q-Q. Instead, Tobey's Q-Q held up, and I was pretty sure that Tobey would take down the title.

Shortly thereafter, Tobey limped in with the 6 3, and Reza raised it with the K 2. Tobey called, the flop came down 3 3 2, Reza bet out big, and Tobey smooth-called with his trip threes. When the A came off, Reza moved all in and Tobey beat him into the pot. Although Reza was dead on the flop, he now needed a heart to make a flush and take the chip lead again. When the last card was the 7, Tobey had won his first no-limit hold'em title.

The next day, Andy Bellin told me, "This kid could be a legitimate top pro, and win many more of these things. It's amazing how quickly he has picked up the game."

I said, "I'm proud of Tobey, but not just because he is a movie star. It is wonderful to watch someone we all like (a nice, unassuming guy) work hard at his game and then knock off his first tournament."

Tobey, congrats, but be forewarned, next year I'm needling you right off the bat! It won't be because you're a movie star, but because you're the defending champion and a player to look out for in the future.

Editor's note: Chat or play poker with Phil Hellmuth at UltimateBet.com. To learn more about him or his books and DVDs, go to PhilHellmuth.com. For Phil's cell phone game, check out HellmuthHoldem.com.