Patience and a Key Hand Pay Off at Bellagio

There I sat with $14,000 at Bellagio's Festa al Lago $2,600 buy-in no-limit hold'em event in the middle of the fifth round, with blinds of $200-$400 and a $25 ante. I had just won a pot and was feeling comfortable when my table broke, sending me to a table with the always dangerous John Bonetti on my immediate left. I've always had a tough time reading John, because he plays lots of hands and is absolutely fearless. Some guys are like fine wine and mellow with age, but I haven't seen John mellow out one iota, and he's 75. He is still a lion at the poker table.

After folding for a couple of rounds, I found myself in the small blind with A-7 offsuit against John's big blind. I decided to raise, figuring my hand was good. As I expected, he called my $1,200 bet. The flop came with three rags, I bet $1,800, and he folded. On the very last hand of the round, I pushed my luck a little further and raised with A-2 from the button. Bonetti called. All paints came on the flop, but no ace. Bonetti checked, and I checked. He checked again on the turn, and I checked. When he bet on the river, I folded, since I could beat very little with only an ace high. I did not want to push my luck too far against Bonetti, as he is quite capable of checking a strong hand twice if he thinks his opponent cannot bear the pressure and will bet with practically anything. He is also capable of making a total bluff on the river.

When we got to seven 10-handed tables, my chip count stood at $12,700, still slightly below par. Tournament tables are played 10-handed at Bellagio until it gets down to six tables. At that point, as players bomb out, each table remains ninehanded through the championship table.

The first hand I played in the sixth round was rather risky. With the antes at $50 and the blinds at $300-$600, I raised from under the gun with the K Q, making it $2,000 to go. I was prepared to dump this hand if someone moved in on me, but since my tight reputation has made it dangerous for people to make that play against me, I usually get a lot of respect when I raise from under the gun. The big blind was my only caller. The flop came K-J-X. He checked, and I moved in on him. He folded instantly.

The only other hand with which I saw a flop that round was a Q-J in the big blind. With six players in this unraised pot, the flop came J-8-5. Against that many players, I decided to check my top pair and see what developed. One player led out for $3,500, and everyone folded to the small blind, who moved all in. He could have had anything, including two pair or a jack with a bigger kicker. I decided to give him credit rather than cash – or in this case, my hard-earned chips. I folded, as did the original bettor. The round ended with 56 players left out of the 207 who started. My chip count stood at $10,950, not quite as tall as I would have liked, as we started "lucky" level No. 7. The ante increased to $75 and the blinds rose to $400-$800, so I knew I couldn't just sit on my stack, since each round of the deal would cost $1,875.

Sometimes in tournaments, your luck revolves around being dealt a big hand, getting action on it, and having it hold up. In other words, you need to win a key hand. And this is what happened to me. I was dealt K-K in the big blind. There were four limpers, which is unusual at this late stage of a tournament. I decided to make it $4,000 more. Bonetti had limped in from under the gun, and so had the player to his immediate left. Bonetti knew that I wasn't fooling around. He passed in the blink of an eye. I was surprised when the next player, who had a lot more chips than I, suddenly moved in. Everyone else passed. Although I was fearful that I might have run into aces, I knew I had to call. You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, and you can't win a no-limit hold'em tournament without taking some chances, although most players would not think that playing kings was exactly gambling it up. Fortunately for me, my opponent had J-J and I doubled up to around $24,000.

A couple of rounds later, I again won some valuable chips with a blind hand. In an unraised pot, I had 10-8 offsuit in the big blind. The flop came 8 8 3. I checked, Bonetti (who again had limped in from under the gun) bet $2,000, and another player called. I moved in. Why do you think I would do that? This type of flop didn't lend itself to any deception, especially against these players. I knew that if I just flat-called, they both would put me on an 8. I figured, correctly, that I would get no more action unless one of them drew out. I also suspected that at least one of them had a flush draw. After Bonetti passed, the next player showed his A 2 and also folded. I now had reached my high point of the tournament with $30,000 in chips. Looking at the tournament clock, I noted that only 42 players remained.

All of the $25 chips were removed from play before the eighth round began. The blinds rose to $600-$1,200 with $100 antes, and my stomach began growling; it was 8 p.m., and we still had one hour until dinnertime! Next time, I'll finish up this tournament adventure, but first I think I'll go knock on Roy West's door – as he always has a tasty snack for poker players to munch.

Tom McEvoy is the author of Championship Tournament Poker and No-Limit Texas Hold'em (with co-author Brad Daugherty). You will often find him in action at the poker table at www.pokerstars.com, where he is a spokesperson.