Raising 1-800-FLOWERS

On a recent trip to Palm Springs to visit my buddy Carl Westcott, we found ourselves playing together in an $8-$16 game at a local casino. Carl and his wife, Jimmy, are great people, and I can usually find them in Palm Springs, Vail, or Dallas. I really enjoy their company and the way they think, and Carl has a ton of wisdom that he freely shares with me.

In 1979, Carl was in L.A. and couldn't find a way to send flowers to Jimmy in Dallas. Carl asked himself, "Why isn't there a way to do this?" So, he called the phone number 1-800-FLOWERS, and tried to buy that number for $1,000. When the owner wouldn't sell, Carl sent an employee of his off to negotiate and get the job done. Pretty soon, Carl bought the number and launched 1-800-FLOWERS. With his usual uncanny timing, Carl sold the business, only to watch it fail four times before it became the success it is today.

Carl's main business used to be car dealerships throughout the country, but mostly in Texas and Oklahoma. During this time, he noticed a trend regarding the amount of money people spent in relation to how old their cars were. The next thing he knew, Carl had invented the extended car warranty, and took it out to thousands of other dealerships around the country. He named this company First Extended Service Corporation, and he did quite well with it, as inventors of successful new industries often do. Of course, GM and the other major auto companies eventually copied the idea.

As if these two big ideas weren't enough, Carl then became involved with communications satellites when he saw that they were the wave of the future; thus, "Westcott Communications" was born. Carl sold this business near its peak in 1996 when he saw that the Internet could pose a problem – which it did. Next, Carl was one of the early investors in XM Satellite Radio, and he holds shares in both satellite radio companies – XM and Sirius. (Carl said, with his Texas twang, "Phil, this is a good place to invest, as these companies have a duopoly.")

Finally, Carl now has another thriving business – he cannot help himself – called "Digital Witness," which has 700 customers and is growing by leaps and bounds. Digital Witness puts cameras all over restaurants and other businesses to monitor employees, and can be described as "Tivo on steroids." Now, let's get back to poker!

Since I had just played in some major tournament events in L.A., and in a $400-$800 game, let's just say that my focus on the $8-$16 game wasn't too sharp. In fact, Carl said later, "You made an ass of yourself last night." OK, fair enough, I was using my old "raise in the dark" routine, but usually I win at least one pot when I do that – but not on this night. I did manage to split two pots along the way, but that was it for this dreary night. When I had a pair, someone had a higher pair. When I had king high, someone had ace high. Finally, I did make a fairly strong hand, but Mr. Westcott …

While playing a hand in the dark, a huge pot came up between three of us. I had 4-2 offsuit and capped it when the flop came down 10-5-2. I was pretty sure that the guy raising me had A-K, thus the cap.

When the turn brought a deuce, I bet out, thinking I had finally won a pot, and a huge one, at that. Then, Carl raised me, and the third player called. Of course, I raised again, and now Carl just called. When he just called, I really believed I was winning. When a jack came on the river, I bet out again into the 10-5-2-2-J board, and Carl raised again; uh-oh. I called, and he showed me his holecards, 5-5 for a full house.

For 30 minutes, I raised every pot in the dark to the max before the flop, and bet out on every street all the way to the river, unless someone else bet or raised, and then I would look. I have used this routine before, and I'll use it again. I believe that this is a good thing for all players to try at some point in their poker careers (it's called experimentation).

One night back in Madison, Wisconsin, I did this for two hours straight to start off the night in a $5-$10 limit hold'em game, and made a $500 side bet with my friend Tuli that I would end up at least $200 ahead sometime during the eight hours that we would play. I collected $500 from Tuli when I was up $280 immediately after the two hours ended! I was trying to make a point: If your opponents don't play you the right way while you're using this crazy system, they don't have a huge edge. Plus, I figured that I would have six more hours after the "blind betting" period to make up my losses. Neither Tuli nor I thought that I would actually have any chance of being ahead more than $200 after the two hours ended.

Layne Flack used this system one night at an Omaha eight-or-better final table at Bellagio, when the limits were $2,000-$4,000! Erik Seidel and I were staking Layne that day, and I was chuckling as I watched Layne's display, knowing that the world thought Layne was mad as a hatter. But my enjoyment that night was twofold as I teased my good friend Erik about the goings-on. ("Erik, he's capping every hand in the dark, and the limits are $2,000-$4,000.") Needless to say, Erik was not amused. In fact, the very next day, after Layne won the event – and $88,000 – Erik "fired" him. Dark poker? Layne and I highly recommend it!

Chat or play poker with Phil at UltimateBet.com. To learn more about him or his books and DVDs, go to PhilHellmuth.com; for Phil's cellphone game, check out HellmuthHoldem.com.