World Series of Poker, Take I - A tournament experience to remember

My initial trip to the World Series of Poker (2004) was an interesting and intense one. I had been playing for about three months when May rolled around, and things had been going unbelievably well for me to that point. Bear (Barry Greenstein) suggested that I get a room at the Golden Nugget and play as much as possible in the side games that would be going on. I had no intention of playing in any of the actual events, and really didn't have much business even thinking about it. As the month went on, though, I reconsidered, and the challenge started sounding more attractive. I decided to take on a few events, but only a few, and confined myself to only limit hold'em. I played in the limit hold'em shootout event and the $2,500 limit hold'em event, with mixed results. I lasted until about half the field was dead in each. That was not overly impressive, but I was happy, considering my experience. Then, the $5,000 limit hold'em event rolled around, along with my most memorable day in poker. Let me explain …

I remember sitting down at my fi rst table of the day and looking into the faces of Scotty Nguyen and Chau Giang. Was I intimidated? Who, me? Hell yes – extremely. I think I cried a little, but just a little, as the cards were in the air a moment later.

"That's right, that's my son. Keep an eye on him," my dad called out to Diego Cordovez, who also was sitting at my table. Diego looked over and gave me a smile and said hello. It was a smile that said, "I'll look after your son … and his chips." We played for a few hours and I had somehow amassed the chip lead at the table. I had run into a few tough spots, but had managed to bluff my way out of them. I think Bear's proclamation that he was my father had gotten me some much needed respect, and had caused a few of my opponents to lay down some hands to me.

After a few hours, I looked down to the pleasant sight of the J J in middle position and made a raise. The action rolled around to Chau, and he popped me back. I smelled a big hand and nervously called. To my delight, the fl op came J 9 3 and I checked to Chau, who bet. I called, waiting to raise on the turn. The turn and river brought no relief for Chau, and he angrily turned over his A-A, which was second best to my set of jacks. I managed to get lucky against Chau in several pots during those early hours before dinner, which made his behavior even kinder during the break.

Both Barry and Mimi Tran (my official poker parents) had been knocked out, and I started getting joke text messages about how dumb it was for me not to have made a last-longer bet with either of them, having outlasted them both. I'll have to make sure not to make that mistake again. Yeah, right.

A few hands before dinner, I looked down into the eyes of two red kings, my holecards. I was ecstatic, and went to battle. I was in great shape until a third spade dropped on the turn. Neither of my kings was a spade, and I checked to my opponent, who checked behind me. The river brought still another spade, and we both checked again. My opponent showed me 10-10, with one spade. My hand was beat, and I felt pretty unlucky to have taken such a bad beat right before dinner.

I headed out to get some food, and heard someone say, "You have to bet those kings there. You gave him the pot." It was Chau, who was following right behind me. I couldn't see what he meant at first. The spade came, a scare card for me, and I checked, not wanting to give my opponent more of my chips if he had made his fl ush. "Sure, you lost the least amount you could, but you would have forced him out of the pot if you had bet. You have to make sure that you have the lead in that situation. Make him guess if you made your fl ush." Just then, Barry walked up and the three of us sat down and discussed how I had been playing some hands. Chau pointed out a few things I had been doing incorrectly. My dad added a few other comments, and I sat there until the break ended, attempting to absorb as much information as possible from these two poker giants.

After the break, we went back in and sat down. Chau was still at my table, along with Men Nguyen. By this time, my head was swimming a little from my dinner conversation, as I was tired from playing late the night before, and excited about having gotten this far in a WSOP event. I was a little overwhelmed, which led to a few bad blunders in my last few hours in the tournament.After having seen about an hour of hands after dinner, I was dealt the A 9 and called the big blind. The flop came 8 7 3. Nick "Little Nicky" Frangos managed to fight through his music and his own talking, and led out with a bet. I called. The turn brought the 5, clearly not the spade I needed. Again, Nicky bet out and I called. The river delivered the J, and I made my nut flush. Nicky bet, and I … just called! We turned over our cards and I heard, "What? No raise with the nut flush?!" It was Men, and I felt pretty foolish. The truth of the matter was that I knew I had made my flush, but just called without thinking. Or, perhaps it was just that I was overwhelmed by the moment. At any rate, Nicky turned over his straight, which was beat by my spade flush, and the table was undoubtedly left wondering who this amateur was who didn't raise with the nuts. At that point, we were moved to different tables and Chau and I were finally split up. He wished me good luck and told me that I was playing great, except for not taking control often enough. I took it to heart and headed over to my new table. There, I met up with another star-studded cast of players: John Hennigan, Howard Lederer, and T.J. Cloutier were no doubt licking their chops at the kid who was walking up with the mass of chips. Unfortunately, their appetites would be satiated, as this was where my luck ended.

I made one big blunder. This one may have cost me finishing in the money. I held the 4 4 in the big blind and had called a raise ahead of me. The pot was threehanded and the flop came K Q 4. I checked, and the initial raiser bet. At this point, Ellix Powers, easily the most aggressive player at the table, raised. I reraised, and killed any hope of building a big pot for myself. Of course, both players folded their hands; I won a meager pot but lost a big opportunity. It was another in a long line of blunders that would eventually knock me out.One interesting thing happened before my exit, though. Howard Lederer was low on chips and had reraised the initial raiser. Everyone folded to me in the small blind, and I looked down to see the A J. I reasoned that Howard might be making a play with a hand that wasn't that great. I called, and the flop came A J 9. I checked, and Howard bet. I of course raised, and he reraised all in. I was incredibly excited at the prospect of getting to tell my friends that I knocked out Howard Lederer. I called, and he turned over the A J. "I thought my raise was supposed to get that hand out," Howard said unhappily. We ended up splitting the pot, with one extra chip being left over. Howard instructed the dealer to give it to me, "for courage." Just then, someone said to Howard, "You just got lucky. You know who that kid is?"

"Yeah, I know who he is," he replied. "I just dodged some serious DNA." We all got a laugh out of that. Of course, he dodged some serious upbringing, not the DNA that he had thought.

Side note: When I relayed that story to Bear the next day, he laughed at me for making such a bad call in that situation. I felt a little embarrassed and chastised him for not having taught me enough to that point.

All in all, though, the day was amazing. I had gotten a firsthand poker lesson from Chau, for which I will never forget him, and lasted for quite some time in the toughest limit hold'em event in the world. I learned a little bit about not giving up the betting lead, as well as how important it is to be thinking clearly before a big tournament and taking things slowly. I was basically pleased with my performance. Of course, I would have liked finishing in the money, but I outlasted Barry and Mimi; let's not forget that.