The Finals: Chris Ferguson Vs. Phil Hellmuth Part I - The National Heads-Up Poker Championship

In the past several issues, I have been covering the National Heads-Up Poker Championship matches that I played. After advancing past Men Nguyen, Paul Phillips, former World Champion Huck Seed, Lyle Berman, and Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, I found myself staring down World Champion Chris "Jesus" Ferguson in the finals.



This would be a best two-out-of-three match. After pretty much breezing through the first match, I was feeling pretty good. I had won six matches in a row, and would have been the champion except for the fact that the finals, and only the finals, were a best two-out-of-three match. However, I knew the rules, and now I had a 1-0 lead.



Just like the first match, I drew the button and won the first two pots. Now I was thinking, "OK, this is where I called before the flop in the last match and Chris raised and I folded." I was thinking that it wouldn't surprise me if he raised again, trying to win the pot just as he had done in the last match. Looking down at the A 3, I again called from the button.

Sure enough, Chris raised. I thought, "OK, I probably have him beat, but I'll just call and give him a little rope." By just calling his raise, I put pressure on my reading abilities, because I knew that there was a high probability that he would bet on the flop, no matter what he had in the hole and no matter what cards hit on the flop.



With a flop of 9 5 2, Chris bet out, and I called pretty quickly. At this point, I knew there was a good chance that ace high was the best hand. Plus, I had a straight draw and the nut backdoor-flush draw with my A. The turn card was the amazing-looking 4, giving me a straight with an ace-high flush draw as backup. Now, Chris checked, and I bet $40,000. Chris raised to $120,000, and the game was on; talk about pressure on my reading ability!



I began to rethink the preflop action, and the way that Chris had bet his hand then and now. How did he put his chips in? Did I pick up any tells of weakness or strength? Could he have a flush or a 6-3 for a higher straight? Why did he raise only $80,000? Finally, I decided that I did have the best hand. I cannot tell you exactly how or why I thought that, but my reading abilities were very strong throughout the tournament. In fact, my reading abilities had enabled me to make it this far, so I wasn't going to dog them now. By the way, even if I was wrong and Chris had me beat, I could still hit a heart on the end to claim the pot.



I asked Chris, "How many chips do you have left?"



He said, "About $450,000." In all of my matches, I had taken my time and played small pots until the right moment, which usually took an hour or two. Could it be possible that now was the right moment, only a few minutes into this match? Yes, I felt the time was right; thus, I decided to move all in!



Chris studied and said, "I believe that I have 13 winning cards that I can hit." "Thirteen?" I wondered to myself. "How can that be? If he has a set, he has only 10 outs. Obviously, he believes that a heart will win for him." Of course, I had the A in my hand, and knew that a heart would not win the pot for him. Now I was thinking he had the Q Q, or something similar, and might be drawing dead. I mean, what hand could he have that gave him 13 outs?



Of course, now I was really rooting hard for a call, and that being the case, I had to be careful not to talk or give anything away. Too often, when we want a call, we talk and give away the strength of our hands. Finally, Chris said, "I already messed this hand up pretty good, so I may as well call." It turned out that his hand was the 9 2, which meant that he needed a 9 or a deuce on the last card to make a full house. He had thought that a heart would win the pot for him because he had the 9, which explained his believing that he had 13 winning cards. Of 44 cards left in the deck, 40 would win for me and four would win for him. With one match under my belt, I was a 10-to-1 favorite to win the title! As the dealer dealt the last card, I began to stand up to shout, "Yes!" But then, a 9 appeared, and I literally fell off my chair onto the stage. I'm sure that this was fun to watch on television, but to me, it was pure agony. I mean, I hadn't won a tournament since the 2003



World Series of Poker (where I won two, to increase my total number of WSOP wins to nine), not that I hadn't been close many times since then. When you haven't won in a while, it seems like getting over that winning hump is extra challenging, whereas if you've recently picked off a tournament, it seems much easier to win. On the next hand, I had a few chips left and we went all in with Chris holding K-10 against my K-3. I flopped a 3, but the hand finished runner-runner clubs for Chris to win the pot with his K and even the match at one apiece.



Of course, I was talking under my breath, saying, "Why is the crowd cheering so loud? He put all of his money in as a 10-to-1 underdog. This is BS; I played that hand like a maestro!" Of course, the cameras caught every comment, even as I walked down the hall of the Golden Nugget toward my room. At the elevator, I told the security guard to stop the cameras. If I didn't have them stopped, I'm sure that they would have followed me all the way to my room. Next time, Part II.