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

In my last column I discussed the bad beat that Chris Ferguson put on me in the finals of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship. I had won match one, and was staring at a victory in match two when Chris and I put all of our money in on a board of 9 5 4 2, with Chris' 9 2 up against my A 3 on, believe it or not, the third hand of the match! Chris then proceeded to hit the 10-to-1 shot (40 winning cards for me and four for him) when a 9 popped up on the river, stealing my victory from me in dramatic fashion.



I literally fell on the floor when the card hit (I was on my way to standing up and shouting, "Yes!"), and after losing the next small pot, I headed up to my room to meditate and try to gather myself. Of course, I was steaming, talking to myself, and walking fast up the Golden Nugget hallway while the cameras recorded the whole thing. At the elevator, I told the security guard to stop the cameramen, as I'm sure they would have followed me all the way to my room.



Fifteen minutes later, I was still a bit shaken, and as the elevator doors opened, there were no cameramen waiting. Instead, they were around the first corner, along with the lovely Lindsay, who was waiting to interview me as I walked back to the arena. I guess I gave a pretty emotional interview, but I'm an emotional guy (I was still steaming!).



When I arrived back at the table, we started right away and I looked down at 10-10 on the first hand. I smooth-called from the button, which I had won three straight times in a random draw. In a classy way, Chris complained about the fact that the button didn't rotate from match to match. In any case, the flop came down A-K-J, and Chris and I both checked. The turn was a 10, and now Chris bet $20,000, and I called with my trip tens. The last card was an 8, Chris bet out about $30,000, and I sighed and folded. Of course, Chris was bluffing, and showed me the bluff.



I didn't mind that, as it gave me a read on him, which proved to be important 30 minutes later. Here, in my opinion, is the key hand of the match; it's one that both Chris and I played well, but he played it a little bit better than I did. Chris raised from the button and I smooth-called with J-J from the big blind. The flop came down A 8 7, and I checked. Chris bet $30,000, I raised $30,000, and Chris called. The turn was the 6, and I checked. Now, Chris bet $80,000, and I studied forever. Something was telling me that I had the best hand. I kept thinking that Chris had J-9, a pair of eights with a flush draw (for example, the Q 8), or something similar.



Finally, my chips just sort of made their way into the pot, and the last card was the K. The flush had hit. I checked again. Chris now stacked his chips in a funny way – two stacks of five blue $10,000 chips sitting side by side, with eight $10,000 chips stacked atop them, in the middle – and pushed them into the middle of the pot. The bet was $180,000, and I studied for a long time. I could beat only a few hands, like J-10, J-9, 9-6, or an underpair. The flush had hit, the ace was there, a straight was possible, and two pair or a set was possible. Still, something didn't quite feel right. I studied for two minutes – which is a long time – while stacking and restacking $180,000 in chips that I had put in front of me.



If I called and lost, I would be down to less than $200,000 in chips, which I believed would be pretty crippling. As T. J. Cloutier would say, "If I was wrong, I was gone." Finally, I folded, saying to Ferguson, "Nice bluff." I later found out that Chris had J-10, and had indeed bluffed me out. Even though I made the wrong decision, I am proud of the fact that I considered calling – and really felt the bluff – in an almost impossible situation. However, I give maximum credit to Chris for playing that hand so well – and outplaying me. In my next column, the match continues.



Part I of this series can be found here.