The Poker Quest Satellite of Champions - Part II

After being called in at the last minute to play in Poker Quest's invitational satellite for a seat in its $250,000 buy-in tournament, I found myself with a healthy chip stack against my seven remaining formidable opponents. I was in the small blind with Q-9 offsuit, and since the pot was not raised and there were several limpers, I called to see the flop. I should say, my flop, as it came Q-Q-6! I checked, and so did everybody else. The 7 came on the turn, making a possible backdoor-flush draw. I checked again, but this time I was going to put in a small raise if someone bet with a drawing hand. Another 6 came on the river, giving me a full house and making a flush possible. I led out with a bet. Everybody folded to René Angélil on the button, and he raised. I thought he might have been slow-playing a queen, and the pot probably would be split. I had René covered, and moved in with the rest of my chips. He called. Much to my surprise, he turned over the nut flush. He had misread the board, not noticing the second pair on the river. Even a top player can make a mistake in the heat of battle. This hand put me in the chip lead with seven players left.



With a small stack, Ted Forrest moved in from under the gun. I had the A 9, not the greatest of hands, but I thought Ted might be a little weak, so I called. Men Nguyen then thought for a little while and I said to myself, "I think Men has a better hand than mine; I hope he folds." Sure enough, he finally folded, and so did everybody else. Ted turned over the A 8. I had him out-kicked and my hand held up. As soon as our hands were turned over, Men jumped out of his chair. He had folded A-Q! Not only did the board come with a queen, there were three spades, and he had the only spade. "This must be my lucky day," I began to think.



Another key hand developed after the blinds went up again. Thor Hansen, who had not played many hands, brought it in for a raise. Holding pocket nines, I decided to call and see the flop. After everybody else folded, Freddy Deeb called from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-rag, with two suited cards. Freddy checked, Thor made a bet, and I called. Freddy began to writhe in agony. Holding A-Q, he knew that he had to either make a big move-in raise or throw it away. Since he was the shortest stack at the table, he finally moved in. Thor folded, I called with my set, and Freddy bit the dust, afterward saying that he hated his hand. Men said he would have folded Freddy's hand, because I had called Thor's bet on the flop so quickly. I guess I'll have to take more time the next time I flop a set. We were down to five.



Kathy Liebert, now the shortest stack, was the next victim. In the small blind, she raised all in with A-8 before the flop and Layne Flack called with A-5. In this blind-versus-blind encounter, Layne spiked a 5 and Kathy went out. Layne had the second-biggest stack at the time, so his play was reasonable. With Kathy's departure, we were down to four players, with Men the shortest stack and the blinds continually getting higher.



A few hands later, I raised from under the gun with the A 9. Men then moved all in. Layne and Thor folded, and it was up to me. I knew that Men had a better hand than mine, but I was feeling lucky. Since I already had knocked out Ted Forrest with the same hand, I decided to gamble, but when Men turned over pocket kings, I was in worse shape than I thought. No help came for me on the flop, but a magical ace hit on the turn. Men did not get help on the river, and I guess he could be excused for talking to himself as he reported to the rail – even if it was in a rather loud voice.



Next time, I'll pick up the threehanded action for you, where it really became an exciting battle between Layne Flack, Thor Hansen, and me.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com and the voice of Pro Play. You can find out more about Pro Play at www.mypokerbiz.com.