Welcome to Miami

At 10 p.m. one night recently, under an expansive white tent in the backyard of a spectacular private mansion on the water in Miami Beach, a man won a pot. "Young, free, cruising down the Westside Highway … just me and my girlfriend," I sang over the PA system. There were a few chuckles from those who recognized this lyric from a rap song by Jay-Z. You see, I was good-naturedly needling Jay-Z, who won the pot, and his girlfriend Beyoncé, who was sitting behind him.



I was in Miami as the master of ceremonies for the "Alex Rodriguez Hosts the Dewar's 12 Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament" for A-Rod and his charity of choice, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami. And what a lineup there was for me to tease and lay props on! Attendees included New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield, slugger Sammy Sosa, NFL defensive MVP Ed Reed, New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, NCAA and NFL champion Bernie Kosar, several New York Yankees players, two billionaires (I teased A-Rod: "A-Rod, they have more money than you do!"), and NCAA and NBA champion Glen Rice. Also, poker player Paul Wolfe joined the party.



At one point I said, "Give Tom Brady some props. After all, this guy won three Super Bowls and 10 playoff games in a row, and if it were not for five turnovers last weekend, he may have won a few more."



Brady then grabbed the microphone and said, "Now, Phil, we don't talk about all of the tournaments that you lost, do we?" The crowd cracked up at that response. Fair enough, Mr. Brady. I was very impressed with Tom. He's passionate about football, down to earth, and calm, cool, and collected.



Brady took A-Q all in before the flop against one player's A-10 and another player's 7-7, and lost with a final board of K-9-4-9-9. He was roughly a 3-2 underdog to win the pot before the flop against those two hands, but going all in with A-Q was a very respectable move, especially in a charity event like this one, in which the blinds are raised very quickly.



Ed Reed took a huge early chip lead in the 120-player field, despite never having played hold'em before. He obviously picked up the game quickly, finishing in 12th place after losing most of his chips when his pocket jacks lost to a K-2 offsuit, all in before the flop. Reed was a 2.5-1 favorite with his J-J.



At the final table, which included Jay-Z, A-Rod, and some others, a huge and unusual pot came up early on with the blinds at $4,000-$8,000. A-Rod, with J-10, called the $8,000 bet. At that point, he had only $15,000 in chips, but with two more hands to go before he'd be hit with the big blind, his call was fine. Next, Jay-Z called the $8,000 with 8-8, player A called with A-10, player B, in the small blind, called with Q-Q (electing not to raise), and player C, in the big blind, also called, with A-A. Player B should have moved all in before the flop with his Q-Q, and player C should have moved all in before the flop with his A-A. What were they waiting for? I mean, there were already several callers in the pot, and the right move for players B and C was to move all in to try to drive some of the other players out of the pot, thereby protecting their hands and giving them a better chance of winning what was already a massive pot.

The flop came down J-9-2, and players B and C checked, which was another mistake (they both should have moved all in). Now, A-Rod moved all in for roughly $6,000 with his pair of jacks. Jay-Z then studied a long while before calling (which was OK, since it was only $6,000 to call and there was almost $50,000 in the pot), as did player A (because he had only $4,000 left, his call was OK, too). Now, player B called A-Rod's $6,000 bet with his Q-Q, which was yet another mistake (once again, he should have moved all in, not merely called). Next, player C moved all in (finally!) with his A-A, and Jay-Z threw away his pocket eights. Finally, player B called with his pocket queens.



Player C was now in a sweet position: He had the best hand (A-A), and he had everyone else covered. If player B or player C won the pot, he would have more than half of the chips in the tournament. A-Rod needed a jack or a 10 to win, player B needed a queen to win, and player A needed a doctor! The turn card was a queen, putting player B in a great position with his three queens. But that queen didn't kill A-Rod's hand, since he could hit an 8 for a straight. (A king would give A-Rod a king-high straight, but he would lose to player A's ace-high straight.) Player A (who had needed a doctor on the flop) now suddenly could win the pot, with either that king or an 8 (the latter would enable him to split the pot with A-Rod). The last card was the 6, and player B, whose three queens won the monster pot, took a commanding chip lead.



The winner of the tournament received a one-year lease on a $50,000 Mercedes from Alex Rodriguez Mercedes-Benz, but the real winner, of course, was the charity. It was a first-class event, with a fashion show, a jewelry show, a couple of yachts on display, a team of synchronized swimmers in the pool for a while, and a pretty cool crowd. Well done, A-Rod!



This event was held on Saturday night. On Sunday night, I was the master of ceremonies at a W Club Las Vegas event during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. So, in essence, I teased and gave props to some great athletes Saturday night, and movie stars on Sunday night! By the way, I played in the Sundance event, in which first place was a $700,000 W Club Las Vegas condo, to be built in 2008. And, I made it down to … That's for my next two columns.