Jennifer Harman and the Big Game

In October and November, I began making forays into the "big game" at Bellagio, a high-stakes affair seemingly always in progress. In the first four of these sessions, I won almost $500,000, without a single loss. Then, in December, I played three more times over a weekend and lost $176,000. After arriving in Vegas that Friday night, I should have gone straight to bed, but instead lost $80,000. On Saturday, still tired and off my game, I lost another $43,000, and finally, on Sunday, I risked all of the remaining cash I had in town, about $53,000 or so, and lost that. My thinking on risking that last $53,000 was that I didn't want to have a losing trip in the big game! It was a tough weekend, but it was fun. And as bad as it was, it didn't wipe out the $500,000 I had won previously.



Playing in a poker game in which you can win or lose that much in one night is always exciting, but I especially enjoyed the camaraderie of some of the people with whom I used to play high-limit poker back in the 1990s: great players like Johnny Chan, Jennifer Harman, Doyle Brunson, David "Chip" Reese, Gus Hansen, Chau Giang, Eli Elezra, and Barry Greenstein. During that weekend, however, I did manage to win a few pots, one of which was a big hold'em hand against Jennifer.



First, let me tell you a little bit about Jennifer. She is the best woman poker player on the planet right now, although Annie Duke – when she focuses on the game – can challenge her for that title. But beyond that, Jennifer is one of the best all-around poker players in the world, man or woman. In the last few years, she beat Andy Beal for $9 million in one day, and won two World Series of Poker titles. And if those credentials aren't enough, she also has made several World Poker Tour final tables. Jennifer has proven that she has the rare combination of poker skills necessary to compete successfully in both the big-time poker tournaments and the high-limit side games. She also plays in the big game almost every day, and has earned the respect of all of the great players in that game. Such authorities as Brunson and Chan believe that she is "one of the best all-around poker players in the world."

The big game is a $2,000-$4,000 limit "mixed game," meaning that more than one game form is played – usually at least six, such as hold'em, seven-card stud, Omaha eight-or-better, and so on – by rotating from one game to the next. It was during a hold'em hand that I looked down at pocket kings and made it $4,000 to go from late position. Jennifer made it $6,000 to go from the small blind with her pocket aces, and I called. I merely called her reraise – instead of raising again – to disguise the strength of my hand. Why make it $8,000 to go and alert her that I had a huge hand? Instead, I would play the hand hard later on. The flop came K-4-4, giving me a full house. (By the way, Abe, who was in the big blind, had a 4 in his hand, and he always defends his blind, so I was wishing I had slow-played the kings after I found out that little fact.) Jennifer bet $2,000, I raised to $4,000, and she just called.



The turn card was an 8, Jennifer checked, I bet $4,000, and she called. The river card was a 5, Jennifer checked again, and I bet $4,000. She then raised, making it $8,000. I reraised, making it $12,000, and she called. Speaking of slow-playing a hand, Jennifer had waited until the river to raise me, opting merely to call my raise on the flop and call my bet on the turn. She had played the hand in a very unorthodox way, disguising its strength all the way to the river. Most players with aces would have raised on the turn.



In fact, I was lucky to win this pot, as it was just another case of aces versus kings with the kings winning the pot. In this hand, either one of us would have lost about the same amount of money with the pocket aces or won about the same amount with the pocket kings. But Jennifer's creativity during this hand showed me some flexibility and skill. It showed me that she is not locked into the traditional patterns of high-stakes poker. This girl can play!