My 2006 World Series Saga Concludes

This is the final column of a three-part series that documents my personal experiences while playing in the main event at the World Series of Poker. In my last column, I left off when my table on day three had been broken down and we were all sent to a new table. Since we were all in the money, I was looking to survive day three in good chip position so that I could make a serious run at the title and the gold – no pun intended. This meant opening up my game and taking a few more risks. I caught a fairly good run of cards and had my stack up to about $150,000 after starting the day with $63,200. However, during the last two hours of that day's play, I fell relatively card-dead and was moved once again to another table. At this table, there was a very aggressive player on my immediate left who was playing a lot of pots and had a large stack of chips. He often went to war with the chip leader at the table, and they traded pots back and forth for a while, with the chip leader getting the best of it. It made it very difficult for me to make any moves, so I just waited it out, knowing that we would have a complete redraw for the beginning of play on day four. I finished with $130,000 in chips after winning a few small pots.



Starting day four, the blinds were $2,000-$4,000 with a $500 ante. There were several larger stacks at the table, and I had played with only two of the other players at the table. I caught no cards to start, and then went through the blinds a couple of times. One of the players kept limping into pots, often from early position. He did not seem to have very strong hands when he did this, so I was looking for an opportunity to make a play at him. Since I already had established a fairly tight image at the table, I thought I had a reasonably good chance of getting away with a play. The opportunity soon came. My intended victim once again limped in from early position. I was in middle position with the Q J. After he limped in with nobody else yet entering the pot, I raised it to about $20,000. Everyone passed to the limper. He thought and thought about it, and then finally folded. He said he had A-J. He probably did, and I was dominated if he chose to play it.



After getting away with that play and having a little more breathing room, I elected to wait for a premium hand before getting frisky again. With the antes and blinds costing $10,500 per round (actually, $10,000, because we lost a player and he had not been replaced yet), it would cost a large percentage of my starting stack to remain idle. However, I still had enough chips to wait for a few more rounds. Finally, I woke up with pocket jacks. That was both good news and bad news. The good news was that I found a premium pair. The bad news was that I have gone broke more times with pocket jacks and A-Q than any other starting hands. I brought it in for $12,000 from middle position. The player on my immediate left thought for a few moments and then finally called. This should have been a red flag; however, I was still a little groggy from playing late the previous night and was not as sharp as I should have been. I did not know this player, and had no real read on him. He had not been playing very many hands, and he won the ones he did play with a bet, so nobody saw what he had. Everybody else folded, so we were heads up. The flop came Q-8-7 with two clubs. I led out for $24,000. This flop did not look too threatening, with no ace or king present, so I figured I still had the best hand. My opponent thought about it for a while, and then slowly moved all in. After calling my $24,000 bet, he had about $50,000 more. I had him covered, but would be extremely short-stacked if I lost. What a dilemma. It was about 15 minutes before the break. I was hoping I could get through the first round of the day without making a major decision. I went into the think tank and examined the possibilities. For some reason, I was positive that he did not have a queen. This was only the second hand I had raised, and it was unlikely that he would have called me with a hand such as K-Q. A-Q was still a possibility, but I just didn't put him on that hand. Now, the two clubs with the 8-7 on board presented both a flush and a straight draw. Would he make a play with a flush draw? A straight draw seemed less likely, since he would have had to call a raise with a hand like 10-9. After going through all the possibilities and coming to the conclusion that he could have a flush draw, but probably didn't have a queen, I finally decided to put my tournament life on the line and call. I would have had about $65,000 in chips left if I folded. This would not be good, but not as bad as having about $15,000 left if I called and lost. Part of my reason for this call was that he might have figured that the flop missed me and he could take it away. Perhaps he had a pocket pair like tens or nines and thought it might be good. After the dealer counted out the chips and we turned our hands up, I saw that I was right. He didn't have a queen in his hand, nor did he have a flush draw. He had the dreaded aces. I might not have just called with those aces from middle position. I prefer putting more heat on the pot and forcing everyone else out. A call would sometimes induce others to enter the pot, which I don't like when I have aces. In any case, I was crippled. I went through the blinds, found nothing, and then gambled with a marginal hand and doubled up to get back to $15,000. A few hands later, I had pocket eights. I moved in and the same player who knocked me off with his aces reraised. Everyone folded. I said, "I sure hope you have ace-king." He didn't; he had A-J. It didn't matter, as a jack hit and I was history. I got a big round of applause and was interviewed by ESPN after my untimely exit. Defending Champion Joe Hachem and I were the last two former champions to still be alive going into day four. It is somewhat ironic that Joe later went all in with pocket aces versus pocket jacks, and a jack hit to eliminate him. Jacks were definitely the downfall of both of us. Oh well, that's poker. If our aces and jacks hold up, Joe and I hope to meet you in the winner's circle at the next WSOP.



Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He also is the voice of ProPlay, a new and innovative way to learn winning poker strategy. Find out more at ProPlayLive.com/tommcevoy.