On a Friday night in August in Minneapolis, longtime New York Knicks player Trent Tucker (he played for the Knicks for 10 years) had a charity event to benefit the Trent Tucker Youth Program. Normally, this event is all about the golf, and people pay a minimum of $5,000 a person to play with the likes of Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, Patrick Ewing, Byron Scott, Charles Oakley, Scotty Pippen, and many other NBA stars and celebrities. The 2006 version included a no-limit hold'em charity poker tournament at Canterbury Park Card Casino, and Johnny Chan, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Greg Raymer, Phil Gordon, Liz Lieu, John Phan, Patrik Antonius, Hoyt Corkins, Marcel Luske, and I were there to support the charity.
Since my brother David and my agent Brian Balsbaugh were both longtime residents of the Twin Cities, I was pleased to get an inside report that Trent Tucker is first-class in every sense of the word. By the way, I happened to overhear Garnett tell Chan (who had one of his sons with him), "You're my favorite player; in fact, I wouldn't even have started playing hold'em except for the fact that you inspired me." I told Chan that Garnett didn't say anything at all like that to me, and Chan was quite pleased with that little fact!
About 120 players entered the poker tournament, including the top celebrity in the world, Michael Jordan, but not including Ewing or Scott (Scott told me that he doesn't play, but that his 19-year-old daughter loves hold'em). I busted out when I limped in with Q-10, two others limped in behind me, and the flop came down Q
10
9
. I bet and was called by one player, and then Phan moved me all in. I instantly called his bet and Phan rolled over the 8
2
. He needed a club for a flush or a jack for a straight. The first card off was the J
, and the next card off just added insult to injury; it was the 9
and gave Phan a straight flush! Phan went all the way to Minneapolis to bust me, but I still partied with him later that night: war at the tables, but friends away from them!
As I talked a little trash with Jordan about his hold'em game, I noticed that he was the chip leader for most of the night. In one hand, I saw him call the $4,000 big blind (he limped in) from late position with A-A. Limping in with pocket aces is a pretty sophisticated play, and it worked like a charm when the flop came down 8-6-2 and Jordan busted the player in the small blind, who was holding Q-8. Later, I saw him limp in with A-J, whereupon the small blind moved all in with A-10, and the big blind called all in with his short stack with 10-3. Jordan called, and was a huge favorite to win an enormous pot one more time! The flop was J-4-4. He busted two players in this hand, and was now at the final table with the chip lead.
Phil Gordon announced the final-table action, while the spectators gathered around seven deep to watch Jordan attempt to win one more championship. Chan, Oakley, Ewing, Raymer, and I were standing behind Jordan as he dusted off players. In one key hand, Jordan had 5-5 with a flop of 7
7
2
, and he bet out. The only player at the table who had him covered moved all in, and Jordan - who had been playing with that particular player all night - studied for almost 80 seconds before he called. It was a great call, and Jordan now took a huge chip lead with three players remaining.
When he made it down to heads up, he was all in with A-7 versus his opponent's Q-9. He needed the A-7 to stand up (he was about a 57 percent favorite), and if it did, he would have a huge chip lead. The flop came down 8-7-6, and now the player with the Q-9 needed a 5, a 9, a 10, or a queen. It was a dangerous flop for Jordan, but the next card was a 7, and now he had to hold off only a 5 or a 10 on the last card. The last card was a jack, and Jordan went on to win the title, the trophy, and the $25,000 first-place prize, which he promptly donated right back to the Trent Tucker Charity, along with the $50,000 he paid for the custom-made "chopper" motorcycle (signed by all of the celebrities) that he bought for his friend Oakley.
Afterward, a bunch of us poker players, along with Garnett, Jordan, and Ewing went "clubbing" in downtown Minneapolis. We basically took over the VIP section at Karma, and I bought Dom P and Cristal for the boys for a few hours. By the way, the price of champagne there is far less than half of what it costs in the Vegas clubs. A great time was had by all, and we were honored that Jordan, Garnett, and their crew hung out with us.
Jordan was definitely on cloud nine when he won, and who wouldn't have been? He told me that was his first hold'em tournament win, but he is a man who collects titles, so watch out, poker world!
