In my previous two columns, I described my battles in the first two levels of the PokerStars
World Poker Tour event at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The second level in particular saw me fighting with David Williams for many of the pots. He just never liked giving up a hand - even if he knew he had the worst of it. He was very hard to read and very dangerous when he had chips. It was fun watching him play almost every hand. He was on a roller-coaster ride all day. At one time he had about $130,000 in chips, went back down to about $30,000, and ended the day with more than $80,000. We had started with $20,000.
Level three began with a $25 ante and blinds of $100-$200. I was sitting on a stack of $26,700, so I was in good shape. In the first hand I played, I made a standard raise from late position with the A
2
and nobody called, so I won a small pot. In the next hand I played, David Williams raised to $700 and I called with pocket eights. An ace came on the flop, he checked, I bet $3,000, and he showed his pocket jacks and folded. It was a feather in my cap for making David lay down the best hand. My feather soon got destroyed, as he bluffed me successfully in the next hand we played. He made it $700 again, and I called with pocket sixes. The flop came 7-7-5. He bet $1,500, I raised to $4,500, and he moved in. I folded, and he showed me his K-10. Aarrghh!
No more fooling around for me. The next time I went against him, I would have a real hand, and it soon came. I had pocket aces and made it $700 to go. David, on the button, raised to $2,300. I decided to flat-call and try to trap him on the flop. The flop came with three spades, jack high, and I had no spade in my hand. I checked, and he checked. A blank came on the turn and I bet $3,000. David raised an additional $5,000. I immediately moved in on him, and he folded before my chips were in the center of the table. He said that he had a red ace in his hand. Since I had two red aces, that was, shall we say, a falsehood. I told him that he should not try to run over me while I was still steaming from getting bluffed by him. Occasionally, I got to play a pot with somebody besides David. Since Isabelle Mercier was also at my table, I decided to mess with her a little bit. I raised her big blind from late position with the K
7
. She called, and the flop came K-J-9. This gave me top pair with a weak kicker, and lots of drawing possibilities for her if she held any facecards. She checked the flop, and so did I. On the turn, an 8 came, she bet $600, and I called, keeping the pot as small as possible. The river card paired the 9 on board, we both checked, and I won the pot.
The next two hands I played, I was forced to fold after the flop. In the first hand, I held A-Q and called David's raise, as did the player in the big blind. I got no help on the flop, the big blind bet out, and both David and I folded. My next hand, I limped in from the button with 8-6 offsuit. There were six players in the pot, so I was getting a good price to play this hand. Nothing came on the flop and I folded. The last hand of the third level, I played against you know who. David raised, and I called $700 with pocket threes. The flop came K-9-9, and he bet $1,500. I thought about this for a while. I was not convinced that he had a pair, and it was possible that my threes were the best hand. I finally decided it would cost too much to find out. To my surprise, he showed a 9. He had flopped trips and decided not to slow-play me - very tricky, indeed. After all of this play, I completed the level with $29,900 in chips.
The fourth level of play was not nearly as exciting as the third. I played only a few hands, but the table got a lot livelier because Humberto Brenes joined us. He is very entertaining - unless he beats you in a big pot. Also, with David and Isabelle still here, the table was even tougher. In one of the few hands I played at this level, I called David's raise of $1,200 from the small blind with pocket fours. I was looking to hit a set and beat him for a lot of chips. He had raised with A-Q, and flopped top pair. He bet, and I folded. In another hand, I raised from second position with A-10. This was definitely on the loose side, but I got away with it, as everyone folded. I defended my $300 big blind in the next hand I played with the A
6
. I had to call $800 more, caught nothing on the flop, and folded. In my last hand of the level, I raised with A-Q and everybody folded. I ended the level with $25,000. To be continued.
Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He can be found playing under his own name on PokerStars, and is happy to chat when he can.
