On April 28, 2007, the
World Poker Tour sponsored its second poker authors tournament. It was labeled
Poker by the Book Part 2 and featured six of the toughest poker-playing authors you could ever hope to face at one table. The No. 1 seat was occupied by two-time world champion and the holder of 10
World Series of Poker bracelets, Johnny Chan. The No. 2 seat featured one of the most popular, most admired, most photographed, most televised, most feared, and, last but not least, most talkative players on the circuit, Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu, who also was the
Card Player 2004 Player of the Year and is a multiple
WSOP bracelet winner. The No. 3 seat was occupied by 1995 World Champion Dan Harrington, who also made the top six in the main event three additional times. His three books on no-limit hold'em strategy are considered to be some of the best ever written on the subject. The No. 4 seat featured Barry Greenstein, often called the "Robin Hood of Poker" because of his numerous charitable contributions. His book
Ace on the River is one of the most interesting pieces of poker literature ever written. He is a
WSOP bracelet winner and regular player in "the big game" at Bellagio. Seat No. 5 was occupied by Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari. Antonio, with his lively bag of tricks, is one of the most entertaining people you could ever hope to meet. He along with Phil Laak are co-stars of their own television show, and he is one of the most highly publicized players in the world. The No. 6 and final seat was occupied by yours truly. I won the
World Series main event last century (in 1983, to be exact), along with three other
World Series titles. I am also the only main-event winner to have captured a
Professional Poker Tour title, which I did at Bay 101 in 2005. I have one additional distinction: I have authored or co-authored 12 books on poker - more than the other five authors at my table combined.
We each started with $250,000 in chips. The blinds were $3,000-$6,000 with a $500 ante. The entire first level saw a lot of psychological warfare, but no casualities. I took some early hits to my stack, but recovered nicely. The second level, with blinds of $5,000-$10,000 and a $1,000 ante, saw the real fireworks begin. Johnny Chan had taken the early lead, and got into a massive pot with Barry Greenstein. There was a modest raise preflop by Johnny and a call by Barry. The flop came with a king and two small spades. Johnny led out and Barry called. A blank came off on the turn. Johnny bet again, and Barry made a massive all-in raise. Johnny took his time, thought for a long time, and then made the call. Johnny had the K
Q
. Barry turned over the J
10
. All Barry had was a flush draw with one card to come! Johnny had made a great read, and if Barry missed, he was out in sixth place. Off came a spade, and now Johnny was crippled. You can view this hand and many others when it is shown on the
Travel Channel on Aug. 15.
After this thrilling hand, Johnny hung on with a short stack for a while, but eventually did what none of us wanted to do. He went broke first. Now, Daniel Negreanu was in the hot seat. Daniel had played more pots than anybody else at the table. He either gets his hands on lots of chips or winds up short-stacked. In an earlier hand, I had relieved Daniel of a lot of chips. I had raised with A-10 and he called from the big blind. The flop came A-X-X. Daniel checked, and I made a good-sized bet. He called. I no longer liked my kicker after he called on the flop. The turn card was a magic 10. Daniel checked, and I bet again. He tried to get me to say something - anything about my hand - but I just looked at him and remained silent. Finally, he asked me if I was going to say anything. I just shook my head no; I think my brain rattled a bit when I did, but fortunately he did not hear the rattle. Finally, he called my bet. A rag came off on the river, I bet again, and he said, "I think the 10 hit you." Then, he called anyway. Daniel had A-J; I had drawn out on the turn. Great read, bad call. It's a good example of why you should never talk to Daniel when you are playing a pot with him.
Later on, I played another exciting hand with Daniel. Antonio opened for a raise and I had pocket jacks and reraised. Daniel was very short-stacked and in the big blind. He hemmed and hawed, and finally decided that he had to call. Antonio folded. If Daniel won, he would more than triple up. He turned over the 8
4
. It did not look good for him, but the flop brought an 8 and two irrelevant small cards, pairing him and giving him hope. The turn card was a 4, the river card was a 4, and he had made a full house! Unfortunately for him, it was his last hurrah. He never won another pot and exited in fifth place.
The exciting conclusion of
Poker by the Book Part 2 will appear in my next column.
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.
