A few years ago in the
World Poker Tour main event held at Bellagio, I found myself a short stack just outside the money. Normally I get very reckless at this point, looking to either double up and get into the game or just get out and go home (or to the bar, where there's always a great conciliatory party going on at this stage of the tourney). Most players are desperate to get into the money, and this is a great spot to become aggressive and accumulate some chips.
I normally am not all that interested in hanging around for three days to try to get my money back with little else, even if it is $10,000. The
WPT Championship, however, has a $25,000 buy-in, so getting my buy-in back, and a little more, had a lot more meaning, even to me. With the blinds and antes getting huge, every hand becomes life or death for most every player in the tourney.
I have about $18,000 in chips left, with the blinds a healthy $3,000-$6,000 and a $500 ante. Everyone passes to me in the small blind, and I look down at the K
9
, which figures to be a nice favorite over the last random hand left, the big blind and my buddy and publisher of this magazine Jeff Shulman. Jeff has triple what I have, so it's not really going to hurt him to call my all-in raise (which is obviously what I did). Jeff already has $6,000 in the pot, so it's only $12,000 for him to call, and with the blinds of $9,000 total, the antes of $5,000 total, and my bet of $18,000, he's getting laid odds of $32,000-to-$12,000, which is not bad.
Jeff goes into the tank and a long deliberation of what to do. At this point, I'm sure that he has a horrible hand, so I want him to call, right? Wrong! Jeff will be getting almost 3-1 on his call, and even though I'm sure that I'm way out in front, I can't really be much more than a 2-1 favorite unless we share a card and I have him totally dominated (such as if he holds a 9 and a baby), in which case I would be up to about a 3-1 favorite.
I don't want Jeff to call here, and risk being eliminated one out of the money, but what could I do? As Jeff studied, my mind raced: I have to stop him from calling. I realize there are tons of press in the area milling about, as well as many players who have finished their hands (we are going hand for hand at this stage of the tourney) and are walking around the tables hoping to see someone all in or at least in worse chip shape than they are in.
I know that Jeff has a bad hand, and I quickly figure something out. Jeff knows that he should call, but is reluctant to do so because his hand is so bad. Maybe I can influence him not to call. I begin to yell loudly, "All in over here! If I lose this, you're all in the money!"
A crowd quickly forms, to my delight, and as I had hoped, I can see the pressure mount on Jeff's face. He wants to call, but doesn't want to appear foolish calling $12,000 more with something like 8-3 offsuit. More and more people come over as they finish their hands, till there are dozens and dozens of spectators crowding around our table.
I don't want to let up the pressure, so I begin to goad Jeff into folding. "Play good now, Jeff! Everyone at home is watching!"
Finally, Jeff looks at me and smiles. "OK, Todd. I guess you've earned this one." And with that, he folds.
Someone on the rail screams, "Let's see the flop!"
The dealer smiles and whips it out there real quickly, and Jeff moans, "Oh, God, I flopped a full house …" Another player went out on the next hand, and we were all in the money!
I wish I could say that I went on to win the tournament, but that was not to be. I did, however, move up 30 more spots and pick up a few extra dollars. This just goes to show you. Even with all of my money in and all of my poker decisions made, I was still able to turn disaster into a small victory. As Yogi Berra is famous for saying, "It ain't over until it's over." Or, in other words, never give up!
