Recently, I played no-limit hold'em on
High Stakes Poker on the
Game Show Network. The game featured Sammy Farha, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Eli Elezra, "Silent Mark," Bob Sufai, Jamie Gold, and I, with appearances by Brandon Adams and Internet star "omgclayaiken." The buy-in was $100,000, with $50,000 rebuys, although many players bought in for $300,000 or more. The ante was $100 a man, and the blinds were $300-$600, although the $1,200 "live blind" was posted almost every hand. A live blind is in play when the player to the left of the big blind voluntarily puts up an amount exactly double the size of the big blind, and then he has the option of raising when the action gets back to him. Live blinds at least double the size of any game.
I bought in for $100,000, and on the second hand dealt, I called $1,200 (everyone was putting up the live blind that day) with 4-4, Sammy Farha called, and then Silent Mark raised it to $7,200 to go. I called, and Sammy called. The flop was 10
5
4
, I checked, Sammy checked, and Mark bet $30,000. I studied for a moment, and then made it $60,000 to go. Sammy studied a good long while before eventually folding. Then, Mark moved all in, and I instantly called. As it turned out, Mark had the 3
2
, an open-end straight draw (he needed an ace or a 6). I won the pot, and the game was on!
A few hours later, my hand of the year came up when Negreanu raised it to $4,000 to go, I called with pocket nines, Harman called, and then Farha made it $20,000 more to go. Negreanu folded, and I sensed that Farha had A-K. I called, the flop came 6
3
2
, and I checked. Farha bet $40,000, and I called. The turn card was the 4
, I checked, Farha bet $70,000, and I studied for several minutes; eventually, the other players at the table asked if they could call a clock on me. I looked at Negreanu and asked, "I haven't taken that much time, have I?" Negreanu confirmed that I had taken five minutes, which still seemed hard for me to believe, but it may have been true. You see, I couldn't get over the fact that I thought I had Sammy beat, even though all I could beat was a pure bluff. I kept thinking that - at least on the surface - it was an easy fold for me. You just don't play big pots with pocket nines on this board. I couldn't beat A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, 6-6 (a set), 5-5 (a straight), 4-4 (a set), 3-3 (a set), 2-2 (a set), or any hand that had a 5 in it (a straight). But my instincts said that I had Farha beat. If I was right, I needed to move all in (sigh). I mean, I couldn't just call and let Farha hit a free card and beat me - like a king to a K-Q, a 5 to an 8-7, a 6 to an A-6, or whatever. By asking him to count down, I discovered that Farha had $110,000 more. So, I knew this much: If I did go with my instincts, I would be risking $180,000 ($70,000 + $110,000). I also knew that I would be sick to my stomach if I was wrong. I mean, I had come all the way to Vegas to play on High Stakes Poker in front of the whole world, and then I put $180,000 into the pot with 9-9 on a 6-3-2-4 board? If I was wrong, I would look like an absolute stone-cold idiot!
I counted out the $180,000, and that's when the clock comments came up from the other players. If I had taken four or five minutes, it was fine for them to ask for a clock (or in this case, threaten to ask for a clock). Let's get back to my decision, which was now being rushed a bit. I believed more than ever that I had to go with my instincts and bet the $180,000. I didn't want to do it, but I had to do it. I steeled my nerves to make the play that I believed deep down in my heart was the right play. I began to push the money in, and as I did, Farha feigned that he was instantly calling my bet (he quickly moved his chips toward the pot), and his quick movement froze me for another few seconds. Then I did it; I shoved the whole $180,000 into the pot, and Sammy started to talk. Phew! At least he didn't instantly call the $110,000 bet. At least he was talking, and not pushing his chips in. Almost as good as that was the fact that he sounded weak. He looked and sounded like a man who had just had his hand caught in the cookie jar, not like a man contemplating a big call. You see, he wasn't studying me at all, as he would have been with queens, jacks, or tens. Finally, I realized that I was almost certainly right, but I was still sweating until he actually folded his hand. (Farha later admitted to having A-K.)
I had passed the test! I was now up more than $300,000, and when the smoke cleared, I was up $402,600.
