In my last column, I discussed the
World Poker Tour-sponsored event
Poker by the Book Part 2. It was a six-man invitational tournament with a truly awesome lineup. It was a winner-take-all tournament with a $25,000 seat in the
WPT Championship at Bellagio in 2008 at stake. There was also a lot of professional pride and TV time to fight for. The show will be aired on the
Travel Channel on Aug. 15.
In my last column, Johnny Chan and Daniel Negreanu had been eliminated, leaving Dan Harrington, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, and yours truly still in the hunt. Barry had taken the lead and was now playing a lot of hands. Barry once again raised from the button, and Antonio made his big move with a reraise. When Barry came back over the top, Antonio got the rest of his chips in, and when the smoke cleared, "The Magician" turned over pocket aces. Antonio had a lot of family members and other fans there, and everybody was getting excited, because if the aces held up, he would take over the lead. Barry held the A
J
and was in very bad shape; however, things started to look better when two clubs showed up on the flop. Everybody held his breath as the turn card brought no help to either player. Then, as is often the case, a cruel river card brought another club. Barry had cracked the aces, and Antonio's fans let out a collective groan. Barry now had a commanding lead, with me a distant second and Dan Harrington third. Dan won a few small pots and kept himself in contention for a while, but was never able to mount a serious attack. Eventually, Barry wore him down and eliminated him. I had made a flush against Barry earlier, so I stayed alive, but Barry's big chip lead, heads up, was going to be very tough to overcome.
I knew that I would have to really open up my game against him, and that is exactly what I did. I knew that he would be raising most of the time when he had the button, and he did not disappoint me. I folded a lot of the time and came over the top with a strong reraise enough times to keep him off balance. On one hand, I moved in with two deuces, he called with A-J, and my pair held up. I finally managed to take the chip lead, and had a great chance to win when I totally misplayed a hand. I did what I have told my students not to do. I made what I call an impulsive play. This means that I put my chips into the pot too fast, without thinking things through. I raised from the button with A-5 offsuit. That in itself is not too bad, but when Barry reraised out of the big blind, I should have folded and waited for a better situation. Instead, without much hesitation, I moved in on him. He quickly called and turned over A-Q. I was dominated. Neither one of us made a pair and his kicker played.
This hand turned things around for Barry, but it was far from over. After trading pots back and forth, the final, fatal hand came down. I raised from the button with K-J offsuit, and Barry called with the 7
5
. The flop came 7-5-3 of mixed suits. Barry checked, and I checked. The turn card was another 3. Barry bet, and I decided to move in. Again, I made too quick a decision. I should have realized that Barry likes to play middle connectors. Since his sevens and fives could now be beat if I held a pair of eights or better, it was not an easy call for him. Finally, he decided that he had the best hand, and made the call. I still could hit either a king or a jack at the river to win, but I was now a big underdog. Since about 80 percent of the chips in play were now sitting in the pot, if I won, I would be in great shape to win the tournament. Alas, it was not to be. The final card was the A
! That is the very card featured on the cover of Barry's book,
Ace on the River. What a final card to end the tournament on. Congratulations to Barry for doing an excellent job and doing what all tournament winners need to do on occasion - get lucky.
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.
