Does the following statement sound poetic, or a touch magical to you? On June 11, I won my record-breaking 11th
World Series of Poker bracelet, which was promised - last year - to my sister Molly, who was born on 11/11/'71. I have given all of my bracelets away to family members (my parents, my wife, my sons, and so on), except the main-event bracelet from 1989. In any case, I won this year's event No. 15, $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em, which drew more than 2,600 players. Who says that the pros can't beat big fields? For 20 years I have been chasing
WSOP history, and now, finally, I have the biggest record in the game, 11
WSOP wins! Of course, Johnny Chan (10) and Doyle Brunson (10) may tie or pass me; and you might not believe this, but I'm rooting for them. Naturally, I also am hoping that I can win more bracelets. By the way, the final table of this event, with all of the holecards shown (as well as every single hand), is available at the worldseriesofpoker.com website.
Let's discuss an interesting hand that came up at the final table when we were down to the last four players. With the blinds at $40,000-$80,000, and a $5,000 ante, Morgan Machina (an old friend) moved all in for $250,000 from first position. Andy Philachack called from the button, and I looked down at 2-2 in the small blind. I decided to call, and Rick Fuller called from the big blind after studying for a moment. It appeared that Fuller wanted to reraise. The flop was A-J-3, and everyone checked. With Machina all in and no side pot, one thing was certain: The three of us would not make a bet without a strong hand. I mean, why bluff out the other two, possibly keeping Machina alive, and possibly giving him a $1 million pot in the process? The turn card was a 9, I checked, Fuller bet $100,000, Philachack moved all in (for about $450,000), I folded, and Fuller did, as well, but not before showing his hand, A-6. Philachack then flipped up his A
7
, and Machina showed down the Q
6
. By the way, the last card was a deuce!
First, here are a few facts: If I had reraised before the flop, I would have won the pot, busted Machina, and possibly busted Philachack, as well. Second, if Fuller had called Philachack's $350,000 raise on the turn, he would have lost, because the deuce on the river meant that Philachack's 7 kicker played (aces with a jack, 9, and 7). Third, if Machina had folded his hand, a lot of interesting things may have happened. Let's take a look at those possibilities. It's most likely that Philachack would have moved all in for $750,000 and I would have folded, but it's uncertain as to what Fuller would have done (probably folded). Or, Philachack may have raised a smaller amount, and then I may have moved him all in preflop, and busted him if he called. Or, perhaps, Philachack raises a small amount, I call, and then Fuller moves all in and wins the pot. The crazy thing is that any one of the three of us could have won that pot if Machina simply had folded preflop!
In poker, there are always tons of "what ifs," but Machina didn't fold, so let's take it from there. By the way, because the last card was a deuce (and I could have busted some players), I took an extra long look at the way that I played this hand. Why didn't I reraise with my 2-2 before the flop, especially when I had a huge chip lead? For the record, many pros would have reraised. Well, for one thing, if I drove everyone else out of the pot with a reraise, Machina had to be at least even money to win the pot (there are not many hands over which the 2-2 is a big favorite). I love Machina, but I do not love anyone enough to protect him from elimination, especially when I'm going for the record! Another reason not to reraise is that I could have made a set of deuces and busted multiple players. In fact, if the deuce had hit the board earlier, I would have busted Philachack. What it boils down to is this: It just isn't the right hand with which to reraise in this spot, period. Upgrade the hand a bit, to perhaps pocket sevens, and I probably would have reraised.
This was the first year that a tournament was being broadcast on the Internet "live" (actually, a one-hour delay) at the
WSOP. It was the first year that the players - and one guest each - were sequestered. Welcome to the future of poker! It was an incredible day for me, and I was pleased to see that my win made the
ESPN SportsCenter "Top 10 Plays" (No. 9) that night. Of course, even after I won, I began to think of winning bracelet No. 12 …
