Lately,
ESPN has been airing a show in which I went for bracelet No. 12 at a final table at the
World Series of Poker. While watching the very entertaining show, a few things came to mind. First, I should have folded the hand with which I went broke. Second, there were some subtle things that happened in a spectacular hand that came up along the way, and they could have changed the course of the tournament.
With the blinds at $15,000-$30,000 and a $4,000 ante, Brett Richey opened for $80,000 from early position. Beth Shak then announced, "I raise," and proceeded to count out the $80,000 and throw it into the pot. Then, she waited about 10 seconds and said, "All in," and pushed in the rest of her chips.
I immediately announced, and I mean within a quarter of a second after she pushed, "All in!" I had $130,000 or so.
A few seconds after I jumped out of my seat, moving all in, Shak literally started dancing with joy. As she danced, she even told her husband in the stands, "I have it!"
The action was back on Richey, who studied for about 25 seconds before he called $350,000 (all of his chips). Shak flipped up A-A, I flipped up A-A, and Richey flipped up K-K. I have never before seen A-A, A-A, and K-K all out there in the same hand. Shak and I went on to split the pot, and Richey was eliminated.
My premise here is that Richey should have folded his K-K before the flop. I believe that there were several reasons that Richey could have made this fold, but I understand that normally, folding K-K before the flop is a very hard thing to do. Still, let's take a closer look at the action in this hand. First off, Shak had been a bit of a loose cannon, oftentimes moving all in after someone else had raised and another player had reraised, with A-Q, 7-7, and 10-10. This supports Richey's call with the K-K, and I'm sure that he had his mind made up to call her the minute that she announced "I raise." Yet, in all three cases of Shak moving all in (with A-Q, 7-7, and 10-10), she pushed all of her chips in at once. This time, she threw in the call first, and then, after 10 seconds, she moved all in. This was clue No. 1, and by itself, it was not enough for Richey to fold K-K.
Clue No. 2 is much more obvious. I moved all in within a quarter of a second, for the third raise, after playing extremely patient poker. Everyone had to know that I had A-A - or K-K, at the worst. Also, I made it easy for them to know that I had A-A by the speed of my all-in move and the "instant-call" motion (I pushed the chips in so fast that they fell over) for which I'm famous when I have the best possible hand. In fact, I was sending a message of strength because I didn't want Richey to call. You see, Richey had bet $80,000, and Shak already had moved all in, so I could win only an extra $50,000 if Richey called, but I risked losing the whole pot. My actions, and the fact that I played the pot for the third raise, should have told Richey that I had A-A.
The third and fourth clues are related to Shak. The third clue was that Shak was dancing - actually dancing with joy at the prospect of busting me and with the excitement of someone who is about to win a huge pot. There was no trepidation in her at all: Someone holding K-K would have shown some apprehension! The most obvious clue was the fourth one, when Shak told her husband, "I have it." Her husband was even telling the crowd around him that she had A-A.
An alternate theory is this: If Richey knew that I had A-A, maybe he should have played, because I had moved in for only $50,000 more than his $80,000 opening bet, and knowing what I had, he could deduce that Shak didn't have A-A (and she was the one he was worried about now, not my piddly little $50,000). This calling theory doesn't sound too bad, except for all of the clues. If Richey had paid closer attention, I'm sure that he would have picked up on these three not-so-subtle clues: Shak moved all in in an unusual way (clue No. 1); Shak was dancing with joy and zero trepidation (clue No. 3); and Shak was saying - quite loudly - "I have it," due to her massive excitement. If ever there was a time to muck pocket kings, this was it.
