Recently I played on the hit TV show
Poker After Dark, which is aired on
NBC six nights a week at 2 a.m. We were filming for 2008, and I suspect (a little birdie told me) that this episode will be the first one televised in early January 2008. This episode has been titled "The Dream Team," as amateur poker player Todd Light handpicked the opponents of his dreams. Light chose Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Scotty "The Prince of Poker" Nguyen, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, and me (the "Poker Brat"). The lineup was tough, that's for sure! Everyone was playing well, as hour after hour passed and no one was eliminated. Maybe we all wanted television time that much! I mean, if you last four hours, you'll find yourself in four days of coverage on
NBC. And in this case, you can multiply that four days of coverage by at least two, because
NBC will air this show at least twice due to the quality of the lineup. The television time is nice, but what the players really want is the win! By winning, not only do you pick up bragging rights and a win on
NBC, but you also pick up $120,000 for first place in this winner-take-all format.
I believe that I wanted to win this thing as much as, or more than, anyone else at the table. After finishes of sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and fourth in 2007 in
Poker After Dark, I wanted a win. At the time that I played in 2007, it didn't seem that important to win one, but after watching the show quite a bit (I'm a fan of the show), I started to get ticked off. Why hadn't I played better? Why hadn't I won one? In advance of playing, I made myself watch the show for two weeks to prepare my mind and tactics for the format, and remind myself that I hadn't won one yet. I came in for my three
Poker After Dark tapings fired up, and playing great. I won the first one, I won the second one, and then I finished second to Johnny Chan in my third attempt. Three in a row would have been sweet, but two firsts and a second isn't too shabby! I must say that in this first Dream Team episode, I won ugly.
After Matusow was eliminated in sixth place, the blinds hit $1,500-$3,000, with no ante. We all started with $20,000 in chips, so the blinds were relatively high. In one key hand, everyone folded, Negreanu limped in from the small blind, and I looked down at K-10 in the big blind and checked. The flop came down K
J
6
, and Negreanu checked. I bet $3,000, Negreanu announced, "I'm all in," and I immediately announced, "I call." Negreanu flipped up the J
6
, for two pair. I showed down my K-10, and said, "I've been pretty unlucky on this show over the last six episodes, but I think I'm going to win this pot." I said that knowing that I was almost a 3-to-1 underdog to win the hand. The turn card was an 8, and I said, "Maybe not!" But the river was a big fat 10, and I won the pot. This was a huge swing for me, from fifth place to the chip leader.
Let's take a closer look at this hand. First of all, I probably should have moved all in before the flop. Negreanu called the $3,000 preflop bet quickly (which showed weakness to me), and I thought that K-10 was the best hand. So, why not move all in and win $6,000 risk free? At the time, I thought of that option, but overruled it. Instead, I decided to just call, hoping that I would flop top pair and win a big pot. After I flopped top pair, I bet $3,000, hoping that Negreanu would raise. When he did, I instantly called. In my mind, I
had set him up. In fact, I had set him up, but somehow he had the best hand. Kudos to Negreanu, as he put his money in with the best hand (he was roughly a 2.5-to-1 favorite on the flop).
The final hand came up when Harman raised to $10,000 to go, which was an illegal amount, as the blinds were $3,000-$6,000 (the ruling was that she had to make it exactly $12,000). Light called all in for $8,700 from the small blind, and I called $6,000 more with 9-7 offsuit from the big blind. The flop came down 10-7-5, and I studied for a long time before I bet out $6,000 into the $6,600 side pot ($3,300 x 2); by the way, there was $26,100 (3 x $8,700) in the main pot. Harman studied for a long while before she moved all in for $22,900 more, and I called. She showed down Q-10 (top pair), Light showed the 9
8
(an open-end straight draw), and I was the least likely player to win this pot. I was calling for an 8 (just to give me a shot at a straight), when the dealer peeled off a 7 - gin! Then, a king on the river gave me the title. I'm not sure that any of us played the hand poorly, although I could have folded for the $22,900 raise. As I said, I won ugly. Interestingly, if I had somehow sensed that Jen was strong, I may have checked the flop, and then folded. In that case, I may have played the hand above the rim, but I may not have won the tournament!
