Small-Pot Poker, With Some Controversial Play

Recently, I saw the tape of the final table where I won my record-setting 11th gold bracelet. I remember how special that day was for me, and how remarkably the number 11 informed the occasion. First of all, I was going for my 11th World Series of Poker win. Second, the final table was held on June 11. And finally, my younger sister, Molly, for whom the bracelet was promised years earlier, was born on 11/11/1971. Of course, Molly e-mailed me to remind me that I was destined to win because of all of those elevens. Thanks, Molly, that e-mail helped me believe I would win! (It was kinda freaky!) That 11th bracelet now resides in New York City with Molly.

While I was watching the tape, I noticed an interesting hand, one that the commentator, Robert Williamson, said I played poorly. But here's my take: Rick Fuller was the chip leader with 1.6 million, and I was a close second with 1.5 million. With a ninehanded table, the blinds at 15,000-30,000, and a 4,000 ante, I opened for 90,000 with A-J. Fuller studied awhile with the K 8, and I said, "Rick, don't make me call you down for a million when I know I have you beat!" Then, Fuller called, and everyone else folded. The flop came down A 9 5. I had flopped top pair and Fuller had flopped the nut-flush draw. I checked, and Fuller checked. On the turn, the J hit, and I bet out 50,000 with my top two pair. Fuller raised, making it 150,000 to go. I called, which led Williamson to say, "That was a bad call; Phil should have reraised it there." When the river brought the K, I bet out 200,000, and Fuller, who didn't hit his flush draw, folded.

What happened in this hand? Did I misplay it? I like my preflop raise of 90,000, but I don't like Fuller's call with the K 8. Why call with this hand, especially against me? It's too hard to win a big pot, and too easy to lose a medium-sized pot (for example, with a J-8-2-4-6 board). It's just not the kind of hand that you would want to play for a raise. I like my check on the flop. If I had bet out, it would have been hard for me to call a raise later. I like Fuller's check on the flop, as well. Why not take a free card? If Fuller had bet there and I raised, he would have been hard-pressed to fold his hand. And why put a lot of chips into the pot on a draw?

On the turn, I made a little "floater bet" of 50,000 into a pot of around 200,000. With that bet, I was hoping for two things: first, that Fuller was drawing dead, and second, that he would think I was weak. Of course, if he thought I was weak, he would most likely call or raise with a weaker hand, or even a bluff. Another virtue of the 50,000 bet was that if Fuller had a set, I would potentially be minimizing my loss in the hand. I don't mind Fuller's 100,000 raise, but even better, I would like to have seen him just call the 50,000 bet. Although his raise did give him the chance to win the pot, it also gave me a chance to reraise and force him to fold. OK, my 100,000 call here is a bit weird, and Williamson called it a bad play.

I'll give Williamson these two points: First, traditionally, a call here is a bad play. I mean, top two pair is a very strong hand, and you have a chance to win a huge pot or drive a player with a flush draw out of the pot. Second, if I knew that Fuller was on a draw, I would have reraised, since I would have wanted to charge him for drawing to his flush, or force him to fold. My two counterpoints are these: First, I give my opponent a chance to lose more money to me if he's holding one pair, like A-8, A-10, or A-2, when I smooth-call the 100,000 and then bet out on the river. My second, more important point is that I give myself another "life" this way if I lose the pot (remember that Fuller had me covered here). Think about it: If I reraise and Fuller has a set, I'm out of the tournament when I'm forced to call his all-in reraise! Similarly, if I reraise and he has a drawing hand and moves all in, I would call all in, too, and would be at risk of going broke if he completed his draw. So, I just called, to avoid the remote possibility of going broke, because I thought I could safely move back up to first or second place without risking all of my chips in one pot. Was I playing too safely? Is Williamson right? Yes, for the vast majority of the world, a call there is the wrong play. But for me, with the knowledge I've accumulated in 25 years as a pro, which has given me my 11 WSOP bracelets in hold'em, I like the call.

Going to lengths to avoid moving all in is very conservative and gives you a lot of lives, but may be a bad play for most players.