Championships, Excuses, Bad Play

In the recent $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship, I made a weak play that cost me my last 40,000 in chips. First, let me say that I had wanted this tournament as much as I've wanted another World Series of Poker bracelet. The WPT Championship is prestigious, important, and filled with skilled players. It's one of the most highly sought-after titles in the poker world, along with the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and, of course, WSOP bracelets.

Do I have an excuse for my day-two blunder, and relatively early exit from the tournament? Sure, I have a list of them! "Blah, blah, blah." "Tired, blah, blah, blah." "Bad read, blah, blah, blah, blah." "Pocket aces." Who cares!? Eighteen-time major golf tournament winner Jack Nicklaus said, "I eliminate all excuses and focus simply on winning. Let the other guys complain about the speed of the greens, and the course conditions, not me." Personally, I love Nicklaus' outlook. I don't want excuses, I want titles. I don't want more bad-beat stories, I want titles. I don't want to play at half-strength. I want titles, titles, titles, and nothing less.

On day two, with the blinds at 500-1,000, and a 200-a-player ante, I called 1,000 from under the gun with J-J. At this point, I looked over my shoulder to the table behind me, and told Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, "I limped in the one hole, and this could be the end for me." Two other players called, and then Michael Binger, in the big blind, raised it 7,000 more. I called, and then told Matusow, "I called a 7,000 raise." The flop was Q-9-3, Binger bet 12,000, and I called again. To Matusow, I said, "OK, this is it, baby; I just called a 12,000 bet on the flop." Matusow walked over to sweat the hand with me. The turn card was an 8, and Binger checked. I bet 6,000, and Binger threw his hands up in the air and moved me all in for my last 15,000 or so. I called, and Binger flipped up two kings and told someone at the table, "I thought Phil had me beat, and I thought I was just giving him another 20,000. But hey, with pocket kings, what could I do?" Indeed! Now I needed a 10 or a jack on the river to win. Alas, the last card was an 8, and I left the building knowing I had made a bad play. When I know immediately that I've made a bad play, it must have been pretty bad -- and it was.

Let's take a closer look at this hand. I don't like to limp in with J-J from first position, and anyway, I've been trying to get away from limping in. When you limp in, it becomes hard to gauge the strength of your opponent. After you limp with J-J, your opponent may raise it with pocket nines, thinking he has you crushed (because you limped), when in fact you have him crushed. But now you begin to read strength in your opponent, and the hand can become confusing. Whereas, by making a raise from first position, you've defined your hand: I'm showing a ton of strength. If someone reraises with pocket nines, he's bound to show some weakness (which, hopefully, you can pick up on). In my hand, an under-the-gun raise to, say, 3,500 would have shown Binger that I was strong, and a Binger reraise at that point would have shown me uber-strength, and may have even enabled me to fold my J-J before the flop, thus losing only 3,500 in the hand. Binger's 12,000 bet on the flop was a good one. Some would argue that he should have bet the size of the pot -- about 21,000 -- in order to protect his hand. But I like his bet of roughly 60 percent of the pot. Why drive me out of the hand with a big bet (and lose the opportunity for a bigger payoff) if I'm holding A-Q, J-J, or 10-10? My call on the flop was not terrible, but because I was wrong (Binger had me beat), it was a bad call. If I had been right, it would have been a great call, but since I was wrong, it was a bad call.



By the way, I've slipped into a bad habit lately of not studying my opponents when they bet big. How can I make a "great read" if I don't study my opponent? I don't hate Binger's check on the turn, although I would prefer that he bet his hand. With the pot that big, it was time to protect his hand, as there was a high probability that I would be betting only hands that beat his K-K, and checking hands that didn't beat his K-K, thus giving me a free card. My bet was a bad one because I was wrong (I had the worst hand), and because I didn't even study Binger (one more time!). Had I checked, and had Binger then moved all in on the river when another 8 hit, I probably could have folded my hand. All in all, I played the hand poorly and knocked myself out of the tournament. Yet, I guess it won't be the last time that I do that!

My hearty congratulations go to David Chiu for winning this event! Many in the poker world have known, loved, and respected Chiu for many years (we all love second-place finisher Gus Hansen, as well). Chiu's even temper and ability to fight hard day after day are well-known. He is certainly a champion through and through, and he has four World Series of Poker bracelets to go along with his WPT Championship title. And way back when, he won Mike Sexton's Tournament of Champions.