Horrendous Beat for Charity

Eva and Tony Parker asked me to come down to San Antonio to emcee their charity poker tournament for "Eva's Heroes"; check out Evasheroes.com. Since the event was held on Aug. 9 and I figured that I would have three weeks off right before then - following the end of the World Series of Poker - plus the fact that I could bring my son with me, I decided to attend. Also, Eva's Heroes supports a segment of the population that is close to my own heart: those with developmental challenges. My sister Ann is developmentally challenged, and I'm proud of the fact that she has won gold medals in the worldwide Special Olympics games. Ann is absolutely terrific! In any case, Eva always seems to be prepared and well-organized, right down to the smallest of details. She is an amazing hostess, and I knew that the event would be well-run and that I would have a great time. When my son and I arrived at Pedrotti's North Wind Ranch, we were surprised to see that there were long lines of people patiently waiting to get in. Eventually, more than 1,000 people showed up, and we raised more than $500,000 for charity! I wasn't surprised to see a ton of press members on the red carpet. Between Eva being the star of Desperate Housewives and Tony being an NBA champion (and MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals), the Parkers seem to have paparazzi following them everywhere they go.

After I made sure that my son was sitting at a poker table with NBA star Tim Duncan (I emceed the event for free, but some perks are in order!), I picked up the microphone. I needled the celebrities if they made a bad play, and I encouraged them if they looked like they were lost or feeling down; and, of course, I announced all of their all-in confrontations. Some of the celebrities in attendance were: San Antonio's own Ricardo Antonio Chavira (Desperate Housewives), Jennifer Morrison (House), Adam Rodriguez (CSI: Miami), David Zayas (Dexter), Leeann Tweeden (cover girl and hostess of Poker After Dark), Katie Chonacas (Righteous Kill), Las Vegas show producer Tim Molyneux (Bite), and San Antonio Spurs basketball players Tim Duncan and Sean Elliott (retired). Most of the San Antonio Spurs players are excellent Texas hold'em players.

On the very first hand after the rebuy period ended - with the blinds at 1,000-2,000 - I limped in with A-A. Everyone folded, and the big blind raised it 4,000. Since I had only 28,000 or so in chips, I opted to smooth-call. I decided that I was going to continue to trap my opponent with my pocket aces. The flop was A K Q. My opponent bet out 10,000, and I moved all in for my last 24,000 or so. With a substantial pot, it seemed like the right time to let the cat out of the bag. Also, a raise of 14,000 here protects my hand from a hand like J-J (if he folds his hand, I prevent him from hitting a "free 10"). My opponent called, and tabled his pocket kings. I flipped up my pocket aces, the turn card was a 3, and I was about to announce, "So-and-so went out this hand, but he played it perfectly." But first, I announced, "OK, he is a 43-to-1 shot to hit a king." Then, the dealer turned over a king, and the throng of folks surrounding my table started screaming. As soon as I saw the king, I actually fell to my knees - and stayed there for 10 seconds saying nothing as the noise level rose. Finally, I announced, from the floor, "The last card is a king!" I do admit that one thought that crossed my mind before the last card was dealt was, "This is for charity, give him a king; it is a good time to get rid of a bad beat." That's a pretty "spooky" and superstitious outlook, and totally non-math based, as any mathematician will tell you that one hand has nothing to do with the next. Just because you flip heads six times in a row doesn't mean that you're a favorite to flip tails on the seventh flip! It is still a 50/50 proposition. One thing that I learned was this: I now know that I will fall down when I receive a horrible beat, no matter the meaning of the beat. You see, I fell on the floor when I took a bad beat in the 2005 NBC National Heads-Up Championship, and I fell when I took a beat in a WSOP tournament, both of which were incredibly important events for me. But to fall on the floor at a charity tournament, where there is nothing on the line? Maybe I have a bit too much drama in me, but I guess that the poker world already knew that!