The World Championship of Online Poker

As I write this column, PokerStars is hosting the World Championship of Online Poker. To say that this is the biggest Internet tournament of all time and one of the biggest tournaments, period, is an understatement. There are $30 million in guarantees, with buy-ins ranging from $215 all the way up to $25,500. There is a game and a tournament for every budget. All of the events so far have exceeded the guarantees by substantial margins - often by 50 percent or more, and in some cases by more than 100 percent.

So far, eight of 33 events have taken place, including a $10,300 no-limit hold'em tournament.

In the $10,300 no-limit event, a very interesting hand came up in the first round. The blinds were 25-50 and I was in the small blind with pocket queens. There were four limpers and then the button raised to 450. The big blind folded, as did one of the limpers, and the rest of us just called. Now, I would often reraise in this spot with pocket queens, but this was very early in the tournament, and we started with 25,000 in chips. So, the blinds were very small in comparison to the chips in play. I did not want to take a big risk this early by reraising, so I elected to just see the flop and then decide what to do.

The flop came 7-4-3 with two clubs, and I had the Q in my overpair to the flop. Since I was first to act and with that many players in the hand, I was reluctant to make a big bet, possibly get raised, and then be put to a tough test, so I checked. The first limper fired out a strong bet of about two-thirds the size of the pot. The other players folded, including the player who originally raised from the button. The action was now on me. I had no notes on the player who bet, and was uncertain as to how to proceed, especially being out of position. He could have gambled with a connector like 6-5 and flopped a straight, he could have a flush draw or a set, or he could have an overpair to the flop smaller than my queens. I knew he had a hand, but how strong was it? I finally decided to call and see what fourth street brought.

The 2 came on the turn, putting three clubs on board and giving me a flush draw to go with my overpair. I knew this card probably didn't hurt my hand, and may have given me extra outs if I was beat at the moment. I decided to check and see what he did. I was relieved when he also checked.

The J came on the river, making my flush. I was pretty sure I now had the best hand, so I fired out a 2,400 bet. He folded instantly. I think he must have had an overpair to the flop, which he bet once for value and then checked after I had called. I actually won more with this hand by playing it cautiously than I would have won if I had reraised to start with. Almost certainly, everyone, including the original raiser, would have folded to a reraise.

The lesson to be learned here is that it does not always pay to be too aggressive early on, when the blinds are small and the chip stacks are large. I reduced my risk of losing a large pot and still had my hand hold up. If an ace or king had hit on the flop and someone bet, I would have escaped with a minimum loss. As it was, nobody could put me on a hand as strong as queens, and I won a bigger pot as a result.

I recently received an e-mail about another interesting hand, and was asked what my ruling would have been. The tournament is down to four players. There are two players in this hand, Player A and Player B. On the river, Player A moves in and Player B asks for a chip count. The dealer says 10,000, and Player B calls that amount and loses the pot. As Player A is raking in the pot, another player at the table notices that Player A had 20,000 in chips, not 10,000, and if Player B had called the proper amount, he would have been all in and would have been out of the tournament in fourth place. Player A had not said anything, either, as he was stacking the pot. The question is, should Player B now be forced to call the remainder of his stack and be eliminated, or can he keep the remainder of his chips? There is no question as to how I would have ruled. Since Player A did not speak up and the dealer announced the amount that Player B had to call, Player B was not obliged to put the remainder of his stack in, in my humble opinion. The dealer clearly made a mistake, but in the interest of fairness, that is what I would have ruled.

Well, if your queens hold up and you get a fair ruling, I hope to meet you in the winner's circle soon.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He plays there under his own name and is happy to chat when he can. You also can watch Tom's advanced poker training videos at ProPlayLive.com/TomMcEvoy.