London Bust-Out

It was a pleasure to be in London playing in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) recently. Every great poker player on the planet made it to London to fight it out for WSOPE bracelets. In fact, when the World Series of Poker announced that it was awarding four bracelets at the Empire Casino - in Leicester Square - in London, it caused quite a stir in the poker world. You see, the WSOP is by far the biggest, the most important, and the most prestigious event in the poker world, and traditionally, WSOP bracelets are won over a five-week period in Las Vegas. The idea of giving away bracelets in London was new and exciting, and made sense. After all, poker is huge in Europe, and the WSOP is already a worldwide brand. Four bracelets were up for grabs, not to mention that first-place prize money in the main event was almost $2 million.

Making it through day one was a real fight for me. Early on, I lost a huge pot with pocket kings, when the board was 9 4 3. In that hand, my opponent had three things working in his favor: First, he had three nines; second, he had a loose-aggressive table image; and third, he did not have enough chips in front of him for me to fold my hand. I thought that he had been playing very poorly for hours and hours, as he was playing way too many hands and bluffing way too often (loose-aggressive). Yet, you have to give him credit, as he did get 11,000 in on the flop against me when he had the three nines, and only about 900 before the flop. After losing that pot, I noticed that I had only 4,900 in chips left (we started with $20,000).

With only 4,900 remaining, a flight the next morning to Aruba, and my wife already waiting for me in Aruba in a penthouse suite, I thought that it might be over for me. At this point, out of nowhere, Eli Elezra announced, "I'll lay you 11-to-1 and bet you whatever you want that you cannot run those chips up to 35,000." Now, I'm sick and tired of losing these kinds of bets, so I decided to bet $5,000 to win $55,000. I knew that I was only a 4-to-1 underdog, and I was determined to punish Elezra for his insolence! I love Elezra, but he beats me in too many of these kinds of bets! With this additional incentive, I played my heart out, and without ever being all in, I ran it up to about 13,000 over the next five hours of play. Then, with about 20 minutes to go in day one, I caught a break when the small blind had A-Q to my A-K in the big blind, and he decided to basically give me 13,000 in chips when I moved all in for the third raise preflop. I really didn't like his call at all, as he had been watching me smooth-call - not reraise - with hands like J-J and A-Q for hours. What did he think I finally moved all in with? In any case, he called me, and I won the pot. I ended day one with more than 27,000 in chips. Aruba, my wife, and the penthouse suite would have to wait at least two more days.

With 27,000 in chips, I was pretty certain that I would at least cross the 35,000 mark at some point on day two and collect $55,000 in cash from Elezra. Early on, I did hit 30,000, but I never did make it to 35,000 in chips! One more time, I had to pay Elezra $5,000! It hurts just thinking about it.

My knockout hand came with the blinds at 400-800, and a 100 a man ante. In first position, I called 800 with K-K. Two more players called, the small blind called, the big blind checked his option, and the flop came down 8 5 2. Both blinds checked, and I bet 1,800, hoping for action. The player behind me raised it to 5,000 to go, everyone else folded, and I moved all in for 8,600. I was called, my opponent showed me 5-5, for a set of fives, and when no king came, I hit the door!

Let's take a closer look at this hand. Limping in with K-K when first to act is controversial. I love the move, as I needed action, and oftentimes you can get action from other players when they flop top pair (like Q-J on a Q-6-4 board). Even if I had raised, my opponent would have called with 5-5 and hit the set. My 1,800 bet on the flop was one that was hoping to get action. I like this undersized bet. My opponent made a weak raise with his set of fives. A stronger move would have been for him to merely call the bet. After all, he had tons of chips, and so did the players behind him. Why not just call my 1,800 bet and try to induce a call, or better yet, try to induce a raise from a big stack behind? There were no flush draws, so all he had to worry about was a straight draw, and how likely was it that someone behind him had a straight draw? It was far more likely that one of his opponents had a pair of eights, or a pair of deuces, and there was one 5 left - for someone to have a pair of fives. After I slow-played my hand and got the action that I wanted, there was no way that I was laying my hand down when I was reraised to 5,000 to go on the flop. Plus, it looked like the perfect flop. I hated being eliminated, but at least I had my wife waiting for me in Aruba!