‘Magic’ Hand in the L.A. Poker Classic

In late February, I headed off to Commerce Casino in L.A. to play in the $10,000 buy-in WPT (World Poker Tour) event at the LAPC (L.A. Poker Classic). This tournament lasts six days, and is a prestigious one to win. Last year’s tournament featured one of the best final tables in WPT history, with Phil Ivey (he won it), Quinn Do (second place), Nam Le (fourth place), Scott Montgomery (fifth place), and me (sixth place). I had a massive chip lead at that final table, but couldn’t convert it into a win. A few weeks ago, I wrote about a hand from the 2009 LAPC that discussed my slow-play tactics with the K Q when I had a short stack, and then I wrote about a hand that The Celebrity Apprentice star Annie Duke watched during the 2009 LAPC. Now, I want to cover a 2009 LAPC hand that Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari played with mucho gusto.

On day one, I ran into Esfandiari and asked him, “Do you have the chip lead yet?”

He said, “Bro, I barely made it through the first few levels!”
I said, “I ask only because you seem to have a monster chip lead here every single year.”

Esfandiari paused and thought for a second, and then said, “You’re right; I do always have the chip lead here.”

Esfandiari made it through day one with only 29,000 in chips (we started with 20,000), but on day two, I started hearing rumblings and rumors that he was on the move. Suddenly, it was announced that Esfandiari had the chip lead, and that he had crossed the 300,000 mark. A little while later, it was announced that he had crossed the 500,000 mark, and I began to notice that no one else in the entire room had more than 250,000. How had Esfandiari accumulated this much in chips? On the break, I ran into him, and he told me, “Phil, I’ve never run this good in my entire life. I play every single hand, and whatever I have in my hand comes up on the board!” Then, I heard about the 10 8 hand.

Here’s what Esfandiari had to say about this hand: “A young Internet whiz kid came to my table and I just knew that he was going to try to outplay me. The first hand that he was at my table, I raised, someone else reraised, and I folded. The very next hand, I raised with the 10 8, and the kid, who had 100,000 in front of him, reraised it 7,000 more, making it 10,000 to go. I thought that he was weak, so I decided to reraise it 20,000, making it 30,000 to go. The kid just called, and I thought, ‘Oh man, I guess I have to fire my way out of this one.’ I also was thinking, ‘How in the world did I get myself into this awful situation? I might lose 50,000 bluffing with 10 high!’ But then, the flop came down 8-8-3, and that thought quickly exited my head, because I had flopped trip eights!


“Now listen to this: I know that I would have bet the flop if I had nothing, and I know that the kid was expecting a c-bet [continuation-bet]. So, I led out and the kid called me, to float me [make a big bluff] on the turn. The turn card was a queen, and I checked to the kid, to let him bluff off his money. My plan was to check-raise. Sure enough, after I checked, the kid made a bet, and I raised. Then, the kid moved all in, and I quickly called. He showed K-Q offsuit, and I showed him my trip eights.”

Esfandiari continued: “I thought this hand was poetic — I mean, poetry in motion! I especially appreciated the visible pain on the young kid’s face afterward, when he realized that he had busted himself. It was priceless to me! After another hour, I had 600,000 in chips in front of me, but I couldn’t stop myself from making more moves [Antonio slapped his left hand as he said this] and finished the day with 405,000.”

The 405,000 that Esfandiari finished day two with was still enough for him to have the chip lead going into day three, but he narrowly missed making the money in this tournament.

The kid’s 7,000 reraise preflop with K-Q was a good one, as he was a 3-2 favorite to win the pot. I give credit to Esfandiari for making a good read by thinking the kid was weak (after all, the kid did have only K-Q), and reraising it another 20,000. I give the kid credit for calling, but if he had shipped it all in right then and there, he would have won the pot, and I would give him major credit. I love Esfandiari’s lead-out bet on the flop; he seemed to know that his customer was expecting a c-bet, as he got the kid to call a big bet with K-Q high when Esfandiari had three eights. I also love Esfandiari’s check-raise on the turn; again, he knew that his customer was expecting a check and was planning on making a big bluff. Know thy customer, the way that he thinks, what he expects you to do, and what countermove you can use on him. Well-played, Magician!

Learn more about Phil by going to his website, www.PhilHellmuth.com, and visit his webstore at www.PokerBrat.com.