Poker North of the Border

Those Canadians love their poker! In mid-March, I went up to Calgary to play in the CPT (Canadian Poker Tour) Heads-Up Poker Championships. Last year’s champion, Huck Seed, and a few of my other friends, like Gavin Smith and Brad Booth, told me that the structure was terrific, and because of this, they thought that the skill factor was as high as they had ever seen in a heads-up tournament. Still, I don’t play in many poker tournaments outside of the big ones these days, so I told the founder of the CPT, Kelly Kelhner, that if the mayor of Calgary gave me the “key to the city,” I would come up and play. Kelhner called me a few weeks later and told me that they had a “White Hat Ceremony” for visiting dignitaries and celebrities, and that the mayor was ready to “White Hat” me. OK, how could I resist that honor?

I remembered how poker crazy Canada is when I had more than 100 photos taken at the tournament’s opening party at a local bar called Cowboys. A reporter told me that the reason why poker is so huge in Canada is that there was a yearlong NHL strike. He said, “We couldn’t watch hockey anymore, so poker became the game of choice.” It doesn’t surprise me that poker is huge in Canada — as it is in Northern Europe — because it is so cold there, what are you going to do with yourself in the winter?

As advertised, the tournament requires a tremendous amount of skill, and even though there were only a few top pros in the field of 100 entrants, three of us made it to the “Elite Eight.” Jeff Madsen, Brad Booth, and I took the stage at noon in the fourth round, and I had my opponent, Benjamin LaBlond, down one match (it was a best-of-three format all the way through) when things seemed to go south for me. First, with the blinds at 300-600, I limped in with Q-Q on the button, and the flop came down 10-8-4. LaBlond checked, I bet 1,100, and he moved all in. I called, and he flipped up 10-7 offsuit. It was 2:30, the next round was at 6 p.m., and I was planning on taking a nap and working out if I won. This was terrific; I would be the first to win my match, and I was feeling strong. But, alas, the turn card was a 7, and LaBlond won the pot. Now, still in the second match with 10,000 apiece, I whittled LaBlond down to 4,000, and he moved all in with Q-8. I called with the A 6, but he won that one, too! We proceeded to battle almost another two hours, and LaBlond finally won the second match at 4:15 p.m.

In the deciding match, a key hand came up when I had a small chip advantage and limped in with 9-8. The flop came A 7 5. LaBlond checked, I bet 600 into a pot of 800, and LaBlond called. The turn card was the 2, and we both checked. The river was the 10♦, and LaBlond bet out 1,300. Although I had nothing but a busted straight draw, something seemed wrong about his bet. Throughout our match, I had been able to read him well, and this bet reeked of weakness! So, I decided that it was time to make a move. I called the 1,300 and raised it 1,900 more. LaBlond quickly folded his hand, and now I had 14,000 to his 6,000 in chips. By the time this hand came up, all of the other players had not only finished their matches, but were back in the Stampede Casino for the next round; it was 6:30 p.m. So much for a nap and a workout; if I won, I would have a 10-minute break and would go right into a match with Brad Booth.

The final hand came down when LaBlond moved all in and I called with 9-9. LaBlond showed 6-6, and I had a bad feeling. After the first four cards were dealt (10-5-3-A), I felt good about my chances to win, but a brutal 6 on the river gave the match to LaBlond!

He then beat Booth 2-1, and then beat Madsen in the finals 2-1, so we have to give him some credit, as he beat three well-known players down the homestretch.

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