My Big Blunder!

After the World Series of Poker ended for me on July 11, I learned that the first World Poker Tour event of the season was to begin on July 13. It was a $15,000 buy-in affair, and it afforded me the opportunity for redemption. I could wipe away the memory of a bad WSOP in one fell swoop, as a win in this WPT tournament would pay at least $1 million. Yet, I had mixed feelings about playing. On one hand, there was the opportunity for redemption and winning $1 million. On the other hand, I was completely burned out after six grueling weeks of poker, and more than ready to go home to my wife and kids. I mean, did I really need to stay in Vegas one more week — especially with my birthday coming on July 16?

With my heart only halfway into it, I arrived more than three hours late on day one and played way too many hands. Then, I had a day off, and I came out playing well on day two. By the end of the day, I was in decent shape (165,000 in chips with 90 players remaining), and it seemed that I had a lot of gas left in the tank.

On day three — my birthday — I came out smoking. A couple of hours into the day, I won a pot of more than 300,000 when my A-A crushed my opponent’s A-10 (Q-10-4-Q-Q).

Then, it happened, the wheels fell off completely. First, I lost a coin flip for a pot of roughly 150,000 when my 6-6 lost to A-K, as an ace came on the river (5-5-3-Q-A). I had opened for 7,000, and then I called a 65,000 reraise. I was a small favorite, but normally I would have folded that hand. I mean, what hand could I beat before the flop with my 6-6?

Then, I truly gave my chips away! With the blinds at 1,000-2,000, Player A, under the gun, opened for 7,000, and I made it 23,000 to go with 4-4. Player A called, and the flop came Q-9-2. Player A checked, I bet 40,000, and Player A called. The turn was a 9, and Player A bet out 53,000. I looked him up and down and decided to make it 110,000. Player A then moved me all in for my last 35,000 or so, and I called. He showed me four nines, and I sheepishly folded my hand facedown. I left Bellagio, checked out of Caesars Palace, and was on an airplane by 6 p.m.

Did losing the coin flip cause me to lose my mind? I mean, I had lost two key coin flips at the WSOP when I held 6-6, both to a river ace, and then it happened again in this WPT event! But that’s a lousy excuse for me to lose my mind five minutes later and blow a mountain of chips.

Let’s take a closer look at the play of this hand. I do not mind my preflop reraise with 4-4, but in a perfect world, I would have sensed strength in my opponent and just called him. I do not mind my bet on the flop, but if my radar had been working at all, I would have sensed serious strength in someone who had just flopped the second-best possible hand. On the turn, my opponent’s bet of 53,000 worked like a charm; I mean, I did exactly what he wanted me to do. However, I do not love his bet. I would prefer to see a check here. I mean, why bet 53,000 and give me a chance to get away from my hand? Why not check and let me bluff one more time, or let me hit my hand? I hate my raise on the turn. My radar had to completely shut off in order for me not to notice that my opponent was displaying massive strength when he bet 53,000. I believe that I was way out of rhythm because I was steaming over losing the 6-6 hand to another ace on the river. I like Player A’s 35,000 reraise, putting me all in. After putting in all of that money, I had to call 35,000 more, right? I hate my call for 35,000, as wasn’t it more than obvious by now that I was crushed with my pocket fours? What a blunder on my part, but at least I had a birthday dinner at home with my family.

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