When I Was A Donk: Mel Judah

In this series, Card Player asks top pros to rewind back to their humble beginnings and provide insights regarding the mistakes, leaks, and deficiencies that they had to overcome in order to improve their games.

Mel Judah has been a regular on the tournament circuit since the late 1980s and has over $3 million in career tournament earnings. The 64-year-old Australian pro has a World Poker Tour title to his credit, along with two World Series of Poker bracelets.
Card Player caught up with Judah to talk about his experience at the WSOP and a crucial error in judgment he made during his second attempt at a bracelet.

“I first came to Las Vegas to have a look in 1981, but I didn’t play any poker. In 1985, I came back and started competing in the tournaments. It wasn’t until 1989 that I won my first bracelet. It was a $1,500 seven card stud event and my opponent, Jerry Buhr, wanted the bracelet in a deal. I said no, we played it out, and, of course, I won.
“The next year I came back to the WSOP and found myself heads-up with Mike Harthcock in the $1,500 limit hold’em event. I had a big chip lead, but a bad beat really shifted the momentum of the tournament.

“I decided to get tricky and let him hang himself with 7-6 on a Q-Q-5 flop. I was holding pocket tens and had the flush draw blocked, but because I never took control of the hand, I let him get there. The turn was a 9 and the river was an 8, giving him the backdoor straight and a huge double up.

“I could’ve played that hand ten different ways, but I somehow found the only way to lose the pot. If, at any point in time, I had raised him or been the initial bettor on the flop, he would’ve been forced to fold and save the final few bets, making it nearly impossible for him to come back. Instead, he got lucky and was all of a sudden nearly even in the match.

“After the beat, I was pretty disheartened. We wound up making a deal for the remaining prize pool and in the spur of the moment, we agreed to just blindly get two cards and deal out a board, with the winner getting the bracelet. I couldn’t even beat jack-high and he got the credit for the win.

“You have to understand, at that time, a bracelet wasn’t as valued as it is today, especially to me. I had already won my first bracelet the year before and I just assumed that I’d always have this same opportunity every year moving forward. Now I realize just how special they are and the distinction you receive as a player when you have them. If I could go back in time, I’d force myself to play for it. It’s one of my biggest regrets as a professional poker player.

“No matter how big the tournament is, nobody remembers the guy who finished in second. You can’t take anything in this game for granted. I guess that’s the lesson I learned that day.” ♠