'He Might as Well Bet $100,000 in the Dark!'

What can I say about the 2001 World Series of Poker that somebody somewhere hasn't already said? For one thing, new WSOP Champion Carlos Mortensen, a relatively unknown professional player, can no longer retain his unheralded status, that's for sure. Through a combination of gutsy play and the right amount of luck in key situations, Carlos has made an indelible mark on the poker world. By putting constant pressure on the other players at the final table, he won dozens of small pots with preflop raises that went unchallenged. Then he threw in a real zinger when he successfully bluff-raised Mike Matusow with a Q-8 offsuit in what I believe was the key play of the tournament. It was all downhill for Mike after that, and he met his demise at the hands of Phil Hellmuth's pocket kings.

Meanwhile, Phil had doubled through Carlos on a previous hand and it appeared that he was going to mount a serious challenge when play was fivehanded. Alas for Phil, it was not to be. When Carlos broke Phil with Q-J vs. Q-10, he busted the man who many people thought was his most dangerous competitor. It's no wonder that they would think so – Phil cashed an impressive seven times at the 2001 Series, besting the likes of T.J. Cloutier and Layne Flack in the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event, and barely missing another bracelet day when he finished second to Scotty Nguyen in the $5,000 Omaha high-low event. Of course, no matter how many fabulous players you beat and no matter how many gold bracelets you win (seven for Phil), it's always the "big one" that got away that you remember forever.

It then became a contest to see who would survive to the final three with a chance of overcoming Carlos' massive chip lead and wresting the championship from him. Phil Gordon, one of the few tournament poker players in the world who is taller than Hellmuth, tried it by moving in on the button with A 6, but was escorted out the door by Carlos' pocket queens. The next challenger was Stan Schrier. I couldn't help but root for Stan because all during the tournament, he had been telling me how it was Tournament Poker that had made it possible for him to get as far as he had. Alas, Stan's Q 10 fell victim to Dewey Tomko's pocket kings, and he joined the six other final-table casualties on the rail.

Nineteen years ago when Carlos was 10 years old, Dewey finished second to the legendary Jack Straus when a river card 10 put Jack's picture on the Wall of Fame instead of Dewey's. This year, Tomko had started in seventh chip position and had been playing a quiet, selectively aggressive (and impressive) game of finesse that had moved him up five notches on the ladder to within one rung of the chip leader. And this year it was a river card 9 that prevented him from joining Straus on the winners' wall. The fatal 9 gave Tomko his second heartbreaking second-place finish, tying T.J. Cloutier for the dubious honor of being the only two men to be runners-up twice in the championship event at the WSOP. Indeed, it was ironic that a river card 9 had settled the final hand of the World Series for the second year in a row. Still, second place was worth almost $1.1 million to Tomko, so I guess finishing second isn't all bad.

Carlos impressed me throughout the day with his strong final-table play – he was relentless, not afraid to steal blinds and bluff, and willing to gamble when he thought that it was necessary. After Carlos had raised $100,000 10 pots in a row, Mike Sexton commented, "Carlos has a strong right arm – he's not afraid to shove chips into the pot. He might as well bet $100,000 in the dark!" Andy Glazer referred to Carlos as the man with the bionic raising arm.

Did he get lucky? Of course – no tournament champion ever wins without getting lucky – but it was his fearless play that put him into a position to win. I thought that he threw the other players, except for the cool Tomko, off their normal games. They just didn't seem to know what to do with him, and mistakes were made. In plain English, Mortensen forced the other players to gamble, because he was gambling – and it paid off. Until next time, I hope that a perfect balance between patience, strategy, and gamble will lead us to meet in the winner's circle one day soon.

Editor's note: Tom McEvoy is the author of Tournament Poker and the co-author with T.J. Cloutier of the Championship series of poker books.