Luck in the Big Game, and Beyond

This Hand of the Week was written by Ted Forrest, who is widely considered to be one of the best poker players in the world.

This hand takes place in Larry Flynt's $1,500-$3,000 seven-card stud game at the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California. The key player is Danny Robison, a talented, very fast stud specialist. The other two players involved in the hand are David Chui and I. David is a businessman and a solid poker player who leans toward the conservative side. When he enters a pot, he usually has a good hand.

On third street, I raise the bring-in bet to $1,500 with (7 7) J. David calls with (10-10) K, and Danny reraises to $3,000 with (Q-Q) 2. I call, and David calls. On fourth street, I catch a 9, David catches an 8, and Danny catches a 3, all offsuit. David checks to Danny, who bets $1,500. I call, and David calls.

Fifth street is when it gets exciting. David pairs his doorcard, making open kings (10-10) K-8-K; I pair my doorcard, making open jacks (7-7) J-9-J; and Danny catches an offsuit ace, for (Q-Q) 2-3-A. Now, David bets $3,000 with his open kings, Danny raises it to $6,000, and I fold my jacks and sevens. David calls Danny's raise. On sixth street, Danny makes open aces! He bets $3,000 on sixth street and $3,000 on seventh street, with David calling both bets. At the end, Danny shows down his aces and queens to beat David's kings and tens.

To be a successful high-limit player, a certain disregard for the value of money is necessary; but, in my opinion, Danny takes this concept a little above and beyond the call of duty. He just absolutely played this hand as if he were using Monopoly money! I've thought about Danny's raise on fifth street a lot. I came to the conclusion that had I had three jacks, which was in fact what I was representing, there was no way that I could have folded them to Danny's raise. It certainly looks like Danny is representing three aces, but he also could have rolled-up deuces, (2-2) 2.

Danny is somewhat handicapped by that Danny Robison "mask" that he wears on his face every time he sits down in a poker game, which simply means that he is capable of having just about anything in his hand. The fact that David called him down with kings up when Danny had open aces speaks volumes about Danny's mask: Obviously, David knew that Danny could have anything in this hand, including nothing at all in the hole! By the way, if David had reraised Danny when he made the open kings, Danny would have been forced to fold his hand; at least that would have been the only "reasonable" thing to do.

To Danny's credit, his read was correct that neither David nor I had trips. However, given his perfect read, his raise with queens against David's open kings just seems too reckless, and it was extremely lucky that it worked out well for him.

As it turned out, Danny's luck was exceptional for the entire night. He won a number of "lucky" pots. In fact, he won more than $100,000 this particular night. He was so lucky that when he quit the game, it flashed through my mind to tell him to be careful driving home, because he had been so lucky in the game. If Danny had been a cat with nine lives, he had used up eight of them in the game!

Later that night we got a phone call from Danny. He had stopped at a convenience store on his way home and was attacked by a thug who hit him with a hammer and knocked him down. Danny – ever the quick thinker – scrambled in his pocket and threw out about $15 in small money in his assailant's direction. The thug moved in with the hammer, ready to strike again, and said, "No, give me all your – – – – – – – money!" Danny had $11,000 in a rubber band in his other pocket. After a few seconds, he fumbled the whole wad out of his pocket and threw it at the guy, who took it and ran.

I guess luck can have a funny way of evening out – but wait a minute. Maybe Danny's good luck still held up that night. After all, all he ended up with were some minor defensive wounds on his arm, which he held up to fend off the hammer blow, and an $11,000 loss – which is a lot less than he would have lost had he lost one pot in the game. In fact, his doctor told him if the hammer had hit him on the chest or shoulder near his pacemaker, he would have been killed.

Danny is a devout born-again Christian and family man. He is soon going to have the stomach surgery that many in our poker community have had with great results. We wish you continued good luck and good health, Danny.

I hope you enjoyed Teddy's Hand of the Week. Good luck with your hands this week.

Editor's note: Phil can often be found playing $4-$8 limit hold'em online at UltimateBet.com, table "philhellmuth." For more info about Phil or his new book Play Poker Like the Pros, or for more Hand of the Week columns, go to PhilHellmuth.com.