Trying to Win the Bike

While playing in The Bicycle Casino's $5,000 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) no-limit hold'em championship event of the Legends of Poker tournament recently, the following hand came up on the second day. I made it to the second day of the Bike's event with $18,600, with the blinds at $500-$1,000 and an ante of $200 a man. My goal was to double up, and then see if my opponents could beat me or not. On about the 10th hand, I was dealt the A Q in the small blind. A player two off the button made it $3,500 to go, and I studied for a minute.

I was thinking three things: First, I hate A-Q; this hand has cost me more money than any other in no-limit hold'em tournaments. Second, I probably can't fold this hand. And third, should I then move all in or just call? The thought of going broke with A-Q again wasn't very appealing to me, so I decided to just call the bet. The flop then came down A 9 6, and I checked. I was planning to check-raise all in.

My opponent then checked behind me, and the Q came off the deck, making a board of A 9 6 Q. I decided that checking here would be a bad play, because I didn't want my opponent to hit some sort of set or straight card for free, especially since I was now committed to my hand for all of my chips with top two pair. Also, I was thinking that betting too much here would be a mistake, as I wanted action with my now very powerful hand.

So, I bet a small $2,000 into the $9,000 pot, and my opponent moved all in! "Yikes," I thought, "did I run into a set here, or what?" After a quick 10-second study, I realized I could beat a ton of hands, and that I couldn't fold top two pair in this situation; thus, I called. I was pleasantly surprised, and a bit shocked, to see that my opponent had Q-J. He was drawing dead – no matter what card came on the river, I would win the pot.

OK, now that I was doubled up, it was time to find out if my opponents could beat me! I decided to play a waiting game, as I suspected that Stan Goldstein – who was on my left – may reraise me if I began to raise lots of pots. However, the blinds and antes kept relentlessly creeping up, and I found myself anteing off quite a few chips. I did make one move, but Stan in fact did reraise me, and I was forced to fold – grrr! Stan had nice timing that time, but I will get him sometime!

With the blinds now at $1,000-$2,000, I raised with the J 10, making it $4,400 to go. The big blind moved all in for $6,000 more, and I found myself considering a call with my J 10 because of the pot odds. I was getting $4,400 + $4,400 + $1,000 + (8 x $400) + $6,000, or $19,000, for my $6,000 call. I decided the right play for me was to call. By the way, I didn't feel extreme strength from the raiser.

As it turned out, he had the 9 9 and we "raced" (he was a small favorite) for the $25,000 pot. I lost the race, and had only $8,000 left. That was OK, but had I won it, I would have been right back in the ballgame. Shortly thereafter, I was in the big blind with the K 5, and the button raised it to $5,000 to go.

I decided to take a flop, as I had $2,000 in there already, and then bet my last $3,000 no matter what hit. When the flop came down A-5-4, I moved all in, and was called by the button, who was holding A-7. That was all she wrote for Phil Hellmuth that day. The tournament paid 27 spots, but I wasn't there to make the money – I was there to win the whole enchilada!

Each tournament I enter, I try to make the best decisions I can, and oftentimes – in fact, most times – I leave wishing I had done something better. I hope you enjoyed this Hand of the Week. Good luck playing 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.