World Poker Tour: Legends of Poker

If you have been reading my column regularly, you know that the first season on the World Poker Tour was very disappointing for me. However, the first stop on the WPT in the second season looked very promising for me, but it just wasn't meant to be, as I finished in a disappointing seventh place. On the brighter side of things, the whole experience gave me enough material to write three columns!

As disappointing as that seventh-place finish was, it wasn't disappointing enough to discourage me from continuing to play on the WPT or sharing with you my ups and downs in search of a WPT title. So, without further ado, let's move along to the WPT's second stop, the Legends of Poker tournament at The Bicycle Casino in California. This tournament was an example of the WPT's drawing power, as the championship event drew 309 players, almost triple the total of a year ago.

Included in the field were some celebrities, as well. Ben Affleck was in attendance, but a tough break early forced him to the rail. Not long after that, Lou Diamond Phillips made his way to the rail, too. Of course, both of these celebs should take some solace in the fact that they outlasted superstar Phil Ivey! (I'm not entirely sure about this, but Phil was either the first or second player eliminated in this event!)

Needless to say, it was a media madhouse. Cameras were everywhere, as were reporters, the WPT crew, the Bicycle Casino staff, and the players! There was a real buzz around the room.

After settling into my seat, I was a little disappointed that I was presented with such a tough draw at my first table. It included the likes of Layne Flack, Kathy Liebert, Erik Seidel, Vinnie Vinh, and Allen Cunningham, who was seated to my immediate right. This wasn't exactly the kind of table I felt I could mix it up with and exploit weaknesses. I believed a more cautious strategy would do me some good.

Yet, for some reason, I wasn't able to throw away 5-2 suited during the first hour! I was dealt suited 4-2, 5-2, 6-3, 6-4, and so on several times, and found a way to get involved with every one of them! So much for my patient, careful strategy.

We started the day with $5,000 in chips, and my chips seemed to fluctuate between $3,600 and $4,400 for most of the first two hours. After catching a break here and there to stay afloat, I felt I'd caught my biggest break when my table broke and I still had $4,750.

My next table presented me with more opportunities. With a couple more lucky breaks, I was up to approximately $5,500. Strangely enough, if I had been playing "ABC" poker, I probably wouldn't have found any hands to play at all. I was making due with my imagination, without a hint of a premium hand … until I picked up A-K suited in late position. Wow, this looked like a monster to me at this point. Of course, I couldn't even beat a pair of deuces, but I was being dealt such bad cards that an A-K suited looked like a monster.

So, with the blinds at $100-$200 with a $25 ante, I went ahead and raised to $600. Melissa Hayden, who was seated to my left, gave me the "I have no chips but I have you beat" look, and reraised all in. Everyone else folded, which made the $1,300 raise an easy call for me. Melissa showed two jacks, and they held up, putting a dent in my stack and knocking me below par once again.

Thus, it was back to square one for me. I was back to relying on my imagination and doing what I could to improve my chip position. After a few rounds, I'd built my stack up to $6,050. With the blinds still at $100-$200, I found another monster hand in the 4 2! This time I was on the button, and everyone had folded to me.

Despite being at my new table for such a short time, I thought I had good control over both of the players to my left. They appeared to be playing a conservative, straightforward style. So, I decided to take a stab at picking up the blinds and came in for $600.

The small blind called, and immediately I knew I'd have to get lucky. I'd already seen this player slow-play a big pair behind a raise, but I'd also noticed that he played his hands carefully throughout. So, with the big blind folding, the two of us took the flop: K 9 8.

With this flop, I had 4 high, of course, but I'd also picked up a flush draw. My opponent checked, and I decided to take the free card and also checked. The turn brought me some help in the 4. Before I even had time to process what this card meant to my hand, my opponent fired out $1,200.

Here was dilemma No. 1: It was $1,200 to call. I had $5,450 left, so if I called, I'd be left with $4,250. Should I raise here? Hmm … well, not unless I believed I had the best hand or thought a raise would make my opponent fold the best hand.

Nope, I wasn't going to raise. Sure, I considered the fact that my pair of fours was good, but I wasn't about to risk my whole tournament on that type of hunch. So, with a bet of $1,200 to me, I calculated my pot odds. I assumed that a deuce, a 4, or a spade would win me the pot. That's a total of 14 outs with one card to come. Since there were 46 unseen cards, I figured my odds of winning the pot were 46-to-14, or approximately 3.3-to-1. With $4,025 in the pot, the odds were correct for me to call, especially considering the fact that my pair might be the best hand. In all honesty, though, I was done with this hand unless I improved.

The river brought me the card I was looking for, the A. I was a little worried that I'd lose my customer with that card, but I was even more happy with the fact that I'd be winning an important pot. To my surprise, my opponent bet again, this time $3,000!

Dilemma No. 2: Should I call the bet or raise my remaining $1,250? I'd just hit my gin card, and I had my opponent betting into me. "No way he has a better flush than I do; he must have flopped a set or made aces up," I thought. Well, clearly, I wasn't folding, but if I was wrong, wouldn't this $1,250 come in handy? So, here was a big dilemma that is common in tournament poker: value or survival. That is, was it more important for me to get maximum value on the hand or save that last bit of chips in case my opponent had me beat?

After much deliberation, I decided to just call the bet and take down the pot. Of course, when my opponent turned over the Q J, my heart sunk, but I also felt great about still having a chance in the tournament. After all, I'd been in worse spots before and made a comeback, and I was confident I could do it again.

Not two rounds later, I was on my way back up, to $3,000 in chips. My nemesis, Mr. Nut Flush, raised from first position. With the blinds at just $150-$300, he came in for $2,000, a sizeable raise, to say the least. Everyone folded to me in the big blind. I squeezed my cards one at a time and found that I had two paints (both of my cards were facecards). At this point, I wasn't even sure what I was hoping to have! After looking at my cards closely, I realized they were two jacks.

Ugh! What now? I finally had picked up the best hand I'd seen all day, but under the current circumstances, the correct decision wasn't clear to me. Finally, I decided that in my chip position, I wasn't about to fold J-J, so I called the bet. When the flop came 8-4-2 rainbow, I was confident my J-J was good, so I fired in my last $1,000 … but Mr. Nut Flush called quickly. "Two kings," he said, and it was a long drive home, let me tell you.

His raise screamed of strength to me, but I ignored it. Why? Maybe it was a simple case of frustration. Those jacks looked so pretty to me – so pretty that I ignored my instincts and my read, and went broke in a situation that could have been avoided. Oh well, the good news is, I won't have to wait too long to redeem myself – Atlantic City here I come!

Daniel can be reached through his website: www.fullcontactpoker.com.