Wow, are You Serious?

Coming off a third-place finish at Foxwoods – for $280,000, but first place was $1.1 million – and a week of rest with my mom and sister in Manhattan, I was ready to rock and roll at the Sands Million Dollar Showdown in Atlantic City. (I was incredibly frustrated with my third-place finish at Foxwoods against "Mr. Move All In," but that column will appear in the next issue.)

Early on during day No. 1 at the Sands, nothing seemed to go right for me. I was tired (I really did have nightmares over what had happened to me at Foxwoods), in a bad mood, and felt slighted by several people and situations that had occurred. However, I knew that if I could hold on long enough, I would have a chance to get positive and feel good, and perhaps catch a nice rush.

I was all in with K-Q against Amir Vahedi's J-J for my last $2,100 or so. The flop was A-6-5, then Q-Q. A few minutes later, Matt Savage told me, "If you can hang on for 40 more minutes, we will be moving your table to the 'TV table.'" At that point in time, I didn't like my chances.

A mere three minutes later, I moved all in with ace high, and no one called me. I looked down at $3,700 in chips and suddenly felt very happy, for no apparent reason. "OK, this can't be bad," I thought. The next thing I knew, I was at the TV table with $22,000 in chips and a big smile on my face.

"I made it through the rain, and kept my self-respect; I made it through the rain, and kept my point of view," I sang silently. Now, it was just a matter of time before we'd be down to the final 45 and would be done for the night. I was feeling very proud of my play, and knew that I had a chance to do something spectacular by winning the $1 million after just missing it in my last event the previous week.

I finished the day with $40,000 in chips, just as I had done at Foxwoods the week before. In both cases I had had more chips, but at Foxwoods, I "blew up" (went on tilt) late to go from $70,000 to $40,000. At the Sands, I played brilliantly down the backstretch, but just didn't catch a break.

I was very calm, and slept very well that night. Day No. 2 began and I made an early run up to $80,000; I did get lucky in one pot for $13,000 when my A Q beat my opponent's Q-Q.

Then, I picked up A-A and lost $18,000 to 10-7 offsuit, followed by 8-8, with which I lost another $16,000, and then Q-Q, with which I lost another $4,000. I moved back up to $50,000, and now we were down to 27 players.

Redraw – and Hellmuth draws the TV table one more time. The very first hand was one of the weirdest hands I have ever played in my entire life.

I picked up A-3 three positions from the button, and couldn't decide what to do. Finally, I called the $2,000 big-blind bet, and then T.J. Cloutier called from the small blind. The flop was the K J 7, and T.J. and the big blind both checked. I thought there was a good chance that my ace high was good, so I bet out $6,000, and T.J. quickly called me. "Great," I thought, "I let T.J. hit his jack-rag hand for free, and then I bet it."

The turn card was the A, for a possible straight or flush with a board of K J 7 A. T.J. bet right out, $12,000, and I immediately recalled a bluff he had made against me in 2001 in a World Series event that I eventually won. In that event, T.J. bluffed me, and then showed me the bluff and said, "I know you're a great player, that's why I knew I could bluff you; you can't bluff bad players."

Somehow, I knew (Daniel Negreanu, don't needle me about the word knew!) T.J. was bluffing. I had been waiting since 2001 to nail him when he was bluffing me. Now, I had to decide what to do: If I was wrong and moved all in, I'd be broke; if I was right, why move all in? Why not let him bluff all of his chips on the end? I decided that calling was the right move. The last card, the 3, wasn't very pretty, as it put four spades on the board. Now, any spade would beat me.

T.J. went ahead and bet out $20,000, and my gut screamed out, "Call him, he's bluffing." However, I had only $40,000 left, so I surveyed the situation quickly. I could beat only a pure bluff, and if I was wrong, I was going to cripple myself. I counted out the $20,000 with my gut screaming louder and louder, "Call!"

My gut has made me literally millions of dollars playing poker, and if I was wrong, too bad; besides, when I have such a strong feeling, it seems like I'm never wrong. Therefore, I called the $20,000, thinking I was making a great call.

T.J. then rapped the table and said, "You got it." I flipped over my holecards, thinking I had just made an incredible call. Also, it sent a message to the table, "Phil is on, so don't mess with him today." The pot was about to be pushed as T.J. started folding his cards. Then, all of a sudden, T.J. said, "Wait a minute, I have a flush," and he rolled over the 10 9.

Now, I know T.J., and I love T.J., and I know he would never slow-roll me (slow-rolling is the worst possible etiquette in a poker hand). Plus, his heart rate – which was being monitored – spiked up when he saw the 10 in his hand. I fell to the floor stunned at what had just happened to me.

I had just made a great call against a great player that I had been waiting 30 months to make, and I still lost! With $80,000 in the pot and at the height of my game, I asked myself why this weird stuff had to happen to me.

You see, if T.J. knew he had a spade, I believe I would have folded the hand easily on the end. I believe this because this is what I do for a living – I read players.

A guy bluffs on the end, you read him perfectly and make the big-time call, and still lose. Is it possible?

It took me a long time to pull myself together after that hand, but I still had chips, and I still had a chance. I had overcome bigger obstacles than this, I told myself.

Then, Paul Wolfe studied and studied, and I looked down at 8-8. He then opened for $6,000, and I felt a ton of weakness in him, so I moved all in for $11,800 total. Paul had to call the $5,800 with his A-7, as the big-blind player announced, "I folded A-9."

"Great," I thought, "only two aces left in the deck." After a flop of J-4-2, an ace popped up, and I just couldn't believe I was out 24th. The last pot had nearly $30,000 in it, but what the heck had just happened to me? Wasn't I supposed to have $100,000 in front of me? Wasn't I supposed to cruise into the final nine players easily?

From a poker point of view, I deserved much better (I did make a great call), but who can judge these things? I recognize that I am truly blessed on every possible level, and I thank the universe for the perfect health and huge abundance it has granted me.

I hope you enjoyed this Hand of the Week. Good luck playing your hands this week.

Editor's note: Phil's book, Play Poker Like the Pros, is available through Card Player. Read more of Phil's articles at www.philhellmuth.com, and play poker or chat with Phil at ultimatebet.com.