Four Queens Classic - Part II

As promised in my last column, I'd like to go into detail about a key hand I played against Mike Laing on day two of the championship event at the Four Queens Classic. I started the day near the bottom of the pack, 33rd out of a remaining 42 players.

Short-stacked, I caught a very lucky break against Tony Cousineau. I was all in with A-J against Tony's pocket jacks before the flop. An ace on the river got me back in the game, and it was time to make my move. There was one problem: Mike Laing had a massive chip lead on the field and was seated two seats to my left. In the past, I've had some pretty good luck against Mike, but he was going to be a force on this day with that many chips.

For those who don't know of Mike Laing, I mentioned him in a column a while back in a three-part series called "Alcohol." More often than not, when Mike is playing in tournaments, he's drinking a steady diet of Jack Daniels, a couple of beers mixed in, and perhaps some coffee with ice cubes in it. How the ice helps I couldn't tell you, but whatever works, right?

Well, in that column "Alcohol," I also mentioned that TJ. Cloutier once told me a story about former World Series of Poker Champion Bill Smith. T.J. said, "When Bill was sober, he was the tightest player in the world. When he was a little drunk, he was the best player in the world. If he passed that point, though, and got really drunk, he was the worst player in the world!"

Well, it was clear to me that on this day, Mike had passed that point. Meanwhile, he had mountains of chips in front of him!

Mike is typically a chatty guy, but wow, the only time he stopped talking on this day was when he was downing a triple shot of Jack Daniels! His play was also becoming noticeably erratic. Normally, this "image" works in Mike's favor, but he stumbled a few times and trapped himself for some big chips.

That also had an effect on his demeanor at the table. Usually a happy-go-lucky player, Mike seemed visibly rattled by losing a few pots. Rather than slow down, though, he got even more aggressive than before.

If three people limped in, Mike made a big raise. When they all folded, he made a big production of it – laughing and giggling, and finally showing his hand, 8-2 offsuit. Mike was clearly trying to sell the image of a wild and crazy player, and let's just say he was very successful. The only problem was, on this day he actually was a wild and crazy player!

With Mike playing every pot, I did what I could to stay out of his way and was able to increase my stack to a little more than $40,000, which put me well above the average. Mike's stack was once more than $160,000, but by this point I actually had him covered! I was going to do whatever it took to bust him if I got the opportunity, and that opportunity soon came.

With the blinds at $600-$1,200 and a $100 ante, I limped in from under the gun with the A 6. Mike raised it $3,000 more (no surprise here). When I limped, I was obviously aware of the fact that it would probably cost me a couple thousand to get to the flop. Everyone else folded, and it was just Mike and I to see the flop.

The flop came down 10 8 4, giving me the nut-flush draw to go with ace high, which easily could be the best hand. I thought a moment about checking to Mike, but if he were to move all in or something crazy like that, he may force me off the best hand.

I decided to take charge of the pot right there. I bet close to half my stack, sending the message to Mike, "If you raise me, I'm coming." I bet $15,000. Mike pondered for a little while. His instincts were good, as I was in fact bluffing, although I did have a powerful draw. Finally, he said, "I'm all in."

Oh well, looks like this was it – the defining moment for me. I had too much money in to dump my draw. "I call." Then came the moment of anticipation. I knew I won with any club, but would an ace also do it for me? What about a 6? I couldn't know for sure until I saw Mike's hand.

Mike turned over the 7 4 offsuit! This was awesome for me. Not only were all of my outs live, I actually had the best hand. Huh? Well, while I couldn't beat a pair of fours yet, I would win this pot more than 53 percent of the time, which by definition makes it the best hand.

I hit the club on the turn and it was all over for Mike. "Yeah, I knew I had the best hand," said Mike.

"No you didn't; I had the best hand, Mike."

"What are you talkin' about? I had the pair on the flop!" exclaimed Mike. Rather than get into a heated argument with him, I thought it would be best to just shut my mouth and get back to the task at hand.

With Mike now gone in 14th place, I was pretty close to the chip lead at this point with about $90,000. With little resistance, I was able to continue to build my stack. Well, I shouldn't say little resistance, because there was one guy who beat me every pot – Steve Ford. In Part III, we'll take a look at how that battle unfolded at the final table.

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