Four Queens Classic - Part III

Finally, I get to write a column in which I actually make the final table! It feels like it's been so long. The World Poker Tour events haven't treated me very well thus far, but money is money and it was nice to be in the hunt.

If you read Part II, you'd know that my biggest obstacle at the table was now gone. Mike Laing, a tough, aggressive player, was seated to my left, which made things difficult for me. With Mike now gone, it was time for me to kick it up a notch and start "chopping away."

Everything seemed to be going oh so smoothly – with one exception. I was in good control of the table but repeatedly ran into Steve Ford, who always seemed to hit the flop. Seriously, I played about six pots against Steve, all with position – and lost all six.

Of course, sometimes I had absolute garbage, but other times I happened to have decent hands. I could be wrong about this, but I think Steve was just hitting flops. My instincts were telling me he wasn't "dancing around," and was simply out-flopping me. Actually, later that evening Steve did say, "I had a lot of hands. I had a hand against you every time." Sure, he could have been lying, but I believed him.

Now, that's in direct contrast to what I wrote about David Oppenheimer in a previous column. In that column, I explained how David was beating me in virtually every hand, but I think I was being outplayed. The key difference between the two situations is that against David I was out of position, but against Steve I always had position.

Anyway, I took my lumps from Steve but continued to pound on the others and steadily increased my chip count. In fact, going to the final table, I had the chip lead with $225,700. Second in chips was one of the tougher players on the no-limit hold'em circuit, Kathy Liebert with about $170,000.

I stayed out of harm's way in the early going, basically holding on to my stack until there were only seven left. Sitting directly to my right was "Battle Mountain" Paul. Paul and I go way back, as we spent countless hours playing $80-$160 and $100-$200 hold'em together at Bellagio a few years ago. Obviously, after playing that many hours with him, I had a pretty good idea of what his tendencies were.

A strange hand developed between the two of us. I'd been playing pretty tight to this point (for me, anyway), and decided I was going to raise only with strong hands from early position. Well, that plan lasted all of one round, when I picked up the K 3 in first position and couldn't help myself. "Raise it." With the blinds at $1,500-$3,000, I made it $8,000 to go. Everyone folded to the big blind.

In the big blind was Battle Mountain Paul. I figured he would probably call my raise, but I was OK with that. Sure, I had nothing, but I was confident that if he missed the flop, I could win the pot with a position bet.

Paul didn't disappoint, he called. The flop came 9 4 3, giving me bottom pair. Paul checked and it looked like a good spot to make a little bet. I bet $12,000, looking to pick it up right there, but Paul called.

At this point, I believed my pair was good. I thought Paul had either ace high or some sort of a draw. The turn brought the 8, which I didn't think could help him. He checked once again, and this time I bet $18,000.

Paul went into the tank. He studied, and studied some more, and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. I had a good sense of what he was thinking, which was, "This little punk is trying to rob me! Problem is, I don't have much of a hand here."

His deliberation screamed of ace high to me. Coupling that read with my previous read that he was on a draw made me think he had either A-5 or A-2 for a gutshot-straight draw. Oh, he wanted to call so bad you could taste it. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and called.

I would have preferred a fold, but since I was confident that my pair of threes was good, I didn't care too much that he called. The river brought the 3. Bingo! Now, I definitely had the best hand. Even if my read was wrong and he did have me beat – I had him now.

Almost instantaneously as the dealer turned over the river card, Paul announced, "All in," and shot his chips to the center in a flash. I thought to myself, "Really? Sweet." I called and Paul flipped up the A 5. So, with this pot, I strengthened my lead and looked to cruise the rest of the way. "Nothin' but the nuts from here on out," I thought.

About a round later, my nemesis from the previous night, Steve Ford, raised from first position. It appeared to me that he had a hand, so I had no plans of running a reraise bluff against him here. I looked down at my holecards and found A-A. Finally, I'd get sweet revenge against the man who had been a thorn in my side so many times.

Thanks to me dumping my chips to Steve on several occasions, he was now second in chips. If I could find a way to get him all in here, it would make winning the tournament that much easier. I decided to make just a standard-sized reraise and hope that Steve might make a move and go all in. When it got around to Steve, he didn't think for a split second before saying, "I'm all in."

Maybe 45 seconds later, I said, "I call," and about one and a half seconds later, Steve said, "Uh-oh. I don't like how fast you called me!" Steve had a strong hand, too, Q-Q. If no queen hit the board, though, I'd have well over half the chips in play with five players left.

The flop came Q-J-10, giving Steve top set but leaving me with six outs (a king or an ace). The turn brought a 10, chopping my outs from six to two. It was too bad, too, because the river was a king giving me an ace-high straight. "Oh, well," I thought. "It's time to regroup and get back to work." I was still in good shape, either second or third in chips.

After losing a big pot I wasn't about to do anything really stupid, but on the very next hand I picked up 4-4. I came right back with another raise making it $8,000 (the blinds were still $1,500-$3,000). Both the small blind and Steve Ford in the big blind called the raise.

I'd already decided that I wasn't going to invest any more chips on bluffs this hand. After losing a big pot, my opponents may think I'm steaming, making it more difficult to bluff the hand through. The flop came K 6 5.

Both players checked to me, and sticking to my plan, I also checked. The turn was the 4. My check on the flop worked perfectly, as I got a free card that gave me a set. Sweet! The small blind checked, and here came Steve again, betting $20,000. Finally! I'd been trying to set trap after trap for Steve, but never had a hand good enough to do it with. If he had a pair of kings here, or even two pair, I had him! I'd get all of my chips back from him precisely one hand after I lost them.

"I'm all in," I said. With a three-card straight on board and two hearts, I wasn't about to mess with it. Steve quickly called and I was feeling good. I turned over my set and Steve turned over … what's that? What's he got there? A flush draw?

Yup, Steve had a flush draw all right; the only problem was, he also had a straight! He had turned over the 3 2, and now I needed some help. "Pair the board!" No such luck, and I went from being the chip leader sixhanded to the rail in precisely two hands. Can you say shellshocked?

Honestly, though, it really didn't phase me. That's poker, what are you gonna do? I was happy with my decisions throughout the tournament, and in the end, that's all that truly matters. Sure, it sucks to take a bad beat, but the way I see it, it sucks worse to make a mistake and knock yourself out.

It just wasn't my day and I can live with that. I went to dinner with Jennifer and Marco and was feeling fine. Somehow, however, on my way to Bellagio, $10,000 dropped out of my pocket, but that's another story! Some waiter at the Macaroni Grill probably didn't show up for work the next day, that's for sure!

That really ticked me off. I mean, how dumb could I be? How could I just drop $10,000 in cash out of my pockets? I truly felt like a sucker.

The smart thing for me to do at that point was to go straight home, avoid any black cats, and call it a day. Nope, not this stubborn mule. I jumped right into a $1,000-$2,000 mixed game at Bellagio, and … well, the day turned out all right after all. I won every pot I played for about two hours, and after the tournament, the Macaroni Grill, and Bellagio, I ended the day a $106,481 winner. Things could have been worse.

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