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If you were lucky enough to make it out to the WSOP
this year, the first thought that probably popped in
your head was, “Damn, look at this sea of tables”.
As you made your way to the back of the room you couldn’t
help but notice the TV table area, set up for final
tables that are broadcast on ESPN. Now, being a competitive
person, all I wanted was to make it deep in a tournament
and have the chance to play at that table. Sure enough,
I got my chance; so come take a ride with me as I relive
the three days of this year’s Pot Limit Omaha
Championship at the WSOP.
Pot Limit Omaha is played with four cards, but you
can only play two cards out of the four. And you must
play two cards; so, say you have the ace of hearts and
there are four hearts on the board, it’s not a
flush. You must have another heart in your hand to actually
have the flush. With No Limit tournaments growing so
big these days, I made a point of learning other games
just so I wouldn’t have to beat 600-1000 players
every time I sat down to play. This particular event
had 212 players.
I had especially postmarked this date and this tournament,
and really expected to do well. The first day of the
tournament, however, was one of the most humbling days
of my life. I had the honor (and I say that with a hefty
dose of sarcasm) of sitting to the right of the most
amazing poker player in the world. What Phil Ivey does
at the poker table is sick, sick, sick! No matter who
is at the table, he has an uncanny knack of always controlling
the flow of the game. He made it absolutely impossible
for me to get a handle on it; ten rebuys later I realized
that I would have to change my style.
One of the funniest hands I have ever been involved
in comes to mind. The blinds were still 25/50 and I
had the button. There were a couple limpers and I picked
up a KJ- J-3, with two suits. My stack was fairly good
at the time and I think the only person that had me
covered was Phil. I limped in the hand for 50 and Phil
decided he was going to be cute and raise it 50 more
from the small blind. My ego was crushed; does this
guy think he is so good that he can build a pot from
first position and get away with it? No Sirreeeee! I
put my 50 in the pot and said ‘raise’. Now
there are about four players caught in between Phil
and me and our game of ‘My balls are bigger than
yours’. Phil and I went back and forth raising
the minimum amount five times, when one guy got sick
of it and raised all in for about 2,000. Now, you know
me – I’m a sucker for position and, since
I had the button, I called, as did Phil. I end up winning
the pot, and it was off to the races for me. That pot
brought my stack up to about 30k and the table broke
soon after that.
As the day wore on, my stack increased slowly. Then
the most memorable hand of the tournament came along.
There were about five tables left and I picked up aces
with a couple of side cards – I don’t remember
what they were – and just limped in. One guy raised
the pot, but since we were both pretty deep in chips,
I wanted to disguise my hand and not re-raise him. The
flop came A-Q-3 and I led right into the pot. He raised
the max, and when the action got back to me, I did the
same. This guy and I were two of the chip leaders in
the tournament, and I was extremely happy to have thrown
him a curve ball by not raising preflop. He had flopped
a set of queens and he ended up all in. This guy was
distraught when I showed him that I had flopped a set
of aces; he had no idea what had hit him. Now I had
a huge chip lead.
As play continued, I was able to maintain my chip lead.
The tournament paid 18 places and, when we reached 18,
we were going to quit and come back the next day to
play down to the final table, which would be televised
on ESPN. With 19 players left, I found the action getting
a little snug, and you know what that means: time to
pick up the pace and steal some blinds. I picked up
a good 20k in blinds before I hit a little road bump.
The player to my left picked up aces two hands in a
row and proceeded to double through me consecutively.
I went from big chip leader with 19 left to a measly
seventh place when we finally quit for the day.
When I think about it, the same exact thing happened
to me in last year’s Main Event. Every time something
bad would happen, I was granted some sort of timeout.
I would lose a ton of chips and then play would be over
for the day. I would take a horrible beat, then it was
time for dinner. Someone up there was looking after
me by not giving me a chance to tilt the remainder of
my chips off, something that I have done a MILLION FRIGGIN
TIMES!
The next day, I was fresh and ready to go. I felt great
and had a feeling something good would happen. Early
on, I found myself in a dream spot against John Juanda.
We had gotten all in after a flop of two clubs. I had
pocket kings with a flush draw and John had pocket queens
with a
smaller flush draw. The only thing that would beat me
was a queen and, fortunately, John didn’t catch
it. A few hands later, I won another big pot, but this
time I beat a guy who was holding kings. Everything
was going my way and it looked like I would be able
to coast to the final table.
And coast I did; I ended up reaching the final table
in second chip position, but knew I had still a huge
task ahead. The talent at the final table was amazing:
three or four bracelet holders, two super high limit
players, a couple of the finest players from Europe,
and a kid from Houston that could flat out play!
I was amazed at the amount of sleep that I had gotten
the night before. I know I haven’t been at many
final tables, but the night before is always brutal.
I usually get about four hours of sleep. I lie there
staring at the ceiling in anticipation of the next day.
Angela and I made it over to the RIO in time for our
interviews for ESPN. The closer it got to our 2pm start
time, the more anxious I got. I sure hope it didn’t
show too bad, but I think it’s going to be impossible
not to see the fear in my eyes. I wanted that second
bracelet so bad I could taste it. I had pictured myself
winning the tournament for the last 24 hours and now
it was time to put up or shut up.
The cards were finally in the air around 2:30 and that’s
when everything started to click. I won the first few
pots I entered and it seemed as if everything was going
exactly the way I had planned. All the chips were falling
in the right spot and no one was amassing a large stack,
which would be hard to overcome later on down the line.
The players started dropping like flies and, before
I knew it, there I was, heads up with the only Main
Event winner at our table, Chris Ferguson. I had a 2:1
chip lead, but I knew it wasn’t going to be a
cakewalk to victory. Chris is one of the best poker
players in the world and that’s why he has five
WSOP Bracelets to his name. It was a battle. We saw
a flop 23 times out of the first 25 hands dealt. The
first all in came when Chris flopped a set and I flopped
an openended straight. I missed the straight and was
in trouble. Chris had taken the wind out of my sails
and it was the first dent my stack had taken since late
in day one of the tournament. Chris now had a 3-1 chip
lead and all the momentum was in his corner.
I don’t know if the tournament director was trying
to add to the adversity I was facing, but at one point
we took a popularity vote from the crowd. When he said
Chris’ name the whole place went nuts. The stands
were packed and I was definitely the road team underdog
in this battle. When my name was announced, there were
three people hooting and hollering: my wife, Erick Lindgren,
and super-agent Brian Balsbaugh. My back was against
the wall and it was evident by the reaction of the crowd.
It seemed inevitable that, before long, Chris Ferguson
would be awarded his sixth bracelet.
Chris continued to put on the pressure and I felt like
I was up against the Colts offense and the Ravens defense
(can you tell I have NFL on my mind?). I needed something
to change, so I asked Chris politely, “Do you
mind if we take a two minute bathroom break?”
He didn’t mind; everything was going his way and
I’m sure he thought it was just a matter of time
before I would have to push the remainder of my chips
in his direction. I took a slow stroll to the bathroom
and looked at myself in the mirror and said, “You’ve
come too far to give up now. The bracelet is right there
in front of you and it’s not going to be handed
to you. Reach up and grab. GO GET IT!” I didn’t
need to use the bathroom, I just needed to interrupt
his momentum
and give myself my best version of some Vince Lombardi
speech. When I returned to the table, Chris was putting
his sports coat back on. Johnny Grooms, the tournament
director, told me that Chris had been singing to the
crowd. That really motivated me: “SAY WHAT? OH,
HELL NO! This guy is singing to the crowd? I wonder
if he’s already spent the $380,000 first prize
money too?”
From that point on I was a man on a mission. I check-raised
with nothing; I bet with nothing; I dug as deep as I
could in my soul to find it and used it. The chip count
swung back in my direction and I wasn’t letting
them go this time. The last hand is a funny one, you
will have to see it on TV, but it basically boils down
to me calling his all in bet with a measly pair of deuces,
and I actually had his hand crushed. Chris had very
few outs, three to be exact. I had finally won that
second bracelet I had been fighting for for so long.
Overcoming one of the best poker players of our day
was icing on the cake baby!
It had been five long years since I won my first bracelet
and I can now actually think that I am pretty good.
Tons of people say, “Well anyone can win one tournament.”
Now I can say I have two. Thank you to all my supporters
out there that have gone through the thick and thin
with me. Now you can tell all your friends, “See,
I told you he can at least play a little!”
I frequent the tables at Bodogpoker.com and I love
chatting it up with my fellow players. So if you are
bored and want to watch some good poker and play at
one of the friendliest sites around, come play there
with me. As far as Atlanta Poker School goes, I’ve
cancelled classes for now, but I totally intend to have
a weekend workshop sometime in the near future. Check
out my site at www.josharieh.com for more details. Oh,
and this tournament you just read about
will be televised on ESPN Sep 6th.
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