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What can I say? I love this tournament; yet for the past two years I have been eliminated because I made a mistake at a bad time. Last year it was the dreaded A-10 losing to A-Q. This year A-10 didn’t do much better against my opponent’s K-Q.
However, even though that was technically my exit hand, I don’t really view it that way. I was so short by that time that Kirk Morrison had to call my all-in and, thus, it was the hand against Phil Helmuth that truly was my downfall. I pride myself on making the right reads in crucial situations. Every now and then I get bluffed; however, rarely do I make a bad call down.
I’m almost embarrassed to describe the hand, but here’s how it went. Five minutes into the day, Phil showed up running to the table and immediately raked in a monster. He now had close to a million chips. A few minutes later he raised under the gun to $50,000 (blinds were at $10,000/$20,000/$3,000 ante) and I decided to call with 9-9 and a $450,000 stack. I haven’t decided whether or not I like my play here. Part of me thinks I should have just reraised him to find out how strong he was pre-flop, because I know that I’m at least calling a continuation bet on the flop. The other part of me didn’t want him to raise me off the hand with an A-K or A-Q because I was relatively short at the table.
However, having played with Phil in the past, I know he hates to play big pots. I know Phil loves to raise under the gun because he figures people will have a tougher time reraising him without a huge hand, so his range is actually much bigger from this spot than, say, middle position. Another thing to consider is his newfound wealth. There are two outcomes when someone takes down a big one early — they either start gambling with the profits or they protect them. There are so many variables to consider; figuring out which variable trumps the next is what makes this game so much fun!
Anyway, back to the hand. I called with my nines and the flop came A-A-8. He led out $50,000 and I called, figuring he would slow down if he didn’t have an ace. The problem here is, most of the time he will have one of four hands. He’ll either have an ace, a high pocket pair, a low pocket pair, or paint. Two of the possibilities in this range have me beat and I don’t intend to bluff him off a big pair later in the hand. If he has paint, he still has plenty of outs, and I’m most likely going to be giving him a free river because I would be committing too many chips to the pot if I bet the turn and decide to fold to a check-raise or a bet on the river. Not only that, but if I check the turn and any card higher than a nine comes on the river, he’ll most likely throw out an obligatory steal or value bet on the river, and I’ll have another tough decision.
Therefore, I’m basically hoping he has a small pair and will check it down if I call the flop. However, in retrospect, I think at this stage in the tournament, having just sat down and started the day off, Phil is folding most small pairs under the gun. In fact, I’m willing to bet that he’d raise more often in this situation with complete garbage than with a small pocket pair.
The turn brought another 8 and he threw out $60,000 after not much thought. At this point the plan was to fold, but then I got to thinking… (dohh!) Why would he fast-play an ace here? He knows that I’m going to fold if I don’t have an ace. Why not check and let me bet? I out-thought myself and played right into his trap. He probably knew that very thought would pop into my head and also that I often make pretty brave calls. Well played, Phil; I’ll be the first to admit you completely owned me this hand. At least I was outplayed by a player I truly respect and have learned a lot from throughout my career.
The river brought a king, which at this point didn’t really matter. If I called the turn, I don’t think folding on the river is the right play. He bet $120,000 and I reluctantly called, hoping he would show a counterfeited pair or possibly Q-J. He showed A-J and I was crippled.
I live and die by my reads, and this time I died. However, writing this post helps me to look back on the hand and realize at which points I made mistakes. Last year at this event I was heartbroken and in tears after playing lights out for five days, only to blow up with fifteen players remaining. This year there were no tears, but the pain was no less severe. I know it sounds weird, but I’m the type who doesn’t mind if I get coolered or bad beat out of a tournament. As long as I feel I played the hand correctly, I just keep telling myself there is nothing more I could have done and “that’s just the way the cards fall.” However, when I feel like I was eliminated because of inadequacy, the pain is deep.
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