This year’s NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship proved once again why it is considered one of the premier events in poker. Starting April 8th on NBC, you will be able to witness all the thrills and excitement that filled the Caesars Palace Poker room. Here at Bluff we decided to give you a sneak peek. We got the inside look from both finalists on how tough it was to get to that championship match. Enjoy!
THE BEGINNING
By Paul Wasicka
At the end of January, I saw the list of 64 players to contend for NBC’s Heads-Up Champion, and my heart fell. I had just outlasted 735 people to take 12th in the largest poker tournament ever held in Australia. Although I respected all the players NBC selected, and recognized that there were definitely other great players who didn’t make the list; call me selfish, but I really wanted my shot. More than the potential fame, more than the cash, I wanted to go heads up against many of the world’s best. I had thought that Australia proved I wasn’t a fluke, so seeing the NBC list burned. At this point, I knew I was an alternate, but who on that list would pass up a chance to be the Heads-Up World Champ?
I proceeded to the LA Poker Classic (LAPC) with a chip on my shoulder. On Day 3, I heard the news: “There’s a chance Phil Hellmuth won’t get back from the UK in time for Heads Up. If you bring $20,000 to the draw party at Pure Nightclub on Thursday and Phil doesn’t show, you’re in!”
The LAPC final table was Thursday night, too. Focused on contending in the largest World Poker Tour Main Event ever, I sent someone to represent me. Thursday night, I got a phone call. “You’re in! You play Eli Elezra at 1pm tomorrow afternoon.”
The rest of the night was a blur. I busted out of the LAPC, grabbed a check for $455k, packed my suitcase, and kissed my family goodnight. As I passed out in the back of my 2007 Suburu WRX STI – my best friend shooting through LA and across the desert – it finally sank in. Tomorrow I’d get my shot.
DAY 1 - ELI ELEZRA
I hit Vegas at 3am and slept as long as possible before heading down to Caesars for my first match against Eli Elezra. A quick scouting report doubled what I knew about Eli: The former Israeli Special Forces Operative had twelve World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes under his belt. From playing with him on High Stakes Poker, I knew he’d test me early and often.
The actual match went really well. I caught a break when Eli slowplayed kings, enabling me to hit trip nines. I gradually built a nice lead, but I had virtually no experience playing heads-up poker; so I had trouble closing the deal. He did a great job chipping away and overcoming much of the early deficit, but eventually I got all the chips in as a substantial favorite and the cards held. This match lasted only an hour, but it took everything I had. Grinding out five days in LA had taken a toll. If I’d had to play again that day, I’m not sure I could have prevailed. I celebrated the victory with an awesome filet at Steak 9, drove home, and slept the sleep of the dead.
DAY 2 - JOSEPH HACHEM, TJ CLOUTIER
My next match was supposed to begin at 1pm as well, but at 10am I awoke to this phone call: “Your match with Hachem isn’t at 1:00; it’s at 11:00! Get down here ASAP because NBC wants an interview.”
Forty-five minutes, a fast shower, and a turkey sandwich later, I was down at Caesars, ready for former WSOP champion Joseph Hachem. I’d played with Joe several times. He plays like me. I won the first large pot we played and never really looked back. He forced some tough decisions on me but my reads were dead on. A few times I flopped the best hand and before I knew it, I had three quarters of the chips. He was raising a lot in position, so when I thought he was weak, and I looked down at A-3 suited, I reraised, pot. He’d ended up shoving in with A-9 off-suit and was in great shape. An A-9 had been good to him in Australia when I raised and called his all-in with the same hand, but ended up doubling him up. No luck for him this time, though. I made my flush draw on the river and headed out to pick up my new golf clubs.
Three hours later, I returned to the studio to face T.J. Cloutier. Unlike some of the players at this tournament, T.J. displays the class and demeanor that I respect and try to emulate. As we sat down, he mentioned that he’d been playing poker longer than I’d been alive. I’d watched his earlier matches and decided to come out playing really aggressive. The match ended up being relatively stress free because he didn’t pick up many cards. When he did pick up a hand, I either had a better hand or I made an easy fold.
One tough decision I did have against him happened with the blinds at $400/$800. I made it $2,500 on the button with 8-8 and he made it $9,000. I immediately grabbed chips to either call or raise, but after a long think I ultimately decided to fold and showed the eights. I felt great when he turned over his jacks.
With the blinds at $1,000/2,000, T.J. raised to $5k and I called with J♥9♥. The flop showed 10-5-6 with two hearts. Check, check. The turn was a jack. I bet $5k. He made it $18k and I went all in. He said he folded queens.
Towards the end of the match, I flopped a straight with 8-7 on a J-10-9 board. I bet large on the flop and he called. The board paired on the turn – check, check. A king on the river didn’t make things any better and we again both checked. He had J-8 – a big hand on the flop, but not against my holdings. I now had about three quarters of the chips.
I raised the next pot and he picked up 4-4, which had served him well against his previous opponent, Tuan Le; but when he shoved, he picked a bad spot because I was holding Q-Q. I had played two solid opponents on Day 2, but everything had come up Paul. I cruised into the elite eight rested and hungry for a title.
DAY 3 - NAM LE, SHANNON ELIZABETH, CHAD BROWN
Perhaps this is to be expected, but Day 3 proved vastly more difficult than the previous two. My first match was against Nam Le, about whom I knew very little. Nam Le definitely doesn’t receive the credit he deserves. He had a better strategy than I, going in. He kept whittling me down, but I won a few big pots to stay in it, tricking him into thinking I was weak when I wasn’t.
I have no idea which hands will make it to TV, but if I got a vote, it’d be for this one: I raised on the button with A-4 off-suit and he called. The flop came K-10-4. He checked and I also checked because I thought he’d check-raise me with any two cards. The turn was a 5♦, bringing the second diamond. He bet into me, around half the pot. I min-raised to see what his reaction would be. He quickly called, which led me to believe that he either had a ten or a draw. The river was a king, pairing the kings. He thought for a while and got this look in his eye that made me think he was trying to figure out how to win the pot. He bet small. At this point I had no idea if he had a ten or just a missed draw, but given the odds I was getting, I decided to call. He had to be bluffing only one in five times for me to make that call and I thought he’d be bluffing at least half the time here. My pair of fours was good. The crowd went nuts.
At this point, the blinds were out of control, so we started shoving with anything decent. For most of this craziness, the worse hand came out on top. After seesawing back and forth, I shoved with K-J and he called with A-2. I hit a king and won the hand, essentially forcing him to go all in blind the following hand. I called with A-Q and his 9-2 didn’t improve. Although the match ultimately degenerated into a shove-fest, I had him all in twice for his tournament life when I had the best hand before I had to go all in at all. This was my toughest match thus far.
Shannon Elizabeth surprised everyone and made believers out of many. She was my toughest match of the entire tournament. I went in with a gameplan that I thought had success written all over it. I thought she’d be extremely aggressive so I planned to wait for a hand and trap her. To my surprise, she came out playing small pot poker. I took an early chip lead, but then it got ugly. She simply stopped folding, no matter what I bet or when. I’d completely lost the ability to bluff, not that I was doing much anyway. Her strategy forced me to hit hands, and that didn’t happen for a while. When I finally started hitting some hands, she hit trips or two pair on the river and I’d pay her off with top or middle pair. Pretty soon, she had a 5:1 chip lead on me. Both of us wanted this badly, and I was in dire shape.
Eventually, Shannon raised on the button and I looked down at 10-10. I made an obvious all-in given my stack, and she had to call with A-Q suited. The race was on. She flopped a queen but I rivered a straight to win the pot.
She was devastated after that pot so I turned up the heat. She still had the chip lead, but I could tell that she was reeling. I developed a substantial chip lead, but both of us went card dead for about twenty minutes. Finally I hit a few hands in a row and she ended up having to call all in with 5-6 off-suit against my A-K. I went in thinking she was an actress and came out realizing that she is a poker player, and a good one at that.
After a forty-five minute break that flew by, I looked over at my last opponent, “Downtown” Chad Brown. We had both competed for Bluff Magazine’s Player of the Year for a good part of 2006, so we had a mutual respect for each other. Unlike the contests up until this point, the final heads-up battle was a best two out of three. Early on during the first match, he’d win a few small pots and then I’d win a medium-sized one to even the score. I caught him bluffing a few times, which seemed to rattle him a bit. I began by playing tight and passive, planning to use this (tight, passive, hard-to-bluff) image to become ultra-aggressive later. I hit a few hands and acquired the chip lead. Before this tournament, I hadn’t played much head up, but in the finals things started clicking. I swung into high gear, putting him all in with A-J against his 7-5. He won. Then I got the chip lead back and put him all in with Q-8 against his J-J. He won and the process repeated. I regained the lead and put him in with Q-J, against 9♣5♣ on a 9-8-4 board with two clubs. He, of course, insta-called and I needed a non-club Q, J, or 10, but he doubled up again. I got the chip lead back by raising pre-flop and stealing the enormous blinds. Finally, I limped with 6-8 and he checked. The flop came 6-3-3 with two spades. He went all in and I called. He showed A-J of spades. I won the coin flip and the match.
The second match was over by the second level. We both came out playing very aggressively. I won a large pot early and then kept the pressure on, raising with good hands, betting the flop and forcing him to fold. Pretty soon I raised with A-J. He reraised and I called. The flop came K-J-rag with three clubs. I didn’t have a club. He bet and I called. The turn was a rag. He checked and I checked. The river was another king. He checked and I bet $80k for value. He called and my A-J was good.
After a few more hands, I’d built up a huge chip lead. He raised and I called with Q-J. The flop came K-10-9. He bet, I raised, he went all in, and I called. He had a K-4 and that was it.
The next hour was a blur of interviews, photos, and getting paid. I finally celebrated with my friends and family around midnight.
CONCLUSION
Poker is a crazy, crazy game and that’s what makes it brutally frustrating at times and so incredibly exciting at others. Some matches ended up being easier than a day at the $10/$20 tables, while others forced me to play the best poker of my career.
I couldn’t have done this without help. My friends and family supported me, counseled me, and helped me plan out the campaign. The producers at NBC gave me a chance. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Phil Hellmuth headed to England, freeing up that 64th spot. Thanks, Phil; there’s a bottle of Dom headed your way.
This win means a great deal to me. Coming in second in the World Series is an accomplishment of which I’m incredibly proud, but for the past year I’ve also carried the burden of needing to prove it wasn’t a fluke. I’ve been called an “up-and-comer,” but I have to say I don’t really know what that means. If it means that I still have a lot to learn about poker, I’ll easily admit to that. Anyone who thinks this great game has nothing more to teach him is a sucker.
I have the utmost respect for the great players who came before me – people who made the industry what it is today. I haven’t won a single bracelet and I may never be as famous as the players who bring gimmicks and trash talk to the table. When I’m at the table, I’m all business. I don’t self-promote or carry on like a carnival sideshow act when the cameras are on me. Call it boring television or whatever you want, but I let my play do the talking and that should be entertaining enough. As for being labeled an “up-and-comer,” I’ve sat at the final tables for both the largest WPT and the largest WSOP events in history. It wasn’t a fluke, people. I’m no up-and-comer. I’m there, and I’ll be at your table soon.
The End
By Chad Brown
DAY 1 - YOSH NAKANO
My first match was against an old friend of mine, Yosh Nakano. Yosh and I have played many hours together. In fact, when I first started playing poker seriously about fifteen years ago, Yosh was already a seasoned pro. Our match played out with a lot of small pots and the lead went back and forth. By the time the blinds were high, Yosh had taken
a small chip lead on me.
The pivotal hand came when I raised on the button with K♣2♣. Yosh made the call. The flop came out 9-9-2 rainbow. Yosh checked to me and I made a big bet, hoping to take it down right there. Yosh thought for a while and pushed all in. So, into the tank I went. I didn’t put him on aces or a nine. I thought that if he had one of those hands, he wouldn’t try to push me off my hand. So I figured he had a pocket pair, or the less likely hand of ace-big kicker. If I mucked, he would have a 3 to 1 chip lead (making him a 3 to 1 favorite to win the match), and if he didn’t have a pocket pair, I would be about a 3 to 1 favorite to win the hand. If I called and he had a pocket pair, I would be about a 3 to 1 dog. At the time, that was my thinking, so I made the call. Yosh turned over his hand: pocket kings. What?! I hadn’t factored that in, given that I had a king in my hand. It was a well-disguised trap by Yosh. Well, it looked like I’d be rooting for my girlfriend Vanessa Rousso from the stands if a deuce didn’t come up on one of the next two cards.
The turn was no help. Now, before the river came up, I remembered that I had lost a 35k pot just last week on Cash Poker to a two-outer on the river. I had pocket aces and Adam Richardson had pocket queens. And, of course, a queen hit the river. But I truly believe the cards always break even, and, unfortunately for Yosh, they decided to break even against him. A deuce hit the river and the crowd let out a scream. Poor Yosh was nauseous and I don’t blame him. He was left with just a few chips and was unable to get lucky against me. Yosh had played very well and deserved to win.
DAY 2 - GABE KAPLAN, KRISTY GAZES
In my second match, I played another old friend and someone of whom I was a fan growing up – Gabe Kaplan (of Welcome Back, Kotter). When I was young, his show was the most popular sitcom on television and it was also the show that made John Travolta a star. Gabe and I had fun with our match, and he was playing very well until he made one mistake that cost him. The blinds were starting to get high and I think he felt he needed to open the margin of his small lead. He limped on the button and I raised from the big blind. Now, throughout our match, I had raised only a few times out of position, which meant that when I did, it was likely I had a big hand. He thought for about 30 seconds and pushed all in. I had pocket jacks and was sure it was the best hand. I called within 2.5 seconds. The look on his face confirmed my feelings as he turned over two fives. My jacks held up and, after one more hand, I was on to the next round.
In the third match, I was paired against Kristy Gazes. Although Kristy and I have been friends for a long time, we have never really played any poker together. Kristy was coming into this match on a roll, having cashed in her fourth tournament in a row, so I knew I had some stiff competition. The turning point in this match was when Kristy raised pre-flop with 9-9 out of position and I called her raise after limping on the button with A-3 suited. The flop came 6-6-6 and it surprised Kristy so much that she commented to me, “Wow, that’s weird. That’s the sign of the devil.” In her surprise, she forgot to bet the flop. I was happy to get a free card and, boom, a fourth 6 on the turn. Well, of course, I now had the nuts with my ace-kicker and, when she fired out a big bet on the turn, I just called. The reason I just called is that, if I had come over the top here, she wouldn’t have been able to call without an ace, and so by just calling, she might think I only had a king and she might try to push me off it. She checked the river and I didn’t bet, just so I could see what hand she had raised with out of position. She flipped over the nines thinking it was a chopped pot. Remember, you use the best five cards (so she had quad sixes with only a nine kicker). Kristy, of course, knows that, but had made the kind of mental error that we all make occasionally. Sometimes all the poker we play day in and day out catches up with us and we get fatigued and don’t even know it.
Kristy was clearly upset and I don’t think she was able to forgive herself. I would be upset with myself, too, but we have to accept that we’re human and that we’re going to make mistakes. Before this happened, Kristy had been playing very well and I think that
made her lose her confidence. The last hand saw her raise pre-flop with K-3. I made the call with K-Q. The flop was K-Q-x. Kristy bet, I raised, and she pushed all in. I called, and my kings and queens held up. It was on to Yukon Brad in the next round.
DAY 3 - YUKON BRAD, GAVIN SMITH, PAUL WASICKA
Brad has become a new friend of mine, and he, like Kristy, was a player with whom I hadn’t previously had the occasion to play. Brad has a reputation of being a really tough opponent. He mixes up his play well and is never afraid to put a lot of chips in on a bluff. I think my strategy against him, however, was very sound. There were a number of hands where I hit the flop – sometimes with bottom pair – and would proceed to check-call his continuation bet. Now, normally I like to put my opponent to the decision, but I know that if Brad senses weakness, he is capable of firing as many as three bullets in a row! So I was playing more possum with him than I had been with anyone else up to this point in the tournament. Since I was hitting a lot of flops, that was the strategy I stuck with. If I’d been missing flops, I would have made the adjustments.
The match didn’t really have a key hand that merits discussion; I just started well right out of the gate and never looked back. My next match was against Gavin Smith.
Gavin is another friend of mine and, although we have never played cash games with each other, we have been at the same table a number of times in tournaments. One of the best parts of my game, I believe, is that I change speeds well. I also think that is one of Gavin’s strengths, so I didn’t really have a set strategy for playing him. It was going to be all about adjusting to the style of play he chose to employ. Well, independently, we both decided to play small pots.
I jumped into a nice lead and, to Gavin’s credit, he never got rattled. He never gave up hope that he was going to come back in the match. I started to play more hands as a result of my chip lead. Gavin noticed that and made a play on me by pushing all in after I had raised pre-flop. I called with pocket tens and he turned over 6-7 off-suit. The flop came 10-4-8, giving me a set of tens and Gavin a double belly buster straight draw. Well, this was it. If my set held up, I would be on my way to the championship. The turn was no help to either of us, but the river was a five! Remember that scream the crowd let out earlier when I hit the two on the river against Yosh? Well, this one was even bigger! Gavin hit his straight and was now almost even in chips. Wow! But no need to panic; I still had a small chip lead. Back to small poker we went.
The key hand after that was when Gavin called my pre-flop raise when I held Q-J. He had Q-3 (maybe suited). The flop was Q-Q- 6. I bet, he called, and the turn put up a seven. I bet again and he called. The river came a four and Gavin led out with a big bet. I made the call, hoping he didn’t hit the straight, and was relieved to see his trip queens, with a smaller kicker than mine. This gave me about a 2:1 chip lead. The last hand of the match saw Gavin push all in with a small pocket pair. Unfortunately for him, he moved all in right into my pocket aces. Once again, I was a big favorite to go onto the championship. But we still needed to see the flop, turn and river… It all came up aces for me and I was on to the championship round!
It’s a great feeling going to the championship. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it. In the championship match I was pitted against Paul Wasicka. Not only had I never played with Paul, but this was the first time that I had even met him. He was coming into this championship having won five heads-up matches in a row and, just a few days earlier, placed in fourth at the WPT championship at the Commerce Casino. And let’s not forget his second place finish at the WSOP championship last summer! This guy’s for real and I knew I had my work cut out for me.
We would play the best of three. In the first match, there were a number of lead changes. As the blinds went up, we were close in chips, with Paul holding a lead of a few pennies. I limped on the button with A♠J♠. Paul checked and we saw the flop, 3-3-6 with two spades. Paul led out with a big bet to take it down right there. This was what I was looking for (having two overcards and the nut flush draw), and so I pushed all in. I was a small favorite (with fifteen outs) against a pair of sixes, as long as he didn’t have a jack in his hand or an ace-kicker to go with his six. Paul thought about it for a long time and came to the conclusion that I had what I had and that it was a good spot to gamble. We were almost even money, and he turned up 6-8 off-suit, giving him top pair. This was for the first match, and the turn and the river didn’t help me. Paul was up one game.
We took a 15-minute break, during which I got a call from my good friend, actor James Woods. He left me a message of encouragement, saying that I would come back to win. I mean, that’s how big this was. People from all over were sweating this match on the internet. And Jimmy, who’s still shooting his big hit series Shark, working 16-hour days, still wanted to sweat the match! It made me feel good that he took the time to call me in the middle of it. I was determined not to let him and all my other friends down. I knew that Paul was playing very well, and, with him up one match in a best-of-three competition, I was now a 3 to 1 dog to come back and win the next two matches in a row. I decided to change gears and play more aggressively in the next one.
Paul got off to a lead early on. He was hitting all the flops and I couldn’t seem to get anything going. There was one crucial hand in that match. Paul had raised on the
button and I reraised out of the big blind. I held A-Q off-suit. It was a big reraise and he called. The flop came J-K-x with three clubs. I held the A♣, giving me the nut flush draw as well as a gutshot straight draw. I bet three quarters of the pot. Paul thought about it for a while. He held A-J off-suit for middle pair – but he didn’t have a club for a flush draw. He decided to make the call. Now, before the turn came, I had to decide with what hand he had called. I put him on four possible hands: Q-10 with the queen of clubs, A-J, A-Q with the queen of clubs, or top pair, kings. The turn put up an off-suit nine. Now, before that card, I had been willing to push on the turn, thinking the only hand he would call with was top pair kings. However, with the nine showing up, he would now have a straight if he indeed held Q-10. So I checked and he checked. The river didn’t help and I checked again; he made a small value bet, which I called (in case my ace-high was good – the bet was small enough to call). Unfortunately, he turned up his A-J to take it down.
Now shortstacked, I raised on the button with K-4 off-suit, and Paul called. The flop came K-9-10. He checked, I bet, he raised, and I pushed all in with everything I had left, thinking my top pair kings would be the best hand. He insta-called and showed Q-J for the nut straight. I was in a rough spot and would need runner-runner to win. It didn’t happen, and Paul had the final match for the championship. I have no regrets, though. I feel I played well and had a lot of fun along the way. Paul is a class act and a great player… even though he didn’t accept my offer to make it best out of five!
