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It’s amazing to consider the massive ramifications of the simplest of mistakes. Tournament poker is ultimately a series of decisions, with each more important than the previous. Play perfect poker for a week and you can still be undone by one wrong step. It’s that precarious walk that keeps the adrenaline flowing.
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi did little wrong in 2006. He started the year on an incredible hot streak. To start, he finished second at the World Poker Tour’s Goldstrike World Poker Open in Tunica. Then, as if he were competing with himself, he went one better; he won the Borgata Winter Open, his second WPT title.
As strong as that start to the year was, it could have been better. It would have been, if not for a crucial misstep by the Grinder in Tunica. It wasn’t tactical; his strategy that month was as close to flawless as you’ll get on the felt. Instead, for one instant he let his guard down, succumbing to the excitement of the stage… the cameras… the moment. If he hadn’t, he’d probably have won the tournament. It would have made him the only player ever to win consecutive WPTs.
The beneficiary of Grinder’s misstep was Scotty Nguyen. The Vietnamese-immigrant-turned- American-champion had reached the WPT stage five times. In every one of them, he’d made his way to the table with the confidence of a king, only to have it shattered short of the goal. This time, though, he arrived with a massive chip lead; his T2,144,000 dwarfed the Grinder’s second place T1,271,000 stack. All smiles from the get-go, Scotty was ready to finally take his crown.
It wouldn’t be long before they’d tangle. Gavin Smith and An Tran clashed to start the night. Then, three consecutive hands were played without seeing a flop. Finally, the table folded around to Nguyen in the small blind. With Mizrachi waiting in the big, the 1998 World Series of Poker champion decided to play his pocket fours slowly, allowing Grinder a cheap flop when he just called. Grinder, holding 6d 5c, couldn’t have been happier.
The flop wasn’t good to either hand. The board came Ks Ts 7d, giving Nguyen the best of it, but with three ominous overcards staring him in the face. Rather than get himself into trouble, Scotty checked; and Grinder threw out a T35,000 bet to try to steal with six-high. Scotty announced, “If I call, I know you check the next bet… right, Baby?”, then promptly tossed his chips in the middle. He was right.
The turn was a monster for Nguyen, with the 4. giving him three-of-a-kind. He quietly checked with a direct double-tap on the felt. Playing Scotty’s game, the Grinder spoke: “He wants a check? Let’s give him a check.”
“See?” Scotty laughed, “I know, Baby!”
As good as the turn was for Nguyen, the river was bad. The 3h gave Grinder the unlikely, invisible straight. His bet on the flop camouflaged his hand, while the check on the pre-flop meant a higher set was more than a little unlikely. For those of us with hole cameras, Scotty was dead to rights.
The pot was 136,000 and Scotty murmured, “All right, I still check,” in the hopes of putting a check-raise on his man. He got the opportunity he was looking for. Grinder, portraying strength in an obtuse way intended to throw off his opponent, shook his head, saying to no one in particular, “I’m not checking… I don’t check.” He grabbed a stack of chips and put in T170,000.
Scotty paused, then repeated, “One-seventy?” before putting on a show for the Grinder’s benefit. “I can’t just call you here,” he said, pointing at his man before leaning back in his chair. Finally, he announced “I raise,” putting the T170,000 he’d been holding into the pot.
As Nguyen went back to his stack for more, Linda Johnson announced, “Scotty makes the call of one-seventy.” Grinder, lost in the excitement of the moment, threw his cards face up on the table, revealing his victory before Nguyen had time to put in any more chips. When he realized his error, he sheepishly tried to cover his cards up, but it was too late. The damage had been done.
It was clear that Scotty was about to make a major commitment to this pot, maybe big enough to try to take Grinder’s entire stack. It would have left Scotty amongst the shortest stacks. Instead, it was ruled that since the raise wasn’t in, Scotty still had the option to raise the pot. Obviously, he didn’t choose to take that route. Only now aware of the cold deck and the blunder that had saved him from it, he seemed almost relieved to have only lost “just” T225,000.
The shift in momentum was probably the difference-maker. If Grinder had managed to double up, he’d have had a commanding lead with almost half the chips in play. Instead, he was a little closer to first, but Nguyen still had the lead. He used it well; eventually the two faced off in the final. Scotty had his man out-chipped, thanks in large part to the earlier blunder. That was what made the difference. He finally got his title.
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