I tried something new the day of the $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour
Championship (WPT) event. Rather than sleep in on Day 1, I went to the
MGM Grand at 11 a.m. to film the finale for Bravo's “Top Chef” (I was a
judge). Afterwards, I made my customarily late entrance to a
championship poker event - a near-record three hours late.
In
this tournament, we started with $50,000 in chips and the blinds were
raised very slowly, so that I had over $47,000 in chips when I sat down.
A
player opened for $2,000 with A-10, I called with 10-10, and Roy Thung
called from the small blind. The flop was 6-3-2, Thung checked, the
original raiser checked, and now I bet out $4,000 with my pocket 10s.
Thung raised it up, making it $6,000 more to call, and the original
raiser folded his hand. What to do! Should I fold, should I call $6,000
more, or should I move all-in for $25,000 total?
I began to
study Thung, and it occurred to me that I didn't think that he had
pocket jacks or pocket queens, and I felt like he would have reraised
with pocket kings or pocket aces before the flop. Thus, he had either
flopped trips, or he had a pocket pair I could beat. Also, the thought
that he may have been bluffing, or that he may have had A-6 in his
hand, crossed my mind.
Finally, I moved all-in and Thung called
me instantly. Another instant call, another “uh oh” moment, and Thung
did indeed have me beat - he showed me his pocket deuces, which made
three of a kind. I had made a bad read; thinking that Thung was weak
when he was actually super strong. And now I was in a world of hurt. I
couldn't hit two flush cards or two straight cards to win this pot. No,
I needed a 10, and unknown to me, the original raiser had folded a 10.
Luckily
for me, the turn card was the last miracle 10! I figure that I was over
a 20-to-1 shot to hit a 10 (44-to-1 plus 43-to-1). Fortunately for me,
I won the hand, and ended day one with $82,000 in chips.
If
you're curious where I ended up in this tournament, the tournament
ended on Monday and I placed 50th out of 100 other poker players.
By Phil Hellmuth
