Bay 101 – Use Your Powers

Date: 2007.04.23 | Category: Hand Of The Week | By: Phil Hellmuth   

At the beginning of March, the World Poker Tour (WPT) held its annual event in my back yard — at the Bay 101 in San Jose — and I felt like I was ready to play some great poker. I had just won four heats out of seven (with six players each in them) in England, and I had a close call in Tunica at the last WPT event that I played in. I came in my customary 90 minutes late and began my day using extremely tight tactics. Why not play a super-patient strategy, especially up here in Nor Cal, where they’re known to play big pots with weak hands. Another reason to play patiently was that this was a bounty tournament, and I was a bounty; meaning that whomever knocked me out would win $10,000 in cash. Of course, this caused more players to play more pots against me in order to try and bust me.

As the day progressed, I steadily built my chips up in a risk-free manner. Whenever I say that I “steadily built my chips up in a risk-free manner,” I’m running my chips up, while playing small pots and keeping myself out of serious risk.