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Erupting in London
After playing for nine days at the World Series of Poker Europe in London, the highlight of my trip was a publicity stunt. I’m a person that prides himself on winning poker tournaments and making the final tables (the final nine players) — or at least making the money (the final 10 percent of the field). Since none of that happened, at least I had a stunt to remember the trip by:
UltimateBet.com rented a red double-decker bus with my face painted on it and signs reading “Phil Hellmuth Invades London” (for video check out youtube.com). Right from the bus, I walked into the Casino at the Empire on Leicester Square (where the WSOPE was held) with 12 beautiful models (sorry, honey) all in tow. At least I can say that I won the “best entrance” award.
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London Calling
When it was announced that the World Series of Poker Europe would be giving away three official World Series of Poker bracelets in London, almost every great poker player in the world cleared their schedules from Sept. 4 to Sept. 16. After all, it was the first time that a bracelet was given away outside of Las Vegas. And who wanted to miss that party?
On Sept. 10, I rolled into the Casino at the Empire on Leicester Square. Being that this event was so important, I decided to rent a red double-decker bus — open on top — and have a quick tour of London before I began my play. Of course, the bus had my picture on all four sides (press stunt), a DJ up top, a camera crew, the media and 12 beautiful models along for the ride. By the time I arrived at the Empire, I was in an awesome mood.
I began my day on the TV table, and was joined there by a great player named Thor Hanson. Despite being friends, Hanson and I started jawing at each other, which ended with Hanson saying, “I don’t fear you.” And without missing a beat, I said, “You should.”
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A Great Call in a Monster Game
I recently played in a $50,000 buy-in no-limit Hold ’em game in Las Vegas. The blinds started out at $200-$400, but a mere two hours into the game they were kicked up to $500-$1,000.
Rebuys were $50,000 a pop, making this particular game one of the biggest no-limit Hold ’em games I have ever played in. A great hand came up during play: With the blinds at $500-$1,000, Player A opened for $4,000, Player B called from the small blind, and Player C called as well with J-10. The flop was Js-10s-4s. Player B checked and Player C checked. Player A bet $15,000, Player B called $15,000 and Player C announced, “I raise.” Player C raised it up $45,000 more, Player A folded and Player B called instantly, but strangely Player B didn’t put any chips into the pot (which is OK as verbal declarations stand).
On the turn the 9h hit, and Player B announced he was all in. Player C studied for a while — with his top two pair — while counting down his own chip stack. Player C had more than $150,000 in chips left in front of him, and he was faced with a tough decision. What would you do with J-10 right here?
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Get a Hotel?
My wife tells me that I’ve been traveling too much lately. Since she’s never complained about my traveling before, I knew she was right. Thus, when the World Poker Tour event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles recently came up, I chose to fly to it on starting day, rather than a day early. That way, I had a day to hang out with my family. I considered skipping the tournament altogether, but this is one of the important ones with tons of history behind it. Way back when — in the ’80s and ’90s — this tournament was considered a “major” on the poker tour. In fact, the main event at the “Bike” was the first major that I won on tour, way back in 1988.
I arrived at the bike at 2:40 p.m. for a 2 p.m. start time and was promptly given a penalty for swearing — oops. I had been in the casino merely eight minutes before they asked me to leave the tournament area for one round of play (about 10 minutes or so). And I was certainly guilty. I swore, but not at anyone specifically, just over the frustration of losing with 10-10, 8-8 and 10-10 in eight minutes of play. Losing all three of those pots was probably due to the fact that I slow-played all three hands. At the break, I decided to play more aggressively (no more slow playing!), and lo and behold the chips started piling up.
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Hollywood Poker
My friend Houston Curtis from Los Angeles has some true Hollywood poker tales. This story begins in a private room in a swank nightclub where a bunch of A-list stars were playing in a $100 to $200 blind no-limit Hold ’em game. Unfortunately, these stars are so big that they do not want their names dropped. I can say that this hand came up last year, and that there was almost $1 million on the table when the hand came down.
Houston — who produced my “Million Dollar Poker System” DVDs, and also produces the “Ultimate Blackjack Tour” on CBS — opened for $1,000 with 5-5, and three players called, including the always colorful Casey Thompson. Thompson is a great character, who has made fortunes in business. He loves to have fun and on this particular night he had had too much to drink. I have played with Thompson in this drunken state before, and I lost money. (When someone has had too much to drink, you still have to avoid bad luck.) The night I played poker with Thompson — in Aruba in 2004 — he played $400 to $800 limit Hold ’em with his hand turned face up. Yep, you heard me right! He lost more than $100,000 that night, but somehow I lost as well — beating Thompson wasn’t hard, what with his hands turned face up, but I was unlucky against everyone else.
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The Subtle Things in Life
Lately, ESPN has been playing a show where I went for bracelet No. 12 on a final table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). While watching the broadcast, a couple of things came to mind. First, I should have folded the hand that I went broke on. Second, some subtle things happened during a spectacular hand that should have changed the course of the tournament.
With the blinds at $15,000 to $30,000 and a $4,000-per-person ante, Player A opened for $90,000 in early position. Player Beth Shak raised, and proceeded to count out the $90,000 and throw it into the pot. Then she waited about 10 seconds and said “all-in,” and pushed in the rest of her chips. I quickly, and I mean within a quarter of a second after she pushed, announced “all-in!” I had $130,000 or so. A few seconds after I jumped out of my seat moving all-in, Shak started dancing with joy. She even said — to her husband in the stands — “I got it!” The action was back on Player A, who studied for about 25 seconds before he called $280,000 (all of his chips with K-K). Shak flipped up A-A, I flipped up A-A, and Player A flipped up K-K. I have never seen A-A, A-A and K-K all out there in the same hand before. Shak and I went on to split the pot, and Player A was eliminated.
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