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Australian Now the World Champion
Right now it’s 3:30 a.m. on July 16, during the 2005 World Series of Poker in Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas.
Phil Hellmuth (commenting live for CardPlayer.com and Real Networks): “With four players left in the championship, the blinds at $120,000-$240,000, and a $30,000-a-man ante, Joseph Hachem (pronounced “hash-im”) calls $240,000 on the button. Derrick “Tex” Barch calls in the small blind, and 27-year-old Aaron Kanter does what he’s been doing successfully for the last 12 hours, he raises it up $1 million more. Kanter has won a lot of money by making his opponents fold their hands before the flop. What’s this? Hachem has just announced that he’s all-in!”
(Loud-quick-rhythmic chanting from the crowd: “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy!”)
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Making the Good Fold in the Big One
Can you believe that 5,600 players entered the $10,000 buy-in main event at the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP)? And that they’re vying for $56 million in prize money and $7.5 million for first? Wow! For my part, with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson both picking up bracelet No. 10 at the 2005 WSOP — I’m stuck on nine bracelets — I was fired up to go out and make history. If I could manage to win the main event, then I would break every record in poker.
With a three-day split start — roughly 1,900 entrants playing per day — I drew day two. Early in the day they decided to put me at the ESPN table, going so far as to tape my late arrival. Of course I wore all black, including an UltimateBet.com hat, Oakley sunglasses and a black jacket (with a PH logo) zipped all the way up. (By the way, ESPN’s WSOP coverage begins the week of July 18.)I was unbelievably lucky for a while, catching A-A against my opponent’s K-K, making four jacks with my pocket jacks and flopping trips while my opponents flopped top pair. The next thing I knew, I had $52,000 in chips, and was, in my mind, guaranteed to make it to the next day. Then potential disaster struck.
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The Race to 10 Bracelets
I was hoping to be the first player to cross the historic threshold to World Series of Poker (WSOP) win No. 10. With three of us, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson and I all knotted up at nine bracelets apiece coming into the 2005 WSOP, the race was on, and ESPN was hyping it all the way. It was about 12 days ago, then, while Brunson and I were both deep into the pot-limit Omaha tournament, that Chan won his No. 10, in the pot-limit Hold’em. Of course, ESPN interviewed the two of us to get our reaction. Brunson and I both said, “Chan is a great player and a great guy, so having him get there first is fine with us.” Brunson added, “I’ll just win this next one and tie him.”
Brunson didn’t make it to the final table in that tournament, but I did. (With a crushing eighth-place finish, though, my dreams of garnering No. 10 there fell well short.) But in the very next tournament — the no-limit Hold’em — the 71-year-old Brunson did make the final table, and went on to win his 10th bracelet. I’m very happy for Brunson and Chan, and proud of them, but I’m not crazy about losing my record! (ESPN will show both of their wins, sometime in the next few months.)
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Old Lions Still Roar
Right now, I’m at the center of the poker universe. With 35 or so World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments currently being played out over six weeks (June 3 to July 15) at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, practically all the great players in the world are here trying to win bracelets. As I mentioned in a recent column, there are also plenty of wannabes here, too — and this is a wonderful thing. Some, like 2005 WSOP champion Greg Raymer, who picked up $5 million, will become rich and famous; others will find the road to poker riches too hard to handle.
My longtime pals T.J. Cloutier and John Bonetti (“Bono”), a couple of “old lions,” are here and showing the “young guns” a trick or two. A few days after Bono’s 77th birthday, he made the final table of the $5,000 buy-in no-limit Hold’em, along with 65-year-old Cloutier. (Both lions will be at my fantasy camp in August; have a look at CampHellmuth.com).
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Pocket Aces Are No Guarantee
On June 3, with a record field, the 2005 WSOP (World Series of Poker) got under way at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. The first event, a $1,500 buy-in no-limit Hold’em tournament, opened with 2,305 players! First place was roughly $700,000, and 200 players would make the money. I’m proud to say that I was one of those who made the money, which was my record-tying 46th “cash” (qualifying for prize money) at the WSOP. In fact, with about 60 players left I was the chip leader, but I faded down the stretch and finished a disappointing 24th.
Allow me to discuss the sickening hand I witnessed during the second day of the first tournament. With 236 players left (200 would make the money), a $100 ante and $400-$800 blinds, Jason Steinhorn opened in first position with 10-10. In the second position Ralph Levine made it $10,000 to go with his A-A. And now Greg Smallowitz, in third position, made a great fold with his J-J.
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Grading Three Different Approaches to One Hand
A few years back, I was teaching my friend Jeff Pulver how to improve his limit Texas Hold’em game. Pulver is heavily involved within the VON (Voice Over the Internet) industry, and, in fact, a 2004 FCC ruling was named the “Pulver Order.”
The following hand came up in a limit Hold’em game at the Bellagio. The No. 1 position called the $15 bid with Kd-Ks, and Pulver “limped in” (called) with 8s-8h in third position. The fourth position (to Pulver’s immediate left) raised to $30 with Qs-Jd, and the fifth position (the button) called the $30. The big blind called, and the first position called $15 more with his Kd-Ks. Pulver then re-raised the bet to $45 total, and everyone else proceeded to call the $45.
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