Against All Odds

As I read through poker these amazing hands, I realize I remember them all- and some all too well! Many of them I would like to forget, like the one titled “The Weirdest and Biggest Pot of My Life-So Far,” which talks about poker a key $1.5 million pot that I lost at the final table of the 2002 WSOP (World Series of Poker).  Another couple of hands that I would like to forget are the two titled “Wow, are you Serious?” and “Phil Misreads His Hand, Too,” where T.J. Cloutier and I both misread our hands in key pots, one of them on Fox TV! Others, like “Spooky Hand,” I remember fondly.  Whatever else might be said about them, these are all remarkably odd hands.

The Shirt Off My Back

Very superstitious, writing’s on the wall…
When you believe in things you don’t understand…
-Stevie Wonder, “Superstition,” 1972

You often hear about the superstitions of sports figures: some refuse to shower or shave before a big game of cards, others only wear a certain pair of socks, and some may take a certain route to the ball field, being careful to avoid the baseline.  In fact, Michael Jordan always wore a pair of sky-blue North Carolina shorts beneath his NBA shorts in every pro game he played, and don’t try to tell me that they helped him fly high low poker! Whatever works, right?  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and all that.

            The same may be true for some of the Professional Poker Players card games I know.  In future tournaments, will John Duthie wear the same lucky black shirt he was wearing when he won the 2000 Poker Million-and a million pounds?

            (That’s my shirt, by the way, John.  Is there any chance you’ll be giving it back to me someday?  You told me quite clearly, when I literally gave you the shirt off my back, that my black UltimateBet.com shirt was the only one you’d be willing to wear.  Afterward, you told millions of television viewers that you were wearing my shirt, so it’s hard to believe you don’t remember that it’s mine.  UltimateBet.com and I certainly appreciate the exposure, but can I get the shirt back now?  Or do you intend to wear it again soon?  I guess I can’t blame you.  If I had won in 2000, I’d be wearing the same shirt, too winning poker!)

            Will past Shooting Star the winners John Bonetti and Huck Seed find themselves in the same accommodations when they go to Silicon Valley to play in Bay 101’s Shooting Stars event?

            (That was my house, by the way, Huck and Bono.  Of course, someone staying at my house will win again.  Maybe I shouldn’t have invited you to stay again.  Oh yeah, that’s right, you invited yourselves to stay at my house!  Even if I did pay for my house by staking Bono in the past, a man’s got to make a living.  Do I want to give away a percentage of what I have to win by having the two of you, and, geez, Andy Glazer as well, stay with me this year?  Well, never let it be said that I’m not a man of my word.  Sure, come on and stay over.  I’ll just have to make do with only a 25 percent chance of winning card games the Shooting Stars, along with Huck, bono, and !ndy!)

            wait a minute; I think I see a trend! Maybe I’m the good-luck charm! After all, I’m burdened with my own superstitions as well.  I always wear black at major championship events, and you have to admit that my success is better that average.  But does this make any sense at all?  As a game of cards theorist, I know that my chances to win are the same whether I wear black or white, but I have to admit to being a bit superstitious.  And I believe only in good luck (not bad), and that should count for something.

            Anyway, wearing my trademark good-luck black shirt (yes, the same type that John Duthie wore at the 2000 Poker Million), I attacked the $1,000 buy-in HOSE tournament (Hold’em poker game, Omaha Eight or Better, Stud, and Stud Eight or Better) at  the Commerce Casino’s Los Angeles Poker Classic in 2002.  (The Commerce Casino should be applauded for putting on a terrific poker tournament! Their room is the best one we have in poker today.  And, the huge numbers of players have made for big prize pools.)

            Even though I showed up for the tournament an hour late, I had a huge chip lead by the end of the second hour of play spooky hand.  I was running red hot! By the time I was heads-up with Tommy Huffnagle (a great player who was playing awesome poker); I had $65,000 in chips to his $50,000.  Sometimes in poker we make deals, and because I respected Tommy, we did make one.  In this way, we could both have a nice payday-whereas first-place money is usually double what second-place money is.  We would play for only $1,900 and the trophy (there is a lot of luck in heads-up limit poker).  At this point in the proceedings, it was 4:30 a: m, and the no-limit Hold’em even was to begin the next day at 3:30 p.m. limit stud With an eye to getting some sleep and playing the next day-plus, we were now only playing for $1,900- we doubled the limits, and set out to gamble!

            I must say that I did covet the trophy, and when a key hand came up at 5:00 a.m., I could taste the victory.  We were playing #4,000-$8,000 limit Stud
(“S” part of HOSE) when I opened for $4,000 with (Ac-Qc) Jc and Tommy raised with 3h-9h) 6h.  I decided just to call the $4,000 more (Tommy had another $8,000 left), and maybe to fold if he paired his six.  Tommy did pair his six, but I caught the 4c to give me a flush draw pot limit omaha.

            We put in his last $8,000 and flipped the hands faceup.  Tommy said,” Wow, you’ve got a monster hand there.  I guess this thing is over.” He stood up.  I kind of thought it was over as well (yippee, I win!).  Then I caught an ace for a board of Ac-Qc, Jc, 4c, ad, followed by a four aces and fours.

            Tommy caught the 5h, then the Ah, for a board of (3h-9h) 6h, 6d, 5h, ah to make an ace-high flush! That was ok, I thought, because I could still win if I hit a club (for a higher ace-high flush) or an ace or four (for a full house).  When I caught a blank on the end, I sat back down in my chair ready to continue the fight.  But, alas, it wasn’t my day.  Tommy continued to play great poker, and went on to win the tournament.

            Meanwhile, it was one more case of being so close to victory that I could taste it-but instead facing a major disappointment wpt 2003.  I guess I’ll wear a black sweater the next time.