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Dream cards amount to a nightmare in Monte Carlo
Published: 2005-12-29
 I talked about playing in a $120,000 buy-in tournament in Monte Carlo, a seven-player affair carried live on Fox Spots Net and Sky Sports. We flew over there for just two tournaments, the first of which I covered in recent columns.
The second tournament was the $25,000 buy-in Monte Carlo Millions, to be shown on FSN and Sky Sports at a later date, with a sell-out field of 120 players and a first-place win of $1 million.
Because we started with $50,000 in chips, and the blinds were moved up slowly and incrementally, there was a lot of play (and thus skill) in this tournament. With 60 of us coming back for day two, I was feeling pretty good about my chances, still holding almost $100,000 in chips. We would play down to the final nine players, and I was feeling at or near the peak of my game. I was on!
On the third hand, with the blinds at $500-$1,000, the defending champion, Player X, made it $4,000 to go in first position. In the big blind, I looked down at 2-2, and pondered my decision. Normally, I would merely call, to try to flop trip deuces, but my radar was on, and I felt some weakness from Player X.
So I raised it up $12,000 more, and Player X called. The flop was 8-8-5, I bet out $16,000, and X folded quickly.
On the very next hand, all hell broke loose! The player on the button raised it up to $3,500 to go, and I looked down at J-J.
What to do? I could smooth call, trying to trap the big blind as well as the original raiser, or I could go ahead and reraise. I opted to smooth call.
Now the big blind (Player X again) proceeded to make it $15,000 more. I was watching him closely as he announced his action and threw his chips into the pot. The whole time I was asking myself, ``Can he beat pocket jacks? Does he have pocket queens, kings or aces?''
As he acted, I knew that he wasn't expecting me to be reading him, because I had given no indication of strength at all. This gave me an edge, not to mention the fact that I had just read him right the hand before. I felt pretty certain that I had the best hand, so when the player on the button folded, I announced all-in and pushed my imposing stack of around $105,000 into the pot.
My opponent then began to study, and ponder, and finally he called. I flipped up my jacks, and he flipped up A-K. I was a bit shocked that he had called with A-K. I mean, what kind of hand did he think I had? Did he think I had A-Q, or what? No way am I going to risk my whole tournament with A-Q on the fifth hand, with the blinds that small.
In any case, I was a 13-to-10 favorite. The flop, 9c-8c-6s, was pretty good for me, and I had the jack of clubs. The turn card, the Kc, rocked my world, giving him the best hand, but giving me a flush draw.
At this point I needed a jack or a club on the last card to win the pot. When the 5h hit on the river, I lost the pot and all semblance of control.
The Poker Brat in me came out saying (on camera), ``You're the defending champion? I cannot believe that the defending champion would call off all of his money with A-K! . . . Just out of curiosity, what in the world did you think I had?''
Everything I said was true, and I do hate his call, especially against someone like me, who is known for his conservative play. But, as usual, I wish I had handled myself with some class. I should have smiled and said ``Nice hand.''
In any case, I picked up A-A two hands later, and lost a small pot when I just called the $1,000 bet before the flop, checked on a flop of 9-8-6, and then watched in horror as the player behind me bet and the big blind check-raised all-in, in front of me. I was forced to fold. Two hands later I picked up Q-Q and moved all-in for about $16,000 vs. my opponent's Kh-6h. Expecting to lose because of the way the day was going so far, I stood up, put on my jacket, and then watched as the board came down 2h-2s-10h-6c-Ks.
Bye, bye, Phil. Jacks, aces, and queens, all in the first round!
What a dream -- or in this case, a nightmare. Phil Ivey went on to win the million.
Phil Hellmuth is a nine-time World Series of Poker champion and the author of Play Poker like the Pros and Bad Beats and Lucky Draws (both published by HarperCollins). His column appears Thursdays in Tropical Life.
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Advice by Daniel Negreanu : Learn seven-card stud to strengthen skills
Published: 2005-12-29
 Advice by Daniel Negreanu
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.29.2005
advertisementWhile Texas Hold'em is clearly the most popular poker game in the world today, most people don't realize that it's actually a variation of another game: seven-card stud.
As anyone with a television knows, in Texas Hold'em, each player is dealt two cards, face down. Players then share five community cards that are eventually placed in the middle of the table.
In seven-card stud, everyone gets his or her own personal seven cards. The game starts with an ante, and then each player is dealt three cards to start. The first two are face-down cards, and then an up card, known as the door card, is dealt.
At this stage, there is a betting round, initiated by the lowest card on the board. The lowest card in the deck is the 2 of clubs, followed by the 2 of diamonds, 2 of hearts and 2 of spades.
In a typical $15- to $30-limit game, the ante is $3 per person, and the low card must start the betting with $5. The other players can simply call the $5, fold or raise to $15.
Once that betting round is complete, the next card — fourth street — is dealt face-up. On fourth street, the bet stays at $15, unless a player pairs his door card, which gives any player the option of betting $15 or doubling the bet to $30.
Another card is then dealt face-up. Not surprisingly, it's called fifth street. On fifth street, the minimum bet becomes $30. Sixth street plays the same as fifth street. Finally, seventh street, or the river card, is dealt face-down.
Players end the hand with four cards face-up and three cards face-down. There is one last round of betting, in $30 increments, and then the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.
For years, a debate has raged about which game is tougher to play, Texas Hold'em or seven-card stud. Stud players have always looked at Hold'em as some kind of a crapshoot lottery, while Hold'em players feel the same way about stud!
Frankly, both games can be tough, and each requires a very different skill set. For example, in order to make good decisions throughout a seven-card stud hand, it's imperative to keep track of what cards have been dealt out.
Let's say you start a hand with a three-card flush: (3h 9h) Qh. It's smart to look around at the other players' up cards to see how many hearts are out. If you notice that there are no hearts visible, obviously your chances of completing the flush increase greatly.
Keeping track of the board cards also makes it easier to figure out your opponents' holdings.
Here's another hand. You raise with (7d Qc) Qs, and a solid player calls you with his 7h showing. Then the remaining five players fold their hands with the following up cards: 6c, 7s, 9s, 8d, 7c, leaving you with just one opponent.
If you'd taken note of those board cards, you'd have a good sense as to what your remaining opponent holds. You know that he doesn't have a pair of sevens, because you have a seven in the hole, and two of the remaining sevens were already discarded.
He probably doesn't have a three-card straight because a 6, 8 and 9 are dead.
So what then is his most likely holding? Well, think back a moment.
Did you see any hearts out there? No. OK, so his most likely starting hand is a three-card flush. The other possibility, of course, is a concealed pair, but the three-card flush is more likely.
Now suppose your opponent catches a 3h and the 10h. If you weren't paying attention to the board earlier, you might think your pair of queens is the best hand. However, because you were able to narrow down his hand by keeping track of the dead cards, you can safely fold on fifth street and save yourself three more bets — a total of $90 in a $15- to $30-limit game.
I love seven-card stud, but that said, I love all different forms of poker. If all you ever play is Texas Hold'em, do yourself a favor and explore the many other interesting forms of the game.
If you hope to play with the big boys, you'll have to become a strong all-around player in order to survive. Texas Hold'em skills alone just won't cut it.
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