'Boys, Let's Play Some Poker!'

At the $5,000 buy-in Hall of Fame championship event recently, my starting table had Erik Seidel, Howard Lederer, Daniel Negreanu, and Chris Bjorin. Of course, the whole tournament field was tough with only 54 players, most of whom are top-notch players.

With the blinds at $50-$100, the following hand came up. I limped in under the gun (called $100 as the first player to act) with the K 8, Howard called right behind me, and then a couple of other players called. The flop came down K 8 3, and I thought, "Yippee, I have top two pair!" I bet $400, Howard called me, and another player moved all in for $775 total. As the other two players in the pot folded, I quickly thought about two things: First, I wasn't sure that I could legally raise, since my bet was $400 and the raise was only $375 more. Second, I didn't want to ask if I could raise and let Howard know the real strength of my hand. So, when it was my turn to act, I just called the $375 raise, trying to look weak and disinterested in the pot. I wanted it to appear that I had top pair with a weak kicker, like K-6 suited, or second top pair, such as A-8 or the like. In fact, I would call $375 more with any pair or any reasonable hand, and I knew that Howard knew this. I wanted Howard to raise so that I could move all in and win a big pot. My quick nonchalant call had set the trap perfectly for Howard to fall into it.

Howard then asked if he could raise - as I continued to look disinterested in the transpiring events - and Erik said, "Yes, you can raise, since the all-in raise was more than half of the original bet." I was thinking, "Please raise it, please raise it." Howard then announced, "I raise," and began playing with his chips. I began drooling; Howard would raise and I would move in and bust him! After about 30 seconds, which is a long time in the poker world, Howard announced, "I'm all in for $7,300 more." I quickly counted my chips with the intent of calling his bet immediately, and then suddenly thought, "There's no need to rush here, let me study Howard for a moment."

I knew that I couldn't fold top two pair here, no way - but what if Howard had 3-3 or 8-8 in the hole? I would have only a few outs and would be a huge underdog. The more I focused on Howard, the more I began to fear that he had exactly a set of threes. Intuitively, I read tremendous strength when I studied him. Logically, Howard doesn't usually play K-X hands, especially after I've limped in from first position; thus, I didn't think he had two pair with something like K-3. Then, I remembered that Howard had thought about raising before the flop, which made me think he did have 3-3 or 8-8, or even A-A. So, I started to talk to send out the message that I did indeed have top two pair (I couldn't flip my hand up as we could in the good old days, or even tell him that's what I had, because I'd get penalized); how would he react to this news of my being strong? As I legally announced that I was very strong, Howard said, "What, do you have the A 3?" I didn't like this question at all, and responded, "That's what I thought you had." His look at that point struck me. I was convinced that he didn't have the A 3 (the one hand that was easiest to put him on here), and his statement convinced me that I needed to fold my top two pair. You see, I knew Howard was very strong from my read, so by letting him know that I had a very strong hand (through my talking), I was able to determine that he did indeed want to be called (he didn't show any fear). If he hadn't said anything to me, I probably would have had to call him. I had even mentioned to Howard earlier that I was reading everyone at the table well, except him. So, it was time to fold. However, it took a while to convince myself that this absurd laydown could actually be right.

Howard could have A-A, A-K, K-Q, or the A 3 (although I had ruled this hand out when he began to talk). Finally, and Daniel said it took me more than five minutes (sorry, guys), I threw my hand away faceup, saying, "I fold." Chris Bjorin said, "That is the worst laydown I have ever seen in my entire life," whereupon Howard flipped up 3-3, and Chris did a double take! In fact, I guess it was one of the best laydowns Chris had ever seen in his life. Of course, a player or two at the table said they also would have thrown away my hand - yeah, right! The next two cards were turned and the all-in player won the pot with the 4 3 when he made a flush to beat Howard's trips.

The elation I felt at that moment was awesome. I felt as light as a feather, and jumped out of my seat and ran away from the table saying, "Boys, let's play some poker!" I was supposed to lose more than 95 percent of my chips on that hand, but didn't. I had gotten out of a trap. After a minute or so, I realized there was still a long way to go, and that celebrating early wasn't going to help my game any. If I didn't win the tournament, that hand would be just a nice "Hand of the Week" column.

Three hands later, another player with $2,500 called $100 under the gun. I studied him while holding 9-9 on the button, and decided to just call the $100. Usually, I would move in a small stack with pocket nines, but something didn't smell right. An ace flopped, and after we checked down the entire hand, he showed me K-K. This was another reason to dance - $2,300 more saved. That made almost $10,000 saved in two hands. Yes, my reads were dead-on, but since I didn't win the tourney or even make the final table, here it is, just another Hand of the Week column.

I hope you enjoyed it. Good luck playing your hands this week.

Editor's note: Play $4-$8 limit hold'em with Phil Hellmuth at UltimateBet.com, table "philhellmuth." For more Hand of the Week columns or more information about Phil, go to PhilHellmuth.com.