Lessons are taught at a young age with the idea that you will use them as you progress through life. One lesson that almost everyone learns is to "think before you speak." The idea is to think about what you are going to say before you say it, thus avoiding putting your foot in your mouth by saying something you will regret later. Throughout my years of playing poker, I have learned that this is a valuable lesson if applied correctly to your poker playing.
During the 2002 World Series of Poker, a situation came up that personified this important lesson. Late in the stages of day No. 3 of the championship event, Russell Rosenblum was involved in a pot with Julian Gardner. Russell had raised preflop, and Julian had called. The flop came down 10
10
5
. Russell bet $18,000, Julian raised $50,000, Russell reraised $100,000, and Julian immediately pushed all of his chips into the pot in a quick and wild manner, causing his stack to crash into a pile in front of him. The sight of all the chips crashing into the pot seemed to catch Russell off guard, as he suddenly did not like the two jacks he held in his hand. Russell got up from his chair, turned around, and walked away from the table. Tournament co-director Matt Savage was curious as to what Russell was going to do with his hand, as he had yet to act upon it. Matt found Russell about 15 feet away behind a service wall, and asked him what he was going to do. Russell stated, "Kill it, fold it, I am out." Matt and Russell returned to the table at about the same time, and when Russell realized that he actually may want to call, he asked the dealer how much of a raise Julian had made. At that moment, Matt reached for Russell's hand and said to him, "You folded," and mucked the hand.
In this scenario, Matt made the correct decision. At least a few other people, including those at the table, heard him announce that he was folding.
Russell made a bad decision. He didn't stop to think about the hand, the bet, and the consequences. His emotions got the best of him, and he made a hasty decision. When he returned to the table, he immediately realized this, and I'm sure he was sick to his stomach when Julian showed him two sixes. To be fair to Russell, this was a decision he had to make during the biggest poker tournament of the year, in which the pressure is immense. He went on to make the final table after regrouping himself, which is very impressive. Had Russell called Julian's all-in raise and a 6 didn't come on the turn or river, Julian would have been out of the tournament. But as fate would have it, Julian went on to place second in the tournament and collect more than $1 million, and busted Russell along the way to doing so.
The moral of the story is this: Think before you act. Call timeout and evaluate your decision before you act on your hand. Trust me, in the end, you will be happy you did.
Over the years, there have been several instances in which a person walking away from the table has caused some controversy. I believe a rule could be put into place that would make a hand dead anytime a player walked away from the table. Sometimes a person stands up to contemplate a decision or to wait for another player to act, which is innocent and doesn't cause controversy. But a player walking away from the table to a place that is out of the view of the table, or leaving the table and talking to anyone else, is a situation that is asking for trouble. I guess there are situations in which the tournament director has to use some discretion in making a decision that is fair and honest.
Editor's note: Michael O'Malley can usually be found playing online at partypoker.com as Rzitup. To learn more about him, go to www.rzitup.com.