At the recent Ultimate Poker Classic in Aruba, everyone had a great time. The local Balachi beer was tasty, and Carlos and Charlie's was one of the many festive nightclubs where we danced and hung out. Annie Duke, Robert Williamson and his girlfriend, Scotty Ngyuen, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and I all spent a fun morning on ATVs. There was a nature preserve to visit, a glass submarine to ride in, and a wonderful natural rock bridge to see.
More importantly for the poker players, there was also a World Poker Tour (WPT) event (UltimateBet.com's Ultimate Poker Classic) to play in, and that's why Men "The Master" Ngyuen, Jennifer Harman, John Bonetti, Ram Vaswani (and his lovely girlfriend, who prequalified for the event), Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Russ Hamilton, and Phil Gordon were on the island of Aruba in the first place. Amateurs played a 100-player tournament, and there was an eight-player UB Pro Invitational. Then, there was a "David vs. Goliath" heads-up match pitting the winner of the pros against the winner of the amateurs for a $25,000 buy-in seat in Bellagio's upcoming championship event. The amateur winner (player name Peasant at UltimateBet) actually beat the pro winner (Phil Gordon), another victory for "David."
Early on in the UB Pro Invitational, the following hand came up between Scotty Ngyuen and me. With the blinds at $50-$100, John Bonetti called $100 from late position, Scotty called from the small blind, and I checked from the big blind with Q-2. After a flop of Q
9 6
, Scotty and I both checked to Bono. Bono bet $300, and Scotty called. I decided that top pair was probably good, so I made it $1,200 to go (a $900 raise). Bono folded quickly, and Scotty called fairly quickly. The next card off was the 4
, and Scotty checked. I decided two things: first, that I had Scotty beat, and second, that I should bet enough to make drawing impossible for him. Therefore, with roughly $3,000 in the pot, I bet $2,700. Scotty pondered, and eventually decided to call my bet. The last card off was the 4, for a board of Q 9 6 4 4 – and Scotty moved all in!
Qué pasa? Or, as Ted Forrest would say, "What the heck is going on?" I asked Scotty for a chip count, and he said, "I have $6,700. Since you're looking to be the first one out, I'm going to put you out." What? Why the comment? Did he have the 4 in his hand and hit trip fours on the end? Or, did he have the nut-flush draw or a straight and a flush draw and miss everything? In any case, I had $5,700 left and couldn't decide what to do. I studied and studied and studied. My heart told me to call (but not convincingly), but my head said, "He always shows a hand in this situation, especially when he says, 'I have it,' or his famous, 'It's over baby if you call here' in the final hand of the World Series of Poker." So, I decided to fold, thinking I could always run my chips back up after that.
With four players left, indeed, I had run my chips back up; in fact, I had the chip lead. After a fun-filled final four consisting of Scotty, Jennifer, Phil Gordon, and me commenced playing, I unfortunately finished fourth, Scotty was third, Jennifer finished second, and Phil won it. Congratulations to Phil Gordon!
I should have known what was coming as far as Phil G. winning this thing. The day before, while we were taping golf bets for the WPTs cameras, Russ and I had Phil G. in a lot of trouble with a proposition bet. Phil bet $900 that he could throw the golf ball and beat Russ, hitting his golf clubs, on a par four! We immediately jumped on Phil, asking if he wanted to bet $10,000 on this proposition. You see, you can't throw a golf ball farther than 100 yards, and Russ can hit a golf ball 170 yards with his driver, even after some surgery. Russ was lying comfortably next to the green in two when Phil threw his golf ball into the hole from 90 yards away for a 3! What an unbelievable shot, which was caught on camera. Phil then couldn't even roll the ball into the hole in four attempts from three feet away for the camera!
I hope you enjoyed this Hand of the Week column. Good luck playing your hands this week.
Editor's note: You can chat or play poker with Phil Hellmuth at UltimateBet.com. To learn more about Phil or read more Hand of the Week columns, go to PhilHellmuth.com.