Lay it Down! Survive!

The World Series of Poker has my full attention! After three cashes in about eight events played, I finally made a final table in the pot-limit hold'em event on May 10. Believe me when I tell you that getting there wasn't easy.

At the beginning of the day, I was told by WSOP Tournament Director Matt Savage that if I cashed in this event, I would tie the all-time record of 45 cashes, held by newly inducted Poker Hall of Famer Berry Johnston.

With 36 players cashing (getting paid) and 42 players remaining, the pressure was on. With $13,000 in chips, and the blinds at $300-$600, I liked my chances to stay and play for a long while. Then, the following hand came up, which tested my abilities to the very limit.

Michael Keiner – a German player – limped in from the first position for $600. I had observed that he had raised the previous two pots and everyone else had folded. I looked down at the K J on the button. After a moment, I decided that raising here was better than calling, and I made it $2,100 to go. Both blinds folded, and Michael grabbed all of his big chips before just calling my raise.

After a flop of K 7 7, Michael checked, and I checked quickly behind him. I checked quickly for two reasons: First, I didn't want to lose many chips in case Michael had a big hand like A-A or A-K. Second, I checked in order to trap Michael in case he had 10-10 or some similar hand.

The "fun" began when the J came off the deck on the turn, so that the board was now K 7 7 J. Michael said, "I bet the pot." It turned out that he bet $5,100, and I called him before his money hit the pot. By calling very quickly, I was sending a message that I had at least a pair of kings, and the speed of my call was intended to stop him in his tracks in case he had A-A. At this point, I could beat A-K or any drawing hand that Michael could have. The final card was the 7, for a board of K 7 7 J 7, and Michael moved all in very quickly (I had $5,800 left).

Que pasa? What the heck was going on here? I wasn't sure, but something smelled rotten in Denmark. There was more than $15,000 in the pot, and I could beat all bluffs, such as the A Q, Q 10, Q 10, or whatever. I would tie Michael if he had a king in his hand, such as K-Q or A-K, which was fairly likely at this point in time.

Yet, I sensed that he had me beat, and I was also thinking about tying the record for the most money finishes – which was clearly a bad thing to be thinking about. My mind kept racing back to the point in time where he grabbed all of his big chips before the flop. I believed he grabbed them in an effort to raise me back, but held off for some reason. Finally, I just told myself, "You will go broke if you call your last $5,800 here."

Hadn't I called his $5,100 bet in a flash? Didn't he know that I had at least a king in my hand? Then there was the fact that he had barely $7,000 when he moved all in. Would he really bluff his case chips with nothing, into someone who is known for reading players well? Finally, I folded, and Michael folded his hand facedown.

The rest of the story: I went on to run my chips up to $38,000 and play at the final table, where I promptly bluffed off all of my money with Q-3 and Q-5 to finish in sixth place.

Later, Michael claimed that I had made an amazing laydown, and that he had me beat. I'll never know for sure, but right or wrong, hero or zero, it was an amazing laydown!

Editor's note: Chat or play poker with Phil at UltimateBet.com. To learn more about him, go to philhellmuth.com.