Play a Tournament With Me – Part II – The Professional Poker Tour at Bellagio in Las Vegas

In the last issue, I related the hands I played, as well as some of the poker chat at my table, at the recent Professional Poker Tour at Bellagio. You may remember that my starting table opponents were Jay Heimowitz, "Oakley" Greg Schwartz, Doyle Brunson, Berry Johnston, Dave Apostolico, Billy Baxter, Jose Rosencranz, and Gary Bush. I was totally entertained by the stories and anecdotes being shared by some of poker's greatest legends.

My last column ended as we were about to begin round two, and I was the chip leader at this extremely tight table with just $10,725. In this column, I will continue to chronicle hands that I played so that you can play the tournament along with me. My thoughts about the hands are in italics. I will also share some of the wonderful stories told at the table.

The blinds increased to $50-$100. I was in the small blind and two limpers called, so I limped in for $50 more with A-4. The flop came A-A-K and it was checked around. A rag came on the turn; I bet $200 and took the pot when everyone folded.

A discussion ensued about the frenzy generated by online poker sites that were offering large sums of money to players who agreed to wear their logo wear during the tournament. Doyle said that a player had asked him to pay $35,000 for this player to wear his online site's logo. Doyle asked him if he was crazy, and the player replied that that was what another site had offered him. "Hell," Doyle responded, "I'll wear their shirt for that much money." (By the way, most of the sites I heard about were offering anything from $0 to $5,000 just to wear their shirt, with a bonus of $10,000-$15,000 if the player made the final table, and another $25,000 bonus if the player won the event.)

In the cutoff seat, I was dealt A-Q and raised to $300 and got no callers. On the button, I had J-9 suited and raised to $300, and everyone folded again. (At about this time, Billy Baxter offered to lay 3-1 that no one at our table would go broke prior to the tournament officials breaking up our table, which would be in about two hours. He got no takers.)

In middle position, I limped in with J-10 suited and flopped a double belly buster when it came A-Q-8. Baxter bet $250 and I called. I missed the straight on the turn and called another $350. The river card was a blank and I was down to about $10,000. Then, an unexpected break was called to make a necessary film change.

I saw a few more flops in unraised pots. It was obvious that this crew believed Daniel's "Bring Back the Limp" speech. I never even got close to matching the flop. In the big blind, I was happy to see 10-9 suited, but when Doyle raised to $350 and Berry Johnston reraised to $1,350, I had to fold.

The "veteran" players at the table began a new topic of conversation. Doyle was looking at the current issue of Card Player, which featured Stu Ungar on the cover. He said, "That's just the way I remember him." Someone else commented, "I'll bet he would have stopped that nonsense and still been here if he had known that he would have been able to play $10,000 no-limit events every month!"

Billy Baxter, always an entertaining character, told some Stu Ungar stories. "I first met him right here in this location where Bellagio stands today – at the Dunes. He looked like he was about 14. He came to my hotel room and played me some gin. He was so small that he had to sit on a wooden Coca-Cola carton to reach the table. He beat me out of $40,000 that day!" There was a consensus at the table that Stuey was the best gin player they had ever known. I asked what made him so good, and was told, "He would play defense from the beginning … he would always block your hand. He was unbeatable." I was totally entertained as these seasoned veterans went on to tell other Stuey stories, including Baxter's recounting of how he staked him the year he won the "big one" for the last time.

In between stories, I played a few hands, but didn't connect with the flop. In the small blind, I was dealt A-6 suited. It was folded around to Johnstonon the button, who raised to $300. I called. The flop came K-3-3. I checked, he bet $400, I check-raised to $1,200, and he folded. (I didn't think he had anything, and was right this time.)

In early position, I raised to $300 with Q-J offsuit and everyone folded. (Slow down, Linda!) There were lots of photographers taking pictures of Doyle. I told Berry, who was sitting next to Doyle, that he should get used to it, because it would be happening all day. Berrymoved even closer to Doyle and joked, "I think I should get a premium for wearing this logo wear because I'm going to be in lots of pictures today."

Several rounds went by with me mostly folding, but occasionally making a raise of about three times the big blind and getting one or no callers. A bet on the flop usually took the pot. It was a table of players who liked to limp, but wouldn't usually call if it was raised. We were located by the rail and had lots of spectators. I heard some amazing statements from the rail, such as: "Those chips are each worth a million dollars," and, "Players aren't allowed to drink alcohol while playing."

Jay Heimowitz limped in from under the gun and I raised to $400 with A-K. He called. The flop came J-8-2. He checked, and I bet $800 and took the pot. I folded my 7-2 in the big blind when it was raised. In the small blind, everyone folded, so I raised to $300 with A-7 offsuit and got called. (Oh no, I'm out of position with a not-so-great hand.) The flop came 10-7-3, I bet $500, and my opponent folded.

The buzzer went off to signify the end of round two. I had $11,575, making me the second chip leader at our tight table. I'll continue with this saga in the next issue.

Now, let's play poker!

Part I of this series can be found at www.cardplayer.com. Linda is available to host poker seminars and events. She can be contacted through her website at www.cardplayercruises.com.