Almost every great "known" Texas
Holdem player fell along the way in
the 2004 World Series of Poker
championship event, and here are a
few of their stories. With 2,576
Texas Holdem
players (Hallelujah!) entering this
year, it wasn't easy to navigate the
field. In fact, an analogy I use to
tell the press about the way it is
goes like this: Imagine 2,576
players in a room flipping coins;
1,288 flip heads and move on …
eventually, three will flip heads 10
times in a row. Good luck trying to
beat the guy who has 10 coin flips
in a row go his way!
Erik Seidel found himself down to
$9,000 on day four after not picking
up a hand or a pot for a long time.
Erik said, "Obviously, I was looking
for a hand before then." He had just
been high-carded to the TV table. On
the fourth hand he was there, he was
on the button — and Gus Hansen had
played all of the previous three
hands. Gus limped, everyone else
folded, and it came around to Erik
with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000 and
the ante at $300 a man. Erik was
pretty happy with his K-8, and
thought he had Gus beat.
So, he moved all in for $9,000, and
the big blind made it $25,000 to go.
Erik said, "Right then, I knew I was
dead, because this fellow wasn't an
action player." Gus folded, the big
blind showed Erik A-K, and in an
instant it was over for Erik. I also
went broke with K-8, but after the
flop came down 10-8-4. I was in the
small blind with a very short stack,
and the button had limped in with
Q-10 (yes, Q-10 busted me again).
Annie Duke went out late on day
three when she called a moderate
raise from the big blind with K-Q,
after the small blind had called in
front of her. The flop came down
6-5-4, and everyone checked. The
turn card was a 5, and Annie bluffed
all in for $28,000 into the $14,000
pot. The raiser studied for a long
while — while Annie sweated it out —
and folded. The small blind then
began to study Annie, and finally
made a great call with A-Q. Annie
now says, "I don't know why the
Internet always writes these hands
up wrong! It was really just a
random pot and a random move that I
made — not some $100,000 bluff or
anything spectacular like that. At
the time, I was a short stack, and I
went for it.
"By the way, I would never move in
on the river there, because it would
look like I was trying to pick up
the pot; whereas on the turn, it
looks like I may have checked a
strong flop, trying to trap the
raiser on my left, and was now just
protecting my hand by moving in. I
just wasn't going to limp into day
four with a mere $28,000; it was a
high-percentage bluff. The raiser
studied me for a long time, and I
was very surprised that I was called
by the small blind, but kudos to him
for making a tough call."
Former World Champion Russ Hamilton
went out about 135th or so. Russ
said, "I just couldn't accumulate
any chips. Every move I made, they
came over the top of me, and the
blinds and antes just kept going up.
Finally, I was down to $52,000 or
so, with $1,600-$3,200 blinds and a
$400 per person ante. I moved all in
over the top of a $9,000 bet with my
A-Q, and the original raiser called
me quickly with his Q-Q. There was
no hesitation on his part, as we
both were in late position." A few
seconds later, it was over for Russ.
Russ said, "Earlier, I played a big
pot when I made it $2,000 to go with
my K-K, and a person I knew well
made it $7,000 to go behind me. I
knew he had a big hand, and the
possibilities in my mind were J-J,
Q-Q, A-K, or A-A. Since I knew him
well, I decided to just call and get
a good read, and perhaps even trap
him with my kings. The flop came
down 8-8-6, and I checked. He bet
$9,000, so at this point, I know he
doesn't have A-K. I know based on
his style that he must have A-A,
Q-Q, or J-J. Thus, I called the
$9,000. The next card was a 4, I
checked, and he checked. Now, I know
I have him. Even if an ace comes on
the end, I'm going to bet it. My
only fear was a queen or a jack on
the end. Sure enough, a queen came
down on the river, and he sat up in
his chair. That scared me, so I
checked to him, and he bet $20,000.
"I looked at him and just knew he
had pocket queens. It took me four
minutes to make a decision, and
along the way I said to him,
'Spencer, pocket queens, huh?'
Finally, I showed my pocket kings
and folded, and he showed me his
pocket queens. What a pot to lose
that early. I would have had a ton
of chips at that early stage, with
the blinds at $300-$600, and then I
could have really played some
poker!" Tough beat, Russ, but it was
one heck of a laydown!
Antonio "the magician" Esfandiari
went out early on day one. He said,
"On the fourth hand of the
Texas Holdem
tournament, with the blinds at
$25-$50, I picked up J-J and made it
$150 to go. The small blind called,
and the flop came down A-J-4 with
two spades, and I bet out $450. He
called, the turn was the 9u, and I
bet $1,200. He called, and at this
point in time, I put him on an ace.
The river made a spade flush
possible, he checked, I went with my
read and bet $2,800, and then he
moved all in and I was forced to
fold. He didn't show the hand, but I
didn't need to see it. Later, he
told me he had a flush! The hand I
went out with is irrelevant, because
I was already a short stack." It was
a great laydown with the three
jacks, but it sucks to lose so much
so early in the "Big One." |
