TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

During the two weeks leading up to my Paris trip, I basically relaxed at home, ate well, and even worked out a little bit, which is something I confess that I don’t do enough of. I played almost no poker during that period of time.

My last bit of preparation was playing in the $5,000 buy-in no-limit Texas holdem championship at the Festa al Lago tournament at Bellagio. I was able to amass a rather large stack in that event, but a series of bad beats, followed by a bad decision, contributed to my getting knocked out before I was ready to go!

With all of my preparation out of the way, it was time to make my way overseas to Paris. The WPT event in Paris started on July 10, so I thought I would leave on July 8 so that I could use July 9 to rest up. I heard so much jet-lag talk that, frankly, I thought it was rather silly. I heard things like, “If you expect to win this Texas holdem tournament, you have to get there at least three weeks before the event starts to get your body adjusted to the jet lag.” One full day of rest and relaxation after a flight should be more than enough for most Texas holdem poker players. After all, a poker player is used to playing odd hours and having to readjust his body’s time clock on a regular basis. Coming right in and playing after a 10-hour flight may be a little much, but as long as you take it easy the day before the event, you should be just fine.

I arrived in Paris early on July 9, and of course my luggage didn’t arrive until late that night, but that’s another story. I didn’t even leave my room that day. I watched some movies, ordered room service, and basically got all the sleep I would need for the next few days.

The tournament was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on July 10, which was perfect for me, as I finally woke up at around 4:30 p.m. I had just enough time to grab some breakfast and head over to the Aviation Club. Taking in the sites would just have to wait until my business in Paris was finished.

When I arrived, I had to choose my table draw, smoking or non. (They offered each player a choice before he drew his seat: a nonsmoking table or a smoking table.) Hmm … I absolutely hate smoke, but the majority of the local players there are in fact smokers, and I knew that many of the pros who traveled to the event were not. I thought to myself, I’ll outsmart them all by taking a smoking table to start, and avoid the other pros! I’d just have to suck it up and deal with the smoke so that I could enhance my chances of winning the tournament. Well, so much for that idea. I looked around at the smoking tables and noticed that all of the American nonsmoking pros were seated at them! The nonsmoking table looked like it was full of novice players.

My table was tough, but it could have been worse, I guess. To my immediate left was none other than 1998 World Series of Poker Champion Scotty Nguyen. Two seats to his left was a tough local player by the name of Claude Cohen, who finished second in this event a year ago. I thought Claude could pose a real problem for me, as he is a loose, aggressive type of player, but Scotty’s style and mine simply don’t clash at all. Scotty is rarely out there dancing around, so I wasn’t worried about him getting in my way on day one.

Things started very smoothly, and I was able to build my chips up from $10,000 to $18,000 within the first hour or so. However, there was one hand I think I may have misplayed:

The player to my right had been playing quite a few hands and came in for $150 from middle position. With the blinds still at $25-$50, I called his raise with the A 2. To my surprise, four others called the raise, as well, including Claude Cohen on the button.

The flop came Q-3-3 with two spades. It was a good flop for me, but also a dangerous one. The blinds both checked, and the preflop raiser also checked, which surprised me. Based on the way the raiser had played previous hands, I would have expected him to bet here with any hand.

Nonetheless, I decided there was enough dead money already out there for me to take a stab at it, so I bet $300. Claude called, as did the preflop raiser. Hmm … something didn’t smell right. The preflop raiser had checked and called, and that was suspicious to me.

The turn brought the 6, giving me the nut flush. The preflop raiser checked again, and being a little bit worried and at the same time trying to set a little trap, I decided to check to Claude on the button. Claude also checked.

The river brought the K and here came the preflop raiser betting $1,000. Uh-oh, I thought. It appeared that I was up against queens full the whole time. Learning my lesson from the WSOP earlier this year when I “Opened the Door to Disaster” (Card Player, July 4, 2003), I decided to just call rather than raise. Claude folded a 3 faceup, and the preflop raiser turned over the 4 3! Both of my opponents had flopped trip threes, and I had let Claude completely off the hook and won the minimum from the preflop raiser. It felt like I really missed an opportunity to win a big pot here, and I also gave both players a free draw at me on the turn.

As it turned out, it appears that I butchered the hand, but based on my read on the preflop raiser, I wasn’t that far off. My instincts told me he was slow-playing a big hand, and he was. The read I picked up was correct, but he just happened to have the “other” hand.

After that hand, I didn’t win another significant hand the entire day. I was left with $8,550, but was still feeling good overall about my play and my chances of winning the event. With the blinds going into day two at just $150-$300, I believed I still had ample time to play and enough chips with which to maneuver.

In Part II, I’m going to share with you an amazing hand — one that you can only dream of — and provide my thoughts on how each individual played it. Then, it’s Part III that may be an epiphany to many. There was an extremely controversial hand played on day three that was the talk of the room for quite some time. From a strategy perspective, it’s probably the most revealing column I’ve ever written. Read it with an open mind and be willing to think “outside the box,” and it may open your mind to new ways of approaching no-limit Texas holdem.