I used to be accused of having a one track mind. Guilty as charged.
You'll pardon me, then, if I use a title that evokes certain online casino memories
but actually has nothing to do with them. Despite that, this is one of
the most precise poker titles I can imagine.
I'm being more than a bit vague, but what is life without adventure, and
boy, did we have an adventure at the 2003 World Series of Poker $3,000
No-Limit Hold'em final table.
I've written more than 5,000 words about these adventures, but we've got
a newsletter word limit, so I have chopped out a lot of analysis and
color to make sure the raw poker highlights are here. We'll get you the
full version later, on the casino.com/poker website.
When play began, the seats and chip positions were:
Seat Player Chip Total
1 Mark Seif $64,000
2 Daniel Negreanu $49,500
3 Jay Heimowitz $132,000
4 Alan Brodsky $70,000
5 Tony Ma $31,000
6 Mike Lesle $74,500
7 Erik Seidel $167,500
8 Curt Kohlberg $156,500
9 Al Stonum $64,000
10 Phil Hellmuth, Jr. $385,000
There were $1,194,000 in chips on the table. Starting antes were $500,
with $1,500-3,000 blinds, but only a few minutes remained at this level.
Final table action didn't begin until 4:40 pm, because 21 players had
remained when play ceased last night.
To best follow the action, I suggest you draw a mock table with player
positions, and cross players out as they get eliminated. Lesle drew the
button, and on hand #1, Hellmuth limped in for 3k, Seif raised to 15k,
and Ma moved his $30,500 all-in.
OH YEAH? TAKE THAT!
Seidel then raised 45k MORE. Hellmuth paused and then released. Seif
looked like he'd been pole axed, and showed me 9-9 as he folded. Seidel
turned over K-K; Ma showed J-J. The board came down 2-10-7-5-10, and Ma
was gone.
If you think it was unlikely that a threesome would catch pocket pairs
on the first hand, know that Hellmuth had folded 7-7, Negreanu 6-6, and
three others 4-4, A-10 and A-K.
The adventure was just beginning.
Four hands later, Seif and Negreanu limped in from the blinds, and
caught a 7h-2c-9h flop. Seif opened for 12k, and Negreanu moved all-in.
With more than half of his starting stack already either gone or in the
pot, Seif decided to call with 4h-5h, a flush draw.
Negreanu turned over 9s-Qh, top pair with a big heart (in more ways than
one). Ac-Kc finished both the board and Mark Seif's day. It had taken
2.5 hours to eliminate 11 players for a final table, and 2.5 minutes to
lose two more.
The antes remained at $500, but the blinds now increased to
$2,000-4,000.
AN IMPORTANT CHIP SHIFT
On hand #14, Seidel opened for 14k from two off the button, Hellmuth
made it 42k from the small blind (SB), and Seidel called. The flop came
8d-4h-9c; Hellmuth led out for 40k, and after a long, thoughtful pause,
Seidel raised the minimum by making it 80k. Hellmuth let it go, and had
lost a big pot to a dangerous foe.
Seidel took a few small pots, and on hand #23 he limped in with two
others when Negreanu made it 40k. It wasn't a steal move: Negreanu had
A-K. Seidel moved all-in, and the bet induced Negreanu to lay down that
A-K, Seidel had a small chip lead.
That it was a great bet by Seidel was clear, but unless he held A-A or
K-K (certainly a strong possibility with the limp-raise move), Negreanu
was getting the right pot odds for a call.
Great players don't view a decent probability of a narrow pot odds edge
as significant when it forces them to risk all their chips, though.
Negreanu still had 100k after the laydown. With the slow-moving blind
structure, Negreanu knew his last 100k was worth five times more than
the 40k he was letting go, the apparent math notwithstanding.
Alan Brodsky hadn't lost any huge pots yet, but by hand #31, blinds,
antes and various nicks and cuts left him with 18.5k. He shoved that in
from early position. Seidel called and turned over 8-8, while Brodsky
had only A-2. The board changed nothing, and 8-8 sent Brodsky out
eighth.
IT'S HAPPENED TO MOST OF US�
Five hands later, Curt Kohlberg had one of those moments. He opened for
13k from the button, only to see Hellmuth make it a total of 31k from
the SB. Kohlberg called.
The flop came Ks-3c-9h. Hellmuth opened for 14k, and Kohlberg moved his
remaining 90k all-in. Hellmuth's instant call signaled trouble: he had
started with K-K and flopped top set, while Kohlberg had only Q-J, only
an inside straight draw.
When the 9c paired the board on the turn, even that faint hope was gone,
and as Kohlberg stood up, Hellmuth almost comically grabbed Kohlberg's
remaining stacks quickly, one at a time. Mine-mine-mine!
We hit the break after hand #44, and the count was:
Negreanu $125,500
Heimowitz $45,500
Lesle $73,000
Seidel $549,500
Stonum $69,000
Hellmuth $331,500
It was dinner break time, and I wasn't (yawn) feeling well. Mike Paulle
volunteered to handle the next 90 minute level while I tried to recover.
Mike's notes took me through hand #76; I rallied earlier than expected,
and returned with about 35 minutes left in the level, $500 antes with
$2,500-5,000 blinds.
THE WRONG SIX-PACK FOR THE "BUD MAN"
During my absence, Heimowitz, who owns not just a Budweiser
distributorship but also six bracelets, went out sixth. On hand #45, he
and Lesle limped in from the blinds, and each checked the 10c-7s-5c
flop. The 5d hit the turn. Heimowitz checked, Lesle bet 6k, Heimowitz
pushed 16k forward, and Lesle moved all-in. Heimowitz called,
understandable when holding 5-6 for trips, but in big trouble when Lesle
turned over a hand only the big blind (BB) could love, 5-J.
Hand #51 was notable, Paulle told me, because the Hellmuth raise to 16k
from the button and subsequent fold to Seidel's big raise from the BB
(Hellmuth showed A-10) was a pattern that dominated the action
throughout my absence. Hellmuth kept opening with reasonable hands that
couldn't handle a re-raise, and Seidel kept re-raising. "This man is
running over me, it's scary," Hellmuth said.
Three hands later, Stonum moved his remaining 45k in from the button.
Negreanu called fairly quickly from the BB, saying "I saw two paints"
(jacks, queens or kings), and it turned out he had matching paints, J-J,
for which Stonum's pocket eights were no match. The board changed
nothing, and Stonum exited 5th.
When I returned at hand #77, the chips had shifted quite a bit:
Negreanu $230,000
Lesle $100,000
Seidel $734,000
Hellmuth $130,000
Hellmuth confirmed Paulle's notes when he asked tournament Co-Director
Matt Savage for the microphone, and told the densely-packed crowd, "Erik
has outplayed me something unbelievable, my hat's off to you." After
handing the microphone back to Savage, Hellmuth added "That being said,
I'm not giving up yet."
NOW THAT'S WHEN YOU CALL WITH A-K!
On hand #85, Negreanu opened for 20k, and Lesle pushed his roughly 80k
all-in. Negreanu called instantly, and turned over Ad-Kd; Lesle showed
As-Qh. Again the board missed all, and Lesle was fourth. Negreanu had
demonstrated rather graphically the difference between calling for all
your chips with A-K early in the final against a big stack and calling
for a third of your stack late against a needy opponent.
We now had a rather remarkable threesome: Negreanu, Seidel, and Hellmuth
for all the money, with the chip positions now roughly
Negreanu $300,000
Seidel $624,000
Hellmuth $140,000
Each of this threesome had already won a bracelet this year, which meant
someone was guaranteed to win a second and become the FOURTH player to
win two bracelets at the 2003 WSOP, an unmatched record.
AND THE AWARD GOES TO�WHO?!?
Shortly thereafter, Nolan Dalla asked the crowd to indicate how many
were rooting for each player. First, he asked how many were cheering for
Negreanu, and Daniel drew significant applause. Then he asked how many
were rooting for Seidel, and Erik got a bit more. Finally, he asked how
many were rooting for Hellmuth, and Phil was the winner by a wide
margin.
I was rather stunned, and so was Hellmuth, because he asked for the mike
again and said "That's the first time the majority of a crowd has ever
been for me. Even Matt Savage said 'that's a first.'" After a brief
pause, Hellmuth added "Oh, yeah, I forgot I got a lot of relatives in
the crowd." It was a good comic addition, but Hellmuth hadn't imported a
busload: his wife, mother and sister were the only family in the
audience. Maybe acknowledging Seidel's play had helped.
I had to root for Phil; we're good friends�but it was impossible to root
against either Negreanu or Seidel. I wanted a three-way tie, but that's
not how this game is played.
Eleven hands into the Terrific Trio's entanglement, each limped in for
5k, and the flop came Qh-6c-Kd. Hellmuth and Negreanu checked, and
Seidel bet 8k. Hellmuth thought a moment and moved all-in, a dramatic
departure from his daylong tendency to underbet pots on the flop. Seidel
thought long and hard, and counted out Hellmuth's chips. After the 8k
required for the call was dragged into the middle, we learned that
Hellmuth had pushed 99k more at a 32.5k pot.
ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL
Seidel finally called, showing Kc-10d, and Hellmuth turned over bottom
two pair: Q-6. A nine hit the turn, giving Seidel outs to a king, a ten,
or a jack, but a deuce hit the river, and Hellmuth had doubled through
Seidel.
"Yes! Yes!" Hellmuth exclaimed. "Oh, I thought he was going to unroll
me. I had a bad feeling he was going to get it." Negreanu, meanwhile,
continued the comic relief he had (in usual form) provided. "Sorry,
Phil, I had to root hard against you. I mean, it was a hundred dimes!"
($100,000, the pay scale jump Negreanu would have been guaranteed had
Seidel knocked Hellmuth out.)
Hellmuth was still third in chips, but come Watson, the game's afoot.
THANK GOODNESS THE PIZZA REMAINED MYSTIC
A bit later, Hellmuth ran over to his wife Kathy, and crammed a big
mouthful of pizza into his mouth. "Eatin' good, that's a boy, breakfast
of champions," Negreanu said. Hellmuth started laughing so hard it
appeared the unswallowed pizza was going to come flying out. Hellmuth
managed to keep his mouth shut, with help from a firm clasp of his right
hand, and after hand #107 ended, we had reached the break without any
cheesy incidents.
With the antes moving to $1,000, and the blinds to $3,000-6,000, the
$500 chips came off, and we got an accurate count:
Negreanu $303,000
Seidel $623,000
Hellmuth $268,000 (and plenty of carbohydrates)
On hand #120, Hellmuth made it 18k from the button, and Seidel, as his
pattern had been throughout the day, decided to play along.
The flop came 10c-Qs-9d. Seidel check-called Hellmuth's 15k bet (note
again the relatively small bet into a larger pot). The Qc hit the turn.
Seidel checked, Hellmuth bet 20k, and Seidel raised 75k more. Hellmuth
thought for a few moments and called. The 10d hit the river, making the
board a very scary 10-Q-9-Q-10.
HUGE POT, SMALL BET, GOOD REASON
Seidel checked, and after a pause Hellmuth bet 40k into the huge pot; he
had only 45k left after the bet. Seidel thought long and hard; if he'd
had a straight, it was now in big danger; even pocket nines or
ten-anything could be in trouble. Still, it was hard to pass up a chance
for a shot at 302k for only 40k. Seidel finally called, and Hellmuth
turned up pocket queens: he'd made quads on the turn.
Hellmuth suddenly had 387k, and his gain had been the leader's loss. The
game was now relatively even.
Four hands later, Seidel made it 24k from the SB. Hellmuth called. The
flop came 10c-Kh-9d; Seidel bet 30k and Hellmuth called instantly. The
turn produced the irrelevant-looking 5h, and Seidel didn't fool around:
he pushed 95k into the pot, and again Hellmuth called instantly. That's
one of the differences between the great and the good: you can't flat
call that big a bet instantly unless you've already figured out all
permutations.
Another useless-looking card, the 6c, hit the river, and both players
checked. Hellmuth turned over K-J, top pair-fair kicker and a gutshot
straight draw that hadn't materialized�but a read that had been dead on.
FROM WORST TO FIRST
Seidel couldn't beat K-J, and in five hands Hellmuth had moved from a
poor third to a strong first. A few hands later, I estimated the chips
at
Negreanu $280,000
Seidel $330,000
Hellmuth $584,000
Most of the pots stayed small for a while, but Seidel grabbed a
not-so-small 50k from Hellmuth twice and then the same from Negreanu on
#145, and without any huge confrontations had moved up to 450k, retaking
the lead from Hellmuth, at 424k, with Negreanu right in there at 320k.
Hand #159 brought us an almost-huge confrontation. Hellmuth limped in
from the button and all three looked at the 5c-Qs-Kh flop. Negreanu bet
10k, and Seidel called. The turn brought the Ah, and Negreanu
check-called Seidel's 25k wager. A harmless 6d hit the river, and
Negreanu check-called Seidel's 45k bet.
Seidel turned over A-10, but Negreanu showed K-6, and suddenly that
river six didn't seem harmless. Seidel needed a deep breath after that
one; who could blame him? The 181k pot propelled Negreanu into second
place, and Seidel was now third. When we hit the break after hand #179,
the chip count was
Negreanu $339,000
Seidel $146,000
Hellmuth $709,000
The antes remained at 1k, while the blinds moved to $4,000-8,000. It
would only cost 15k to sit out a three-hand round, or viewed another
way, 5k per hand.
PATIENCE, YOUNG SKYWALKER
At that level, even Seidel could still afford to be patient, and he was
until he picked up a big hand on #192. Negreanu limped in from the SB,
but Seidel raised it to a total of 24k from the BB. Negreanu moved
all-in, and Seidel took an understandable stand with Jh-Jc.
Neither player looked comfortable when Negreanu turned over Ah-Qs.
Nothing higher than a nine ever hit the board, though, and Seidel had
doubled through Negreanu, who had to ship 115k to Seidel, who was back
in action with 233k.
We went through another relatively long stretch of small and
non-dramatic action, but when we hit hand #210, Hellmuth either decided
to change gears (he had been cautious with his huge stack, instead of
using it to pound his opponents into submission) or started to find
hands, because he grew far more active and started accumulating small
pots. By hand #230, he had almost 800k, with Negreanu at 300k and Seidel
at 100k.
Seidel had fallen to 65k by hand #236, and pushed it all-in from the
button. Hellmuth paused: Seidel was clearly making a stand, and he
couldn't be allowed to grab 15k every hand for even a short stretch; who
could tell when a hand better than Ah-6s would come, and at least if it
got beat now, Seidel's double-though wouldn't be gargantuan. Hellmuth
finally decided to call with the hand. Seidel turned over Hellmuth's
favorite hand (because he'd won the 1989 World Championship with it),
9c-9s.
THE BLACK NINES RETURN
Two black nines were still good to Hellmuth, but in a different way. An
ace hit the flop, and Erik Seidel, the great player-great guy, the
former big chip leader who by Hellmuth's own admission had outplayed
Hellmuth for a long stretch, was out third.
Negreanu had exactly 300k and Hellmuth 894k as the heads-up battle
began. Hand #1 was #237 overall, but I'll start renumbering from here.
Heads-up, the small blind goes on the button (SBB) and acts first before
the flop but second after the flop.
Negreanu made it 25k from the SBB, and Hellmuth moved all-in. Negreanu
mucked, and all the "privileged railbirds" agreed that the bet had been
"a statement." We weren't going to play "wear 'em down" poker. It was
going to be big bet poker.
Four hands passed without any big bets, but the action heated up halfway
through #6. Hellmuth limped in from the SBB and we looked at a 2h-8h-Qc
flop. Both players checked.
The 5h hit the turn, and Negreanu checked again. Hellmuth bet 30k, and
when Negreanu made it 130k, it looked like Hellmuth had fallen for the
old "I'm weak, I'm weak, please bet into me so I can crush you" play.
HEY, WAIT, YOU'RE NOT COOPERATING
Hellmuth didn't look all that crushed, though. He asked Negreanu how
much he had left, and after Daniel counted out 117k, Hellmuth decided to
move all-in.
Negreanu looked much like someone who had been challenged to a duel with
the classic glove slap, except this glove had been a knight's armored
leather and steel gauntlet.
"I'm dead, but I gotta call," Daniel said resignedly, turning over the
Q-8 that had given him top two pair on the limp-in flop. If Negreanu had
KNOWN he was dead, he probably would have let the hand go; 117k isn't a
lot, not when your opponent has ten times that much, but funny things
can happen in no-limit. It was at least possible that Hellmuth had some
other two pair, or possibly even A-Q with the ace of hearts, for top
pair-nut flush draw.
That was where most of Negreanu's hopes lay, although even if Hellmuth
did have a set or a flush, he'd still have four outs.
Hellmuth turned over 4h-3h for a flush, and four outs it was for
Negreanu, with only one card to come. The seven of clubs gave the title
to Hellmuth, and made him the player to emerge with his second bracelet
of the Series.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
I tried a little misdirection on you with that business about the first
hand being a threesome of pairs, because the only poker threesome that
could outdo a final three of Seidel, Negreanu and Hellmuth was the
threesome Hellmuth had created at the top of the bracelet list.
Doyle Brunson reached nine bracelets early in this series, and Johnny
Chan's two got him to that lofty plateau as well. With this win,
Hellmuth made it a three-way tie at the top, 9-9-9.
Those who know only the supremely confident Hellmuth might have been
surprised at his reaction in the aftermath. "I can't believe I won," he
said. "I could have given up so early. Erik kept coming over the top of
me. He raised so much I decided to give up raising his blind until I had
about $800,000. I said to myself just be patient, just wait for the
nuts, and that Q-6 hand turned it around."
Hellmuth often has dreams or premonitions before final tables, not
always about him winning, but he didn't have any dreams last night.
"I just felt blessed," he said. "I realized I have so much to be
thankful for, a great family, my own health, my family's health, my book
is doing well on Amazon, I just realized I had so much going well in my
life, I shouldn't whine. I said to myself 'If you complain tomorrow, you
should quit poker.' Actually, I came close a few times, but I never went
into any of those big whines that I've done in the past."
If the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship was merely the overture for
the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship that begins Monday, I
can't wait for the opera.
Final Official Results, $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em
398 entrants, prize pool $1,110,420
1. Phil Hellmuth, Jr., $410,860
2. Daniel Negreanu, $210,980
3. Erik Seidel, $105,480
4. Mike Lesle, $66,720
5. Al Stonum, $49,960
6. Jay Heimowitz, $38,860
7. Curt Kohlberg, $27,760
8. Alan Brodsky, $22,200
9. Mark Seif, $17,760
10. Hieu "Tony" Ma, $13,320
11th-12th, $13,320 each: Ivan Donaghy, Glynn Beebe.
13th-15th, $11,100 each: Louis Asmo, Pascal Perrault, John Fullerton.
16th-18th, $8,880 each: Andre Hidi, Julian Gardner, Barbara Laux.
19th-27th, $6,660 each: Richard Salzman, Keith Hawkins, Michael Comer,
Doc Barry, Fred Berger, Herman Zango, Tony Cousineau, Billy Baxter,
Jimmy Cha.
