I saw a few hands, about an hour’s worth, of professional poker on TV recently. It wasn’t the World Series. It could’ve been FullTiltPoker.com, but anyway, a few of the big names were there. Matusow, Farha, Hellmuth and Ivey are four I can remember off the top of my head. For this one hand, though, Hellmuth and Farha are the only ones that matter.
Before I detail the hand, I’ll say that I never set blanket rules for myself before going into a game. I’ll never say, I’m definitely going to call if this or this happens…or “I’m going to raise this one player every time because I know he likes to buy pots early.”
Doesn’t make sense. Why tie yourself down, put yourself in a corner? There are so many swings, so many factors that can alter how you should be playing a hand, the fact that anyone makes up their mind about these things before even playing a single hand is baffling.
It’s even more baffling when a superstar does it. At least to me it is. And so we get to the hand.
Hellmuth, of Ultimate Bet has Jack, 10 off suit. Farha has Queen, Six of diamonds. Hellmuth bets, which gets Ivey to fold on nothing and Matusow to fold on a pair of two’s (a good move – man do I hate those small pair. You hate to play them but feel like you just have to sometimes, especially before the flop…on the other hand, it’s a great way to draw somebody into a game they shouldn’t be playing in). Farha calls. Neither has a great pre-flop hand at this point.
The flop is Queen, Jack, 8, with one diamond. Hellmuth bets again with $1,100. Farha calls. They jab back and forth. There’s usually more talking in these high-profile money games.
The turn is a King of diamonds, and Hellmuth checks. An awkward and transparent move for one of the game’s best. Farha starts to pick up on the fact that he has the best hand, but doesn’t bite on Hellmuth’s check.
The river is no help to either, and Hellmuth lays out a wimpy $800. Farha raises $2,000 back, all the while telling Hellmuth he’s playing weak. Hellmuth calls, though, to which Matusow says “that’s a bad call.”
And it was. And Hellmuth, of course, lost. Then Hellmuth, trying to justify his play, starts talking about how he said he was going to call every bet Farha made at the table. You think for a minute he’s joking, but he’s actually serious. Tough to criticize a poker star for anything, but on this one I gotta shrug my shoulders.
