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So how good do you think that you really are at poker, you have played in a few home games and beaten up on your friends but I bet that you have never been seriously tested have you? No I thought as much, well all that is about to come to an end my friend if you have the courage to take a seat in this test and see how good you really are.
The game of poker that is on everyone’s lips at the moment and not to mention on television is No Limit Texas Hold’em. A form of poker where just one error can mean the end of your tournament or bankroll. So lock everything away and try to avoid any distraction as you will need to be fully focused this month because this test is taken from World Championship play.
Poker History is Made
For all those of you who have only recently entered into our wonderful world of poker, you will be unaware of this very famous hand that was played at the end of the 1987 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy in main event. This hand has been reproduced here with kind permission of one of the combatants, none other than noted poker author and now veteran professional player Bob Ciaffone. The data in this example has been taken from one of Bob’s books namely the excellent “Pot Limit and No Limit Poker” that he co-authored with Stewart Reuben.
This hand went into poker history as being the very first hand in tournament poker to contain over $1 Million in it. So go ahead and take your seat and play for the World Title!
Setting The Scene
The tournament is well into it’s final day and there are only three players left. You will be taking the place of Bob Ciaffone in this test and now let me introduce you to your two opponents who you need to get past in order to be World Poker Champion!
We have Frank Henderson who was a top poker professional himself and non other than Johnny Chan, an absolute poker legend and nicknamed “The Oriental Express” for the sheer speed that he accumulates chips. Ask any top professional poker player to list the ten greatest players of all time and Chan’s name would be on everyone’s list. Johnny Chan’s name sits proudly along side that of Doyle Brunson as the record holder with the most World Series titles to their name….ten!!
I was getting kind of fed up with receiving e-mails from readers saying how well they did on previous tests, either everyone in the country is a good player or I am being too soft. Well life is going to get a whole lot tougher and now I am hitting back and putting all of you wannabee’s back in your place with this one.
You have been playing very aggressively up to this stage and have been dominating the table but you have yet to play a big pot with Johnny Chan….all that is about to change!
Bob Ciaffone YOU (Big Blind): $665,000
Frank Henderson (Little Blind): $250,000
Johnny Chan (Button): $525,000
The blinds at this stage were $10,000-$20,000 with a $2000 ante meaning that $36,000 was in the pot even before a card was dealt. You have been dealt the Ad-4d in the big blind, Johnny Chan who is first to speak on the button calls the $20,000 and Frank Henderson calls the extra $10K making the pot $66,000. Over to you….that burning sensation that you can feel is you being in the hot seat!
Bet the pot or slightly more: 10 pts
Check: 8 pts
Go all in: 6 pts
Bet half pot or less: 0 pts
Checking this hand is hardly a bad poker play as a legend like Chan is hardly going to continue to stand for being pushed around for too long and especially with the blinds at this level. But an ace is a big hand when three handed although it has to be said that it gets to be a lot more marginal when one of your two opponents just happens to be Johnny Chan.
When you have an opponent who is this strong then going all in has an awful lot of merit as it eliminates any chance of them out playing you from the flop onwards. Henderson will likely fold as his limp indicates weakness so the only player that you have to worry about is Chan. Going all in is not a very subtle poker play but it is very effective and you will add $44,000 to your stack from before the hand started which is a very significant amount at this stage of the game.
The reason that I only award this play six points is that based on the history of the game and how aggressive you have been, it is just possible that Chan may be setting you up. Raising the pot or slightly more lets you get away from the hand if someone comes back over the top with a re-raise whereas an all in move leaves you fully committed. It also takes the initiative which is crucial in big bet poker.
This is a wonderfully complex situation and is why No Limit Hold’em has such wide appeal. But then again betting the pot or more does look like a bet that wants to end proceedings there and then rather than a bet that wants action. I could take up an entire magazine discussing this one example and would do so if my editor let me (won’t bother asking him though). One thing that is certain above all this is that you do not win the world title by going into your shell and being defensive.
Betting half the pot….are you mad! Johnny Chan having position on you and you messing around with silly raises like this is asking for trouble. Unless you flop something, you are just likely to be donating extra chips to his stack or encouraging Henderson to stay in and out flop you as well. The skill of your opponent and the play up until this point coupled with your position makes the entire thing very marginal and the best course of action is by no means clear.
You raise $85,000 more and Chan calls the raise while Henderson folds. The pot now stands at $236,000 and the chip stacks are as follows:
You: $558,000
Chan: $418,000
The flop comes Kc-Js-4c giving you bottom pair with an ace overcard. You are first to speak……Mr Chan is glaring at you very intently….boy it’s hot in here! What are you going to do now sailor?
Check: 10 pts
Bet half pot to pot: 5 pts
Go all in: 2 pts
What a horrible situation to be in, you essentially have not done anything wrong but now you are faced with this. Johnny Chan has limped in and called a raise of $85,000 by you and now you are staring at a flop that could have hit him. But then again great players like him can be flying around with literally anything and you can never truly put them on any hand.
One of the problems when you face players as good as Chan is that they are great people readers and you can be intimidated into checking simply because if you bluff, they will read you for it. But then again checking is simply conceding the initiative and people like Chan will pounce on any sign of weakness in a flash.
Going all in on this flop is asking for trouble as this cries out like a bet that does not want a call and Chan is well capable of making a great call based on his read of you with a marginal but superior hand to yours. If you lose to Chan in an all in confrontation then that would not be the end of matters as you have more chips but your chances of winning the World title would have took a very serious knock.
Let us look at this from Chan’s perspective or at least try to. He knows that you have been bullying the table so your pre-flop raise came as no surprise. He also knows that you are likely to be doing this with an unpaired hand that is likely to miss the flop. Because of your aggressive history, he probably is expecting you to bet the flop whether you hit or miss. So when he called your pre-flop raise, he knew full well that you had the advantages that are associated with being able to bet first.
Checking this flop when there are two high cards on board could also make Chan very wary about betting a paired hand and especially as you were the pre-flop raiser. So a check by you could also induce a check by Chan and give you the opportunity of getting a free card. Take an extra 10 points if you checked the flop with the intention of check raising ALL IN!
This may not be the best move but it does show one thing, that you are not going to sit back and be a side issue in the Johnny Chan party. True you could be walking out of the door very shortly but you don’t get to beat Johnny Chan playing it safe. Letting the guy systematically outplay you and slowly bleed you dry until you are all in should not be on your agenda. I will award bonus points to anyone who had the imagination to make this play……and the GUTS!
To win these tournaments you are going to have to do certain things that make you incredibly uncomfortable and uneasy. You don’t win the World Series without going through the meat grinder. In fact I have just decided, if you checked pre-flop with the intention of check folding to a flop bet because you want to preserve your chip lead and the other two players may just get entangled in a confrontation with each other then DEDUCT 5 POINTS! for having totally the wrong mindset to win this thing.
You are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, you do not want to concede the initiative but this flop is very dangerous. Bravery or safety, this example is hard enough to analyse in the cold light of day let alone in the intense heat of battle. You finally fire out a bet of $185,000 into the $236,000 pot and your betting arm has barely finished putting the chips in when Chan re-raises ALL IN! a further $233,000. You have $373,000 left and would only have $140,000 left should you call and lose this pot. So what are you going to do now then?
Call: 10 Pts
Fold: 10 Pts
Yes, that is right! I am awarding maximum points for both plays as the correct course of action here is too close to call. It is grossly unfair to criticise anyone when it was they who were in the pressure cooker and not us. Poker is no different to any other sport in that it is an entirely different animal when played under intense pressure. Also, you simply cannot criticize a man when his playing decisions are based around knowledge that he has picked up in the past by actually having played poker with Johnny Chan on numerous occasions when the overwhelming vast majority of the rest of us (self included) have not.
Folding gets you out of a very sticky situation while still having $373,000 to do battle with which incidentally is still $123,000 more than Frank Henderson in third position. Calling and knocking out Chan makes you a big favourite to take the tournament and avoid having to play the man heads up. Take an Extra 10 Points if you called because of the possibility that Chan may be on a draw because of the board and that your pair of fours could be winning.
Bob Ciaffone pointed out in his book that he felt that it was unlikely that Chan was on a draw based on having played with him many times before. You on the other hand do not have this kind of information so you must take this possibility very seriously.
After much deliberation, you CALL and Chan turns over the Kh-Qs and no, there will be no fairytale ending as you fail to outdraw his top pair and there will be no fairytale comeback either as you are busted out of the tournament some time later in third place leaving Chan and Henderson to battle it out for the title in your absence. For the record, Johnny Chan became the 1987 World Series of Poker Champion……..oh well there is always next year.
50 Points: World Series Winner
40-49: Final Table Finisher
30-39: Placed in the money
20-29: You were never in the running were you
10-19: Busted out on the opening day
0-9: Did you turn up at all?
This quiz was produced for the official magazine of the World Poker Tour and has been reproduced here with their kind permission.
