  urlLink Phil Hellmuth.com : "2004 WSOP Eliminations Editor's note: chat, or play poker with Phil at UltimateBet.com. Almost every great 'known' player fell along the way at the 2004 WSOP (World Series of Poker) final table, these are a few of their stories. With 2600 players (Hallelujah! ) entering this year's WSOP, it wasn't easy to navigate through the field. In fact, an analogy I use to tell the press the way it is, goes like this: imagine 2600 players in a room flipping coins, 1300 flip heads and move one . . .
eventually three will flip heads ten times in a row. Good luck trying to beat the guy that has ten 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 says, 'Obviously I was looking for a hand before then. ' Erik had just been high-carded to the TV table, and the fourth hand he was there, Erik was on the button-and Gus had played all three previous hands. Now Gus limps, everyone else folds, and it came around to Erik with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000, and the antes at $300 a man. Erik was pretty happy with his K-8, and thought that he had Gus beat. So Erik moved all-in for $9,000, and the big blind now made it $25,000 to go, and now Erik says, 'Right then I knew I was dead, because this fellow wasn't an action player.
' Gus folded, and now the big blind showed Erik A-K, and in an instant it was over for Erik. I also went broke with K-8, but after the flop came down 10-8-4, and I was in the small blind with a very short stack, and the button had limped with Q-10 (yes, that #**#$ Q-10 busted me again). Annie Duke went out late on day three when she called a moderate raise in the big blind with K-Q, after the small blind called in front of her, and the flop came down 4-5-6, followed by check," Read more about the World Series of Poker 2004! from Phil's Website.
2004 WSOP Eliminations Editor's note: chat, or play poker with Phil at UltimateBet.com.
Almost every great "known" player fell along the way at the 2004 WSOP (World Series of Poker) final table, these are a few of their stories.
With 2600 players (Hallelujah! ) entering this year's WSOP, it wasn't easy to navigate through the field. In fact, an analogy I use to tell the press the way it is, goes like this: imagine 2600 players in a room flipping coins, 1300 flip heads and move one . . .
eventually three will flip heads ten times in a row. Good luck trying to beat the guy that has ten 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 says, "Obviously I was looking for a hand before then. " Erik had just been high-carded to the TV table, and the fourth hand he was there, Erik was on the button-and Gus had played all three previous hands.
Now Gus limps, everyone else folds, and it came around to Erik with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000, and the antes at $300 a man. Erik was pretty happy with his K-8, and thought that he had Gus beat.
So Erik moved all-in for $9,000, and the big blind now made it $25,000 to go, and now Erik says, "Right then I knew I was dead, because this fellow wasn't an action player. " Gus folded, and now the big blind showed Erik A-K, and in an instant it was over for Erik.
I also went broke with K-8, but after the flop came down 10-8-4, and I was in the small blind with a very short stack, and the button had limped with Q-10 (yes, that #**#$ Q-10 busted me again).
Annie Duke went out late on day three when she called a moderate raise in the big blind with K-Q, after the small blind called in front of her, and the flop came down 4-5-6, followed by check, her check and the raisers check. Next card was a 5, then Annie bluffed all-in for $28,000 into the $14,000 pot, and the original raiser studied for a long while--while Annie sweated it out--and folded. The small blind player then began to study Annie, and finally made a great call on her with A-Q high. 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 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 now I'm 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 here by the small blind, but kudos to him for making a tough call.
" World Champion of Poker Russ Hamilton went out about 135th or so. Russ says, "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 with a $400 a person ante, and 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 goes one, "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, but the possibilities in my mind were J-J, Q-Q, A-K, or A-A, but 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 now know based on his style that it must be A-A, Q-Q, or J-J. Thus I called the $9,000. The next card was a blank 4, and I checked and he checked. Now I know that 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. Now a queen comes down on the river, and he sat up in his chair, and that scared me, so I checked to him, and he bet $20,000.
" "I looked at him, and then I looked with disbelief at the dealer, and I just knew that 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 the pocket kings and folded, and he then showed me the pocket queens, but what a pot to lose this early.
I would have had a ton of chips at this early stage, with the blinds at $300-$600, and then I could have really played some poker! " Tough beat Russ, but one heck of a lay down! Antonio "the magician" Esfandiari went out early on day one. "The fourth hand of the tournament, with the blinds $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 calls, and the turn was the 9d, now I bet $1,200.
He calls, and at this point in time I put him on an ace. The river made a spade flush possible, and he checked, and 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 that he had a flush! The hand I went out with is irrelevant, because I was already a short stack. " Sounds like a great lay down with the three jacks, and it sucks to lose so much so early in the big one. Come back next week to read about Howard Lederer and Doyle Brunson. Phil Likes Porn and goes to www.virtualblonde.com in his OFF time! Virtual Blonde is is Phil's favorite blonde fetish site. Phil has free accounts at Virtual Blonde VirtualBlonde http://www.VirtualBlonde.com 
