Phil Hellmuth Match Reports

Fresh from the tables, poker ace Phil Hellmuth gives you his news and views in his match reports direct from Premier League Poker

Prog 1 | Prog 3 | Prog 4 | Prog 6 | Prog 7 | Prog 10 | Final

Surprisingly, four of the five pre-tournament favorites: England's Devilfish and Rolande de Wolfe, Australia's Tony G, and Russia's Kiril Gerasimov finished in the bottom four. Both women in the twelve player field won their heads up matches to claim the final two spots in the finale: Englishwoman Vicky Coren beat Irishman Andy Black, and American Liz Lieu beat American Kenna James.

It turns out that I won four heats, with one third and one sixth place finish, for 35 points. Thus, I began the finale with $350,000 in chips – as the chip leader – along with Coren ($200,000), Lieu ($230,000), Germany's Eddy Scharf ($310,000), Norway's Juha Helppi ($270,000) and Englishman Ian Fraser ($260,000).

About 40 minutes into the finale, with the blinds at $1,000-$2,000, Helppi opened for $6,000 in late position. I called $4,000 more in the big blind with Jh-2h, and the flop was 7-4-2. I checked, Helppi bet out $10,000, and I called. The next card was a king, I checked, Helppi bet out $20,000, and I called. The last card was an ace, I checked, Helppi bet out $40,000, and I called. Helppi showed down A-7, and won the pot. OK Phil, it may hurt, but let's break down this hand.

First of all, Helppi made a standard raise of $6,000 before the flop, but I hate my call here. Why get involved with Jh-2h? I mean, I made it all the way to the chip lead by playing conservative poker, why change now? I like Helppi's $10,000 bet on the flop, and I have no problem with my $10,000 call here. Helppi could have had A-K, or another hand like that; or he could have been bluffing.

On the turn, I like Helppi's $20,000 bet, and I do not mind my call here too much, although a raise would have been better. A raise would have allowed me to win the pot if Helppi was weak. On the end, I love Helppi's big $40,000 bet, and I hate my call. I mean, I cannot beat any hand at all, only a pure bluff; and there are not many people in the world that would try to Fire all three bullets (bluff the flop, the turn, and the river) vs. me. I think that I just lost it somehow, and this pot shocked me into playing a super conservative style of poker for the rest of the day.

In fact, from this point forward we all played a super conservative style of play, and it was four hours before we had our first all-in pot! I was really card dead, and super frustrated as I sat there for hours folding hands before the flop. Somehow though, the patience paid off, as we lost Fraser, Cohen, and then Lieu. Then it happened. With the blinds at $15,000-$30,000, Scharf folded on the button and I looked down and found pocket kings. At the 2006 World Series of Poker I had pocket kings with two players remaining, with the blinds at $15,000-$30,000 and my opponent then was... Helppi. I won a $2.2 million dollar pot with those kings, and went on to win my record tying tenth bracelet.

Déjà vu! Back then I opened for $80,000, and Helppi moved all-in. Naturally, this time I opened for the same $80,000, and Helppi called. The flop was A-J-8, I checked, and Helppi checked. I was not worried about Helppi having an ace. The next card was a seven. I checked again, Helppi bet $80,000, and I moved all-in for $190,000 total. Helppi called and rolled over 8-7—for two pair– ouch! The last card was a three, and I was eliminated, finishing in third place.

It didn't seem fair that I lost with K-K vs. 8-7. Indeed, I was truly shocked that Helppi called the raise with 8-7 pre-flop, why defend with this hand? In fact, Helppi had an excellent chance of doubling me up. I do not regret checking on the flop, or on the turn, as it gave Helppi a chance to bluff me, or bet a weaker hand than mine.

On the J-2 hand Phil simply:

1) Lost his mind!
2) Played really bad
3) Played like a donkey
4) All of the above

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