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

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Having won four out of my first five heats – I had 32 points in the bag – I was guaranteed the chip lead in the finals. Knowing that there were players in my sixth heat that desperately needed points: how should I play the heat? Should I play super aggressively, pushing around the players that needed points – and thus couldn't make a stand – early on? No, I had tried that tactic in my fourth heat, after I won the first three heats, and I found that you couldn't push around these players. They were playing their hands, not their point's position. Too bad, I would have loved to run over the table with super aggressive play! Option two was to play super tight poker, and wait out the others, because I felt that their weakness was a lack of patience. I was going to play super patiently; I was going to the tactic that brought me four wins. I mean, why change now?

This heat featured the German Eddy Sharf, American Kenna "The Cowboy" James (how could a guy from Chicago be the cowboy?!?), Australian Tony G, Liz Lieu, Irishman Andy Black, and I. After some relatively boring play, I found myself in the final three players with chip leader James ($375,000) and Sharf ($150,000).

So far, things were going to plan. The blinds were $5,000 – $10,000; I was in the big blind sitting on about $75,000 or so when James opened for $30,000 with A-4. I looked down at Kd-Jd, and pondered my options for about 30 seconds or so. Finally, I moved all-in, and James studied for almost one minute before calling the $45,000 reraise. James's A-4 was about an 11-to-10 favorite to win the pot over my Kd-Jd. Luckily for me, the cards came down K-Q-5-J-7, and I won the pot. Two hands later I opened for $25,000 on the button with Q-Q, and James moved me all-in for my full $150,000 with his 5-5.

I did my patented Insta-call, standing up while I moved my chips into the middle so fast that they fell over. My Q-Q was a 4-and-a-half-to-one favorite to win the pot – a pot that contained exactly 50% of the chips in play. Was I this good? Was I going to win my fifth heat out of six? Alas, no; the cards came down A-5-2-4-7, and I was eliminated in third place.

Let's take a quick look at the actions during these hands. First, James's raise on the button with A-4 was standard. My move with Kd-Jd was OK, or some pros might have tried the Stop-and-Go move (where one calls before the flop and then moves all-in on the flop, no matter what cards hit the flop). The Stop-and-Go is a good option for me here as well. My reasoning was that I could beat all bluffing hands, I was even money vs. any pocket pair tens or under, and I was roughly even money against most ace highs. In case I had James beat, I wanted to charge him the full amount.

In the second hand, my raise on the button was standard (although technically standard would have been $30,000 – $35,000). James's reraise all-in was a bit weak, but fits well within an aggressive strategy. I say why risk most of his chips with 5-5 against someone who was playing as tight as I was? Also, what if Sharf picked up a strong hand? I would prefer to see James call here, not move all-in.

In any case, third place gave me a final total of 35 points; good enough for first place (by a mile) in the Premiership. Next week, we will finally talk about the finals, where I started with the chip lead ($350,000).

Q-Q is favored over 5-5 before the flop by this much:

1) Six-to-on
2) Two-to-one
3) Four-and-a-half-to-one
4) Even money

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