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

Day two I won my first heat, then played in another heat featuring: Eddie Sharf, Vicky Coren, Juha Helpi, Kiril Gerasimov and David Devilfish Ulliott. I was the only player to play in two heats in one day. Would the fatigue catch up with me? Would I 'donk off' my chips? Or, could I win three in a row? Early on, Devilfish kept raising my blinds, and I told myself that he wasn't going to run me over, not today! With the blinds at $3,000 – $6,000, Devilfish opened on the button for $18,000 with As-8s, and I moved all-in for $70,000 with 7h-5h. The Fish studied a full minute and finally called. Amazingly, the flop was 8-6-4! I had flopped a straight, and I had gone from first one out to chip leader with $140,000!

Let's take a closer look at this hand: the Fish made a standard raise on the button with a decent hand. His intent was to try to win the pot right then and there. I moved all-in because I didn't want the Fish to keep on raising my big blind all day long. I moved all-in to send a message. Of course, it could be argued that I was fatigued, and that I tried to 'donk off' my chips. In any case, the Fish smelled my weakness and made a great call. I was simply lucky to escape. However, I did send a strong message: don't mess with me today.

Later on, another big pot came up between the Fish and I when we were four handed. With the blinds at $5,000 – $10,000, I opened for $30,000 under the gun (first to act) with 9-9. Fish studied, chatted with me a bit, and then moved all-in from the big blind for about $150,000; I insta-called him. Fish showed me A-A, and I was all-in again, this time as a four-and-a-half-to-one underdog. Amazingly, the flop came down 9-7-6, and I won the pot.

What happened? I do not mind my raise of $30,000. I love the fact that Fish talked for a minute before he moved all-in. For the record, I do not think that an amateur should do that against a pro, because the pro will be able to read it (why give a pro more free information?), but Fish added a layer of deception when he chatted with me before moving all-in. My patented insta-call was probably not the best move. I was expecting Fish to try to bluff me, as I had been bluffing him all day long, but still, I should have studied Fish awhile before I acted. Maybe I would have smelled strength and made a great play and folded. However, the fact that I kept on moving all-in on Fish earlier, and that I was bluffing him a ton throughout the match, made me think that he was trying to bluff me back.

Bottom line: after three heats, I had an amazing three wins and 24 points. Wow, back-to-back-to-back wins. This time though, I was pretty lucky. I could have lost with the 7h-5h and been out in last place or the 9-9 and finished fourth. Next week I'll talk about my fourth heat, where I was first out, or I won my fourth in a row. Stay tuned.

I send the message "Do not mess with me today" when I:

1) Move all-in
2) Fold
3) Call
4) Act like a Poker Brat!

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