full tilt poker pro strategy tips from phil gordon

A Big Stack Mistake at the 2006 WSOP
Phil Gordon
July 3, 2006

I went pretty deep in the first event at the World Series of Poker, a $1,500 No-Limit Hold
'em tournament. While I wasn't pleased with the outcome - I finished 45th in a 2,776 player
field - I was happy with my play. For this tip, I'm going to share an interesting hand from the
tournament - one where I made a mistake.

It was late in the first day of play, and things had been going well. My stack had grown to
over 60,000 and I was among the chip leaders. The average stack was around 20,000 at
that point, the blinds were 600-1,200 with a 200 ante, and I was fortunate enough to be at
a timid table. I was stealing with impunity. I was meeting so little resistance that, at points,
I was able to steal the blinds and antes four times per orbit. I'd raise pre-flop, everyone
would fold, and I'd add valuable chips to my stack.

After some time at this table, an under-the-gun player raised all-in pre-flop for a little over
20,000 in chips. It was folded to me on the button, and I found Ace-King off-suit. I decided
to call. My opponent also had Ace-King, but he was suited with hearts. I lost the large pot
when my opponent hit his flush.

It would be easy to write off the hand as plain old bad luck. After all, we started with hands
of almost identical strength. But, the truth is, I shouldn't have played the hand at all.

Sure, Ace-King is a strong hand, but it's no better than a three to one favorite over
something like Ace-Queen. Against other hands my opponent could have held, like pocket
10s or Jacks, it's a slight underdog.

There were also factors beyond the math that I should have considered. For instance,
given the table dynamics, there was no need for me to risk one-third of my chips on this
hand. If I had folded, I could have gone back to stealing, padding my stack while risking
only a fraction of my chips. What's more is that, after I lost, I had to become more
conservative, as I no longer had a big chip advantage over the other players.

Losing that pot had other consequences, as well. In this tournament, the blind-to-stack
ratio didn't allow for a lot of play. For much of the tournament, the average stack had no
more than 12 or 13 big blinds. When I lost those chips, I could no longer re-raise pre-flop,
then fold to an all-in if my move didn't work out. If someone raised before the action got to
me, I had only two choices; fold or move in.

There are plenty more tournaments to come in the WSOP and I'm hopeful that, in the
following weeks, I'll win my first bracelet. To do that, of course, I'll also have to do a better
job of protecting my chips the next time I have a big stack.