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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Aug 21, 2004

From Nadir to Zenith in Two Easy Hands

Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. -- Richard Nixon

Last evening, flipping between channels while NBC broke away from the Summer Olympics for commercials, I remembered that the World Poker Tour finals were being broadcast on the Travel Channel. I arrived at the cable station in time to see that Hoyt Corkin, who won a WPT tourney at Foxwoods last year, had a rather large chip lead over Gus Hansen, who has two WPT victories to his name.

I read somewhere that another pro (Phil Hellmuth) had baptized Corkin "All-In" because of his tendency to be super aggressive with his wagers. Hansen, too, has a reputation as a wiley, unpredictable player who doesn't mind risking his checks when he gets down to playing his opponent rather than his cards.

So what we had under the booming voice of Mike Sexton and the smiling vocals of Vince Van Patten was a battle of two without-the-sheen-of-book-polish pros riding the high seas on a cruise ship no less, making for a totally unpredictable final hand.

Most people would think that with close to a 4-1 chip lead, Corkin should sail to victory without the boat, but in a tournament that kind of lead compares to the difference between Amada Beard's Olympic gold medal victory in the breastroke at 2:23:37 over Leisel Jones' 2:23:60 time.

Brush it off like a pesky fly!

Now Corkin has been there before and he's probably experienced his share of bad beats. So has Hansen. But picture yourself in one of these events, or even a small one you might be participating in at your local hangout. The victory seems within grasp. One more hand, one more win, one more stolen blind and the pile of money at the end of the rainbow is yours.

Unless, of course, your opponent gets lucky. Unless he gets hit with the deck (poker parlance for getting the perfect card at the perfect times) or sucks out (poker slang for winning at the last minute, usually when you were an big-time underdog to start).

Well, get ready for a revelation folks! Going all in, getting lucky and sucking out are part of the game of poker, especially tournament poker. And the truth should be known that for every one who relies on those tactics and wins, about 10 who rely on them never make it to camera range. Conversely, for everyone who relies on book-learning and computing outs and wins, about 10 who rely on them never make it to camera range either.

That's tournament poker for you!

But when it is time to smile for that camera and it's down to two players, think of what it feels like to be on top of the mountain one minute and in the pits the next -- and vice versa. From heart-pumping euphoria to thoat-closing spasms, it could be much like the feelings that coursed through Aaron Peirsol's water-logged head after winning the gold medal for the 200-meter backstroke only to have the victory snatched from his upraised arm because of a disqualification, only to be sent to the podium to receive the gold after the disqualification was disqualified.

It doesn't matter who you are. If you play tournament poker, one day you are going to be in the hot seat and in two hands -- two of them suck-outs -- you could end up like Hoyt Corkin who fell victim to two "easy" Hansen hand or you could be like Hansen who came back from that chip deficit to win his third biggie.

It's all in the cards, friends, so unless you absolutely need the prize money to pay your rent or get school supplies for you kids or send one of them to Olympic swimming camp remember: A 10-9 suited can beat an A-9 suited and a 3-7 unsuited can beat a 9-4 suited.