Me at the final table of the 2008 APPT Macau High Rollers

The Macau High Rollers event has quickly established itself as the biggest event in Asia. At HK$150,000 (US$19,231) it costs four times the next biggest Asian poker event to enter, and about double the cost of the World Series of Poker main event. It attracts just the highest of high rollers, and of course a number of the top sponsored players. Macau is the Las Vegas of Asia (perhaps these days we should say Las Vegas is the Macau of the US), and as such is a fitting venue for this highest of High Roller tournaments.

The 2007 event was won by Australian Eric Assadourian, who has amassed US$561,000 in prize money in his career so far. Last year’s event also introduced the poker playing world to my good friend David Steicke, who placed fourth in the event and had heads scratching with his wild and loose style, perennial min-raises and slightly eccentric poker demeanour.

Day One

This year’s event began at the Grand Waldo casino at 1:30pm on Sunday 7 September. The field consisted of 61 players of immense talent and/or bankroll. There were three former World Champions in Johnny Chan (1987 and 1988), Mansour Matloubi (1990) and Joe Hachem (2005).

Other names in this year’s field were Eric Assadourian, Shawn Buchanan, Terry Chan, David Chiu, Charles Chua, Tyler Cornell, Shaun Deeb, Harry Demetrio, Quinn Do, Tony Dunst, Kofi Farkye, Barry Greenstein, Bertrand Grospellier, John Juanda, Hevad Khan, Liz Lieu, Celina Lin, Van Marcus, Mike McDonald, Isabelle Mercier, Lee Nelson, Xuan Nguyen, John Phan, Julian Powell, David Saab, Dan Schreiber, David Steicke, Steve Sung, Ivan Tan, Emad Tahtouh, JC Tran and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

The starting stacks were deep at 20,000 and the levels were long at 75 minutes a level. This structure allowed for plenty of play and for a greater emphasis on skill rather than luck.

Defending champion Eric Assadourian called “shuffle up and deal” and we were underway. Day one would proceed for six seventy-five minute levels or until the field was reduced to 16 players, whichever came first.

When I sat down at my first table (in seat three), I was delighted to see Celina Lin two to my right (in seat 1). Celina has received plenty of publicity due to her sponsorship by PokerStars, but I had never played with her before. I wanted to get a line on her play, so I was looking forward to playing with her for a substantial period of time. But it was not to be – on the very third hand of the tournament Celina was out! Yevgeniy Timoshenko (who had just taken out the APT Macau the previous week, winning US$500,000 in the process) raised pre-flop, and Celina re-raised from the big blind. Yevgeniy called and they saw a flop with 2,450 chips in the pot. The flop came 9h-7c-4c, Celina bet 1,400, was raised by Timoshenko to 4,500 and she insta-shoved all-in. Timoshenko insta-called and suddenly in a matter of seconds all their money was in the middle! Celina showed pocket Aces, but was trailing Timoshenko’s 97. A 9 on the turn sealed her fate, and Timoshenko now had plenty of chips.

Little was I to know I would end up with her chips, albeit via Timoshenko.

Nothing very eventful happened over the next few hours, with my stack dwindling to 16,525 chips. Then I look down and see Ah-Ks, big slick. I had an early position limper on my right so I raise it up to 800. Timoshenko made it 2,600 from the small blind and I decided it was time to make a move, shoving all-in for another 13,925. Of course, the perfect result for me would be to see him fold his own AK, or QQ or JJ – but I wasn’t too worried if he called with a hand like QQ or JJ either – at some point you have to win a race. I just had to pray he didn’t hold KK – or worse, AA. Yevgeniy tanked for an eternity. Eventually, I called the clock on him and he went through his minute and the countdown started: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5… then he said “call!”

He rolled over QQ and immediately starting quizzing me on whether I would have shoved if I had JJ. I declined to reply, more interested in seeing whether I could get an AK to finally hold up. To put this in context, I have been awfully unlucky in race situations over the last twelve months. Of about my last 30 seriously important races (mostly at this year’s World Series), I had lost about 25 of them. I am not exaggerating.

The flop arrived 6-A-2, then the turn and river bricked out and I had finally hit an AK. I had doubled up to 33,000 in chips and was back in business.

A Pokernews cameraman had come over to take pictures to record the drama, and was coming over to show me the pictures she had taken when I look down at the hole cards of my next hand. Amazingly, I had QQ! It was the very hand that Timoshenko had the previous hand.

I raised it up to 600 chips, and Timoshenko re-raised to 2,200 on the button. “Here we go again”, I thought, as I raised it another 5,000 chips on top. Again, Timoshenko tanked and I eventually called the clock on him, as I had done the previous hand. He said “all-in”. I was not expecting this and it put me to a really tough decision. I know it wouldn’t be a tough decision for a lot of other players, but for me it was. Would he make this move with TT or JJ? He certainly would with KK or AA, to which I was a massive underdog. AK was the other likely contender – would he really four-bet with AK to a known tight player like me? For fold equity, maybe. It was a difficult decision for me – I’d feel like a fool if he turned over KK or AA, and like a genius if he turned over JJ or maybe TT. If he turned over AK, well it’s a race again. Eventually, Emad Tatouh called the clock on me (the second time the clock had been called in the hand, and the third time in the last two hands)!

I let my minute run through and weighed up the position – I figured it was maybe 65/35 or 50/50 that I was in front in the pocket pair department, and also a slight favourite against possible AK holdings. I completely discounted the possibility he would have a hand as weak as AQ. With the dead money already in the pot, it made the answer clear – I had to call. With just five seconds remaining on the countdown, I called.

He rolled over – Ac-Kc! Amazingly, we had the precise same situation as the hand before: QQ vs AK, except our hands were reversed, with me holding the QQ this time. It’s an oft-quoted tournament poker saying that to win a tournament you need to win with AK, and be able to beat AK. Well, I had already won with AK, now we needed to see if I could beat AK. The board came Jh-8s-7d (no flush now), then 7c-4s and I had knocked Yevgeniy out of the tournament, and moved up to around 60,000 in chips.

I finally win a race! No, make that two races!

Meanwhile, David Steicke (who was on other tables) was doing his usual trick and amassing a huge stack. David plays a lot of hands and likes to bully other players around with a large stack. He had just finished tenth in the main event two days before (one off the final table) using his aggressive strategy. It was working for him again today. His chip stack was once again growing and growing, partly courtesy of busting Liz Liew (with a full house no less) and famed poker author and Aussie Millions winner Lee Nelson (with a turned set).

Poker legend Johnny Chan had been having a tough day. His stack was below the starting stack of 20,000 chips for most of the day but he moved all-in with Ac-Kc (coincidentally the exact same hand Timoshenko had busted with against me), and had to sweat the Ad-5d-3h flop against his opponent's Qd-Jd, but the turn and river bricked out and Chan doubled up to his original starting stack of 20,000.

Late in the day I knocked out Shawn Buchanan with my pocket sevens against his AQ. It was my third race for the day for my third win – believe it or not I had never won three from three races in a tournament before this day. Nam Le had spent much of the day on my table and we had tussled several times.

The day ended with 28 of the original 61 starters surviving. David Steicke ran like God through the day, hitting no less than seven sets. He ended the day as chip leader with 158,400 chips. The standings at the end of day 1 were:

Day Two

Day two began at 2pm on Monday 8 September. My opening table was:

The day was to play until we had nine players remaining. It took 90 minutes to lose four players and be down to twenty-four players, where a redraw was scheduled to take place. In those 90 minutes David Steicke continued to accumulate chips and consolidate his position at the top of the leader board.

After the redraw, the final twenty-four players were placed on three tables of eight:

Table 14

Seat 1: Eric Assadourian
Seat 2: Saehoon Lee
Seat 3: Nam Le
Seat 4: Andrew Pantling
Seat 5: David Steicke
Seat 6: Yury Kerzhapkin
Seat 7: Javed Abrahams
Seat 8: Charles Chua

Table 16

Seat 1: Quinn Do
Seat 2: Michael McDonald
Seat 3: Tyler Cornell
Seat 4: Barry Greenstein
Seat 5: Johnny Chan
Seat 6: Matt Kay
Seat 7: Xuan Nguyen
Seat 8: Ivan Tan

Table 20

Seat 1: Van Marcus
Seat 2: Steven Silverman
Seat 3: Julian Powell
Seat 4: Wei Will Ma
Seat 5: Danny Wong
Seat 6: Joe Hachem
Seat 7: Roger Spets
Seat 8: Andrew Scott

I had 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem two to my right and accomplished internet players around me in Van Marcus, Julian Powell and Wei Will Ma. Will had a huge chip stack in front of him. Meanwhile Johnny Chan was hanging around like a bad smell, on the next table – and grew his formerly tiny chip stack back up to 80,000.

Ninety minutes after the redraw, I took Roger Spets out of the tournament. Joe Hachem raised to 2,200 chips, Roger in the next seat pushed all-in for 16,000 chips, and in the next seat I called the raise with Th-Td. As I expected (and to my relief) Joe folded, and Roger rolled over Ac-Qs, giving me a 58% chance of winning the hand. I had a scary moment when the door card of the flop was an Ace, but the flop was spread to reveal a Ten. I actually hit quad tens on the river. After eliminating Roger I was back up to 58,000 in chips – basically my starting stack for the day.

About 5pm, we got down to about sixteen players remaining, and play slowed dramatically. We were now down to just two tables and everyone could see the money (the final nine). With light at the end of the tunnel, no one wanted to finish up near the bubble. Traditional tight bubble play ensued – a pre-flop raise usually took down the blinds and antes.

Around 6pm, my stack started to get in serious trouble. I was all the way down to 28,000 chips again, barely more than my starting stack at the beginning of the tournament. That’s when I shoved all-in against Van Marcus on a flop of Kc-3c-4s, and he folded. I was back over 30,000 in chips. I like playing with Van, he is a fellow Melbournian (if you want to call me a Melbournian) and has helped me with my game from time to time. He’s a friendly guy who is always prepared to talk about poker hands and has a fun outlook on life.

Finally we lost a player on the other table, Javed Abrahams, whose top-pair-Jack-kicker looked good enough for him to shove with his last 22,000 in chips. But Johnny Chan insta-called with a set which filled up on the river.

A little after six o’clock, David Steicke (on my table) was still chip leader with 177,000 chips, but he was closely followed by Wei Will Ma (also on my table) with 170,000 chips. At this stage I still had only about 40,000 chips. Around 6:45pm, David cracked the 200,000 chip barrier when the deck hit him again – this time flopping a flush. I was beginning to wonder how the hell I was going to get in front of him!

Half an hour later, Wei Will Ma won a big pot and found himself the new chip leader with 250,000 in chips. Suddenly I had two big stacks on the table to deal with.

At 7:30pm Joe Hachem, who had been short-stacked for some time, moved all-in pre-flop. He was called by Mike McDonald who tabled Ad-Th to Joe’s Ah-9h. The board was no good for Joe and he was out just short of making the final table.

Joe Hachem – with Emad Tahtouh in support

I got involved in a strange pot with Van Marcus. I saw an unraised pot in the big blind with 5h-2c. The flop came Kc-2h-Kd, giving me the lowest of possible two pairs with no kicker. Praying that Van didn’t have a King (made more likely by his pre-flop limp), I bet 3,400 into the pot, wanting to make him pay to hit a bigger pair (and also having possible fold equity). Van raised it to 9,000 and I called. When the Kh fell on the turn, I felt more comfortable, now having hit my full house, making a King less likely for Van, eliminating my kicker worries and negating any runner-runner straight possibilities. I only had a King or a pocket pair to fear. I saw no further point in betting as I was probably only going to be called by a hand that had me beat, as I had already told Van I had a hand by calling his flop raise. The turn fell 9h, and I happily checked it down with just one card to come. Van bluffed at the river betting 16,000, but I called. He didn’t have the King or deuce and I took the pot down. Those chips were very valuable to me.

At this point Johnny Chan (who was short stacked) pitched the idea of playing one table of ten rather than two tables of five once we lost one more player. I instantly understood that the idea favoured the shorter stacks, and since my stack was a little under the average stack of 111,000 chips I voted in favour of it. I understood exactly what Chan was doing – under the guise of avoiding hand-for-hand play he was trying to get an edge for himself.

At 9:30pm, eight hours after starting the day’s play, we finally lost Steven Silverman in eleventh place. Silverman shoved for 57,000 with pockets sevens, but was of course snap-called by Ivan Tan when he looked down and saw pocket rockets. Tan won and Silverman only just had him covered, by 2,200 chips. On the very next hand Silverman posted his 1,200 small blind, and 400 ante, leaving him pot committed with just 600 chips behind. He moved all-in in the dark and I looked down to see As-Qd in the cutoff. I raised it up to 8,000 in an attempt to get rid of the button and big blind and isolate the hand to just Silverman and me. It worked, Silverman turned over 7h-5d, but didn’t hit the board and finally, after two hours without eliminating any players, we were down to the last ten players.

Silverman – all-in for his last 2,200 chips

There was a re-draw for the final table of ten:

Seat 1: Eric Assadourian
Seat 2: Nam Le
Seat 3: Quinn Do
Seat 4: David Steicke
Seat 5: Wei Will Ma
Seat 6: Johnny Chan
Seat 7: Charles Chua
Seat 8: Ivan Tan
Seat 9: Andrew W Scott
Seat 10: Van Marcus

The final ten players

This was one hell of a bubble – it was the money bubble, the TV bubble and the final table bubble all rolled into one. The nine players making it through would be featured on TV around the world, have a shot at the first prize of US$474,358, and have at the very minimum a payday of US$25,641. The guy who finished tenth would receive – nothing. No money, no final table, no TV time – no shot at sponsorship or endorsements. No-one wanted to be that tenth-placed bubble boy!

We now proceeded into an incredible grind. With the blinds and antes not huge, there was no super-short stack forced to take a stand. No-one wanted to be the bubble boy and I made a conscious decision to take advantage of the situation. I put in a lot of judicious raises in suitable spots when I felt everyone to my left was weak (at least one such raise per orbit). Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t raising with complete garbage, but I felt this was a great opportunity to accumulate some chips in a subtle, almost discreet way. Luckily for me almost no-one played back at me, and when they did (Wei Will Ma), I had the goods and re-popped him.

In this fashion I slowly accumulated more than I was losing in blinds and antes and became one of the stronger stacks on the table – while avoiding actually going to war for my life.

I could feel even the great Johnny Chan feeling the heat. At one point the dealer dealt him an Ace, but it flipped face up! The very next hand Chan was again dealt an Ace but a player wasn’t dealt in – so it was a misdeal. Johnny freaked out and demanded some decent dealers. Also, I had put him back in his box earlier by admonishing him for telling my opponent how many chips were in the pot during a critical moment. It was my way of telling him I wasn’t overawed by him and he was just another guy with two cards to me.

Having said that, on the inside I had nothing but admiration for the way Chan had massaged his short stack. For two hours, we had all been staring him down, the shortest stack on the table, waiting for him to implode. But it hadn’t happened – he had done just enough to stay alive.

Johnny Chan – Masterfully played his short stack

Wei Will Ma – falling asleep?

The Great Wall of Steicke

Eric Assadourian – the unlucky bubble boy

By the time we finished bagging up our chips and completing media commitments it was 2am – exactly twelve hours after starting for the day. All the players were exhausted and I headed off to the Grand Waldo spa for a massage, steam and spa.

In fact, by the time I was through all that it was 4am and I decided to sleep at the Spa to avoid having to find taxis both now and in the morning.

Day Three: The Final Table

I awoke at the Spa, had breakfast, and headed off to the Grand Waldo media centre for my TV interview for the television production of the event. The final table of the High Rollers is televised around the world and is a great way for any poker player to lift his profile. Going deep on that final table doesn’t hurt either!

Although we were scheduled to start the day at 2pm, with the late finish of day two earlier that morning, media commitments took longer than expected. 2006 Miss Australia Erin McNaught filmed her introduction pieces and play did not finally get underway until just after 3pm.

Erin McNaught filming the TV introduction

Seat 1: Nam Le
Seat 2: Quinn Do
Seat 3: David Steicke
Seat 4: Wei Will Ma
Seat 5: Johnny Chan
Seat 6: Charles Chua
Seat 7: Ivan Tan
Seat 8: Andrew W Scott
Seat 9: Van Marcus

We were in the thirteenth seventy-five minute level of the tournament with blinds at 1,500/3,000 and a 500 ante.

The final nine

I got involved in a very interesting pot with David. David and Charles Chua limped, and I had Ac-Jh in late position. I felt they would have raised with AQ or better, so felt I probably had the best hand right now – so I raised to 20,000. David called. The flop came K35 – all diamonds. This is just the kind of flop David loves. He’ll play almost any diamond in this situation – and I felt if I could hang around with no diamond hitting, I could maybe win this pot with the better hand. And even if a diamond hit – I might be able to bluff him on the river representing a bigger diamond with my tight reputation. I called his 17,500 flop bet.

The turn came 4h, and we both checked. The river came a diamond – the Queen, making the Ace of diamonds the nuts and the Jack the second nuts. David checked to me, and I decided to try to pull off the bluff I had previously planned. Somehow I found the balls, and bet 35,000 into the 87,000 pot. I didn’t want to make my bet look too big, I wanted it to look like a bet that wanted a call. Unfortunately, you don’t try to bluff David Steicke, who said “I’ll pay you off” as he threw in his 35,000 in chips, showing two red tens for the third-nut flush.

That hit to my stack necessitated a change of plan. I now decided to let the four short stacks fight it out. Despite losing a bit to David in the bluff pot, there was no pressure on me whatsoever from the blinds and antes, but there was on the short stacks – so I decided I was going to play this like I played dodge ball as a kid. That strategy was to kind of cower in the background, letting all the other kids knock each other out, and then when just a few remained – suddenly surprise everyone with an aggressive attack. Tightening up was also a good idea given that I had just shown a big bluff.

A few hands later, I was under the gun and look down to see two black Kings – the best hand I had seen all tournament (I still had not been dealt Aces thus far in the tournament). I raised to 11,000, praying I wouldn’t run into Aces (or even be called by one Ace!) Van Marcus, on my immediate left, shoved for 32,500 chips. The rest of the table folded to me. Of course this was an insta-call situation, but I had a feeling of dread. Van’s body language represented a very big hand to me, and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see him turn over the rockets. But he tabled 99, and my Kings held up. I can’t say I was sorry to see Van go, but if I had the choice I would have chosen to bust someone else. Van played like a gentleman throughout the tournament, eventually winning US$25,641. He headed off to be interviewed by the lovely Miss McNaught. And then there were eight.

The final nine – before the elimination of Van Marcus

At 4:20pm, Ivan Tan moved all-in for his last 50,000 chips over the top of Charles Chua. Ivan was probably the tightest player on the table, and still had six orbits of the table in blinds and antes, so I was thinking he probably didn’t have total trash. I remember putting his minimum holding down as AT suited, AJ offsuit, or a medium pair in my mind. Chua called tabling Ah-Kh, and sure enough Tan tabled Ac-Tc. The flop gave Tan the flush draw, but he didn’t hit and he was out in eighth place winning US$38,461. And then there were seven.

Johnny Chan, who had been short stacked for much of the last six hours of play, was good enough to fold his Ace (he flashed it after the hand) to a re-raise by Charles Chua (who also flashed an Ace). Watching Chan play and survive short stacked was certainly an inspiration to me. I’ll emulate him when I find myself in such positions in tournaments in the future.

At 5:20pm, the blinds increased to 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante. Half an hour later, Steicke made it 15,000 to go but Johnny Chan moved all-in for an additional 54,000. Steicke quickly called with his Ah-Qd, Chan tabled 6c-6s. Continuing his incredible run, Steicke rubbed salt in the wound by winning with a runner-runner gutshot Broadway: 2-3-T-K-J! Johnny Chan, the master, was finally out in seventh place earning him US$51,282. And then there were six.

Quinn Do meanwhile was playing very aggressively and picking up chips left, right and centre. I was keeping my eye on him, and worrying about him too.

Quinn Do, earlier on the final table when he was short stacked

Steicke and Chua did indeed check it down and it worked. Wei was able to beat Steicke but not Chua. If Steicke had bet, he might have knocked out Chua, with the result being that Wei would have tripled up. Wei Will Ma, who I found to be a really nice guy, finished in sixth position winning US$64,102. And then there were five.

We went to dinner a little before 7pm, with David still the clear chip leader. I was still playing dodge ball, and decided I would continue to do so as long as I wasn’t the shortest stack on the table. Each step up the prize ladder was now serious money.

The five of us started again at 8pm, with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a 1,000 ante. Nam Le was the man under pressure with only 57,000 chips in his stack. It didn’t take long – he shoved on the very first hand under the gun! It was folded around to me in the big blind – the only person left in the hand. I prayed for Aces so that I could insta-call his shove, but didn’t get them. I had a decent hand, but I folded. I was still playing dodge ball.

Two hands later, I was on the button with with As-Qd and no one yet in the pot. I raised to 18,000 but was dismayed when Le moved all-in from the small blind for 63,000 in total. I hated my spot and felt it likely that he had a pocket pair or AK, but with 47,000 dead money in the pot and only another 45,000 to call, I was actually getting more than 2 to 1. I felt I had to call at such a great price, even if I knew I was up against any pair JJ or worse. I only really feared AK, AA, KK or QQ, and even if I lost, I still had some chips (but would be in a desperate situation). Reluctantly I called, and was relieved that he only had 77. Unfortunately I couldn’t hit my Ace or Queen and suddenly he more than doubled up and I was now the baby on the table with only 40,000 in chips.

This of course changed everything. No more dodge ball for me. With the blinds and antes totaling 14,000 chips, and coming around every five hands, I would be completed blinded out in about fifteen hands if I didn’t play. Basically I had to find a hand, any hand, and shove with it. A few hands later I found my hand – Ad-9h under the gun. It was more than good enough given the situation I was in. I shoved, actually wanting a caller, and preferably one with a ragged Ace or maybe a pair of 8s or below. Alternatively I would have taken everyone folding – but that would have only been a stay of execution for a few hands. Luckily, Nam Le called me with a lowly A3! My A9 held up and suddenly I was up to 90,000 in chips, about 37% of the average stack. I proclaimed to the table, “I’m going to win this, boys”. And that, indeed, was my intention.

Ten minutes later, David Steicke lost the chip lead in the tournament for the first time since early on day one. He called Chua’s AQ all-in move with TT. Chua hit an Ace on the river to suddenly have 340,000 in chips. I was still the tiny stack and needed something to happen soon!

Me thinking: I have to make a move soon!

Now that everyone’s stack was back around 200,000 to 300,000, I decided to go back to small ball poker.

David Steicke – strangely short-stacked

At 10pm, we moved to the seventeenth level: blinds of 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante. Nam Le was on top with 430k, Quinn Do had 295k, I had 256k and Charles Chua had 250k. Charles and I were neck and neck for the short stack, but I just had the feeling that Chuck was more likely to splash his chips around than me. He was the one I thought might bust next (or maybe have a big win next).

Chua rakes in a pot

Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. Chua lost a few pots, making him the clearly the shortest stack and putting him under immense pressure to accumulate. I raised to 22,000 under the gun, Nam Le folded and Quinn Do called from the small blind. Charles tried a squeeze play, raising all in from the big blind for 148,000. Quinn was still in the hand and currently an unknown quantity. I also sensed a big hand and a possible elimination, so I got out of the way. Quinn tanked and finally called the all-in, with 88. Charles got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, tabling T4. He hit his ten on the turn and remained alive!

Quinn Do (left) and Charles Chua (right) both watch the crucial ten card fall on the turn

The eighteenth level arrived – meaning that we had played 21 hours and 15 minutes of poker so far in the tournament. Only four of us remained. The blinds were now 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante. It now cost 19,000 chips in blinds and antes (95% of the 20,000 chip starting stack) to have the right to play just four hands of poker.

I kept this “under the radar” strategy going for hours, while Chua and Do fought it out, with Le sometimes entering the fray. Finally, at a little after midnight, it happened. Chua and Le found themselves all-in with JJ and QQ respectively – and Le had Chua covered. The board stayed blank and at long last we lost a player. Charles Chua had finished fourth, collecting US$115,383. And then there were three.

Nam Le – plenty of chips

I won each of the first three pots after Charles’ elimination. Do was down to about 150,000 in chips and he was certainly the one I was looking to eliminate. Le had a mountain of chips – so I wasn’t knocking him out soon. I had nothing on my mind other than winning the tournament, but the way it was going happen was Do then Le, not Le then Do.

Scott versus Do (foreground, left) and Le (foreground, right)

Even if I lost this hand, I still had some chips behind. I couldn’t do any worse than third place – and first place seemed a long, long way away given Le’s enormous stack. So essentially it was Do and me fighting it out for second. And this was a chance to take him out. Even if I lost, I could still just shove and pray, but if he lost he was out. There was clearly no calling in this spot – it was fold or shove. I was sure there wasn’t too much fold equity in a shove, but any would be meaningful and I did have some possible straight and flush outs too. If my hand had been something like A9 offsuit – I would have mucked. But I made what I considered to be a very close call. To my dismay, he rolled over TT! 99 would have been much better.

Well, now I needed some luck. I got it. I hit an Ace on the turn for the miracle three-outer and to knock him out. This was my first serious come-from-behind big pot win of the entire tournament. Quinn Do took third place and US$153,384 in prize money.

And then there were two.

Do with friend Steve Sung as Do is eliminated by my Ace on the turn

At the start of heads-up, Nam Le had 817,000 chips, and I had 411,000 chips. Despite him holding a commanding lead for much of the night since dinner, I now had everyone else’s chips, and wasn’t in too bad shape. His lead was basically 2 to 1, so one successful all-in for me would reverse the positions.

Another thing to note was that the blinds and antes weren’t too bad. At a cost of 17,000 per two-hand orbit, I had enough to play about 25 orbits, or 50 hands – which is a lot of heads-up play. And that was assuming I lost every hand which simply doesn’t happen heads-up. Worst case scenario of winning say 1 in 4 pots (which is pretty bad heads-up), suddenly I can play maybe 67 hands. That’s a lot of play and means there is really no need to go sick immediately.

It appears Nam had the same attitude. He was also trying to keep the pots small, and folded a lot to my early aggression with a few mediocre hands.

However, the crucial hand came on a J-7-8 board when I had J3. Top pair heads-up is roughly equivalent to a set in normal ring play, so it’s a very strong hand. Nam bet 35,000 first, I raised it to 110,000 and he re-popped to 360,000! It was essentially a call for my tournament life and I just don’t think Nam would have made it on a draw or anything less than top pair – which almost certainly meant he had me outkicked. I reluctantly let it go. Nam told me after the tournament that he had JT – and I assume he was telling me the truth (we will just have to wait for the TV coverage to know for sure).

After that pot, everything went wrong. Apart from one hand in which I was dealt AQ (I raised pre-flop and he folded), I was dealt pure rags. And when I say pure rags I mean pure rags – no pair, no picture, no connector. We’re talking 96, 42, 83, those kinds of hands. I tried to do the best with them I could, I was prepared to bluff in an appropriate spot – it’s just that no appropriate spot arrived.

Ironically, Nam won a reasonably sized pot with his own J3 on Jack high board. I muttered “Jack-three” to no-one in particular, with no-one understanding the significance of the Jack-three.

Trouble heads-up – my stack continues to dwindle

To make things worse, the blinds and antes had gone up again, now at the nineteenth level of 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante. It was now costing 11,000 a hand to play, but actually more than that since it is correct strategy to almost always call the small blind no matter what. Assuming I was always calling the small blind it was costing 14,000 a hand to play.

After one hour and fifteen minutes of heads-up play, my stack was critical at just 82,000 chips to Nam Le’s 1,146,000 chips. I knew I had to shove all-in in the next hand or two or three no matter how bad my two cards. Le was first in the pot on the button and put me all-in. Of course I would prefer to be shoving than calling all-in, but my cards dictated my play. I had Jc-Tc, by far the best hand I had seen for a long time, and certainly call-worthy given that I had to be all-in in the next couple of hands anyway. I called.

Le tabled K2 of clubs, thus eliminating my flush possibilities but I still had my pair draws and maybe even a straight. Before the flop I was a 45% chance to win the hand. The flop came 6s-Jd-Ks, eliminating the flush and leaving me needing to hit a Jack or Ten (or a miracle runner-runner straight). I was now just a 22% chance to win the hand. The turn came the Ace of spades, giving me additional outs of the four Queens as well as my two Jacks and three tens. I was now a 20% chance to win, needing to hit a Ten, Jack or Queen in the next card.

The river came 9 of diamonds – and I was busted. I finished second in the tournament, collecting US$269,231.

The final confrontation: Le versus Me!

Nam was nice enough to pay me a compliment after the tournament – he told me I was the one player he really didn’t want to go heads-up with because earlier in the tournament (when we had played together on day 1) he said he had found himself guessing against me, not really knowing where he was at. I was glad to hear him say that he found it hard to get a read on me.

Nam Le’s victory picture

An interesting postscript: in the entire tournament I was never once dealt Aces, I never had a set, and never flopped a flush. I can’t say for sure, but I certainly don’t remember even hitting a flush on the turn or river in the entire tournament. During the heads-up phase, which lasted 75 minutes, I was never dealt a pocket pair.

© 2008 Andrew W Scott – Permission granted to run this piece, only if the original author is acknowledged as Andrew W Scott, with his email contact address This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .