Swimming With the Sharks, Pt. II - How I Busted Jesus

What Would Jesus Do at the WSOP? Get busted by our poker beat writer, that's what

July 10, 2007

By Nick Lanteri
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

When I played in my first World Series of Poker event in early June, I went into it just hoping to take home a good story. You know, maybe get to play with a pro.

How's this for a story: I busted Jesus.

Ok, so David Plastik crippled Chris Ferguson's stack, but my big blind finished him off in the next hand, and I got to take home a good story (it would have been better had I cashed).

Part I of Bodog Nation's "Swimming with Sharks at the WSOP" chronicled the first two hours of my experience in Event No. 10 on June 6th, a $2,000 buy-in that attracted 1,531 players. They started us with 4,000 chips and the blinds at 25-50, one-hour levels.

After finishing in third and fourth, respectively, the night before in my two tries at the single table satellites, I bought directly into the tournament, with some backing from family and friends (translation: I only had to pay $1,000 out of my own pockets, plus the $350 I spent on satellites). We started at noon but at 2 p.m. things got interesting when I was moved to a table in the corner of the players pavilion near the doors. My table shaped up like this:

Love from the Ladies

2:15 pm - Level 3 (100-200 blinds), my chip count at 3,500: Just the second hand since being moved to this table. I am in early position and pick up my first monster of the day (Q-Q).

Lerner, a solid player from Montreal, raises under the gun to 600, which I am happy to see, but the player to his left re-raises all-in for 1,500. I am thinking to myself "Is this a cooler?" I wasn't worried too much about the all-in, I was more worried about what Lerner had, because he raised under the gun, normally a sign of a big hand.

All those hours of late-night online poker practice really paid off for Nick. (Bodog Nation photo)

Calling with pocket Queens (never a good idea) only sets up a potential disaster because I'd be inviting more action from the players who haven't acted yet. So I decided to push all-in for the first time in the tournament, albeit much earlier than I had hoped. It folded around to Lerner, who had only slightly more than 2,000 chips left, but when he deliberated for more than 10 seconds, I knew I held an overpair on him.

After a few minutes, he finally threw his cards into the muck and said: "I had pocket 10s.'' (What a laydown if that was true, although he told me after the hand played out that he actually folded pocket nines. If he calls, he would have busted. Instead, Lerner grinded his way back, picked his spots to accumulate chips and finished 28th of 1,531 players, good for $14,350. He deserves props for that.)

Back to my hand. I turn over my Queens, and the all-in player to my right shows pocket Jacks. Flop is three clubs, neither of us have a club. Turn is a Queen and I don't have to sweat the river card. My chip stack increases to 5,800.

Limping with Aces

3:30 pm - Level 4 (100-200 blinds, 25 antes), my chip stack back down to roughly 4,000: I pick up pocket aces in first position and just limp in for 200 (a thought crosses my mind when I do this, something like "Are you out of your fucking mind?'') OK, it's a dangerous play in a $2,000 buy-in at the WSOP.

So why did I limp with aces? I had no choice but to set a trap in this spot. The young maniac to my left in Seat 1 raised every other pot during this level ever since he amassed a big stack. So what does he do this time? Right, he RAISES again! 'Thank Christ' I tell myself.

He makes it 1,100 to go, but unfortunately the action folds all the way back to me. Decision-time again. Do I re-pop it here with the pocket rockets, or simply disguise the strength of my hand with the ol' limp-call? I just call his raise because no one else is in the pot, and I don't want to scare off my only potential action. So now it's just the two of us to the flop, which comes a remarkable A-Q-5 rainbow.

Wow. I'm first to act and I have trip aces. Only a total donk would lead out here.

Me: Check.

Maniac: I'll put you all-in.

I insta-call him and he yells out "Damn!" as he slams down his 9-9. He's basically drawing dead as I collect my biggest pot of the tournament and see my chip stack climb over 8,000 for the first time.

Busting Jesus

4:10 pm - Level 5 (150-300 blinds, 25 antes), my chip count slightly more than 8,000: I spot Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson walking around with a chip tray, then he turns and heads straight for our table. He sits down in Seat 4 with about 5,000 chips.

"Holy shit,'' I mutter to myself. "I gotta call my wife."

Taking out Chris Ferguson was the biggest highlight of Nick's WSOP experience. (Bodog Nation photo)

A few years ago Ferguson was nice enough to sign the back of my wife's hooded pullover sweatshirt just minutes after busting out of a WSOP circuit at the Showboat in Atlantic City.

We talked for a few minutes, then he walked around with a big sharpie, ready to sign anything and everything for the many poker fans who approached him. This guy is a true ambassador of poker, and now I was playing with him at a WSOP event. What a surreal moment.

After folding the first 5 or 6 hands at our table, Ferguson starts reading a poker book, some strategy guide that I didn't recognize. Hmmm, what am I doing wrong here? I'm staring at Shannon Elizabeth while Chris Ferguson is brushing up on his tournament poker. Time to re-focus.

5:05 pm - Level 5, blinds at 150-300, 25 antes: David Plastik raises pre-flop and Ferguson re-raises all in for 5,500. Second time Ferguson has done this in the last few hands. It folds back around to Plastik, who says: "Chris, I know you want to go play that $5,000 stud event that is about to start." They laugh, and then Plastik calls with 8-8. Ferguson says, "Good call" and shows A-Q. Ferguson loses the race and is left with 550 chips.

Next hand. I post the 300 big blind and Ferguson is all-in for his last 550 chips, and the action folds to me in the big blind. I laugh and shake my head because of the absurdity of the situation. "That's right, it's a whole two-and-a-quarter more to you,'' Ferguson joked. So now the hand plays itself because I have to throw in 225 more with 6-9 offsuit. Ferguson has K-J, but my crap hand outflops him when a 6 hits, and I end up winning a small pot and busting Ferguson. He taps the table and says, "Nice hand, good luck everybody." I hated to see him go, because getting the chance to play poker with someone like Chris Ferguson was the very reason why I was there in the first place.

First Tough Decision

5:15 pm - Near the end of Level 5 (blinds at 150-300), my chip stack at 9,500: This is the most frustrating hand for me in this entire tournament, with the exception maybe of the hand that would bust me four hours later. My strategy all along in this tournament was to disguise the strength of my hand, check flops with top pair and try to play small-pot poker. To this point, it was working here and there. So this time I pick up 10-10 in first position and just limp for 300. The young kid to my left in Seat 1 also limps. Seat 4, the older aggressive player with the biggest stack at the table, maybe 40,000 chips or so, pops it to 1,800. It folds around to me, and I make the call for 1,500 more (I realize I'm out of position, but I plan to check-raise if the board comes rags). The kid in Seat 1 is getting almost 3:1 odds because it will cost him 1,500 more into a pot of 4,350 to see this flop. I was hoping he'd fold, but he made the call.

Flop is Qc-Qs-6c. Not the flop I was looking for. I'm first to act and I check. This kid in Seat 1, who has roughly 15,000 chips says, "All-in." I automatically put him on a club flush draw. The pre-flop raiser, who is shaking his head, is trying to get a read on me as he deliberates his next move. Maybe he would have called this kid if I wasn't in the hand and next to act. I didn't think Seat 4 had much of a hand from the start, and finally he mucks, though he acts like he's throwing away pocket Jacks.

Liz Lieu had some choice words for a tablemate. (AP Images)

Now it's on me, and my experience in this situation is that I'm probably only ahead 50 percent of the time, and even if I am ahead, there is always the chance that this kid will suck out on me. And what if he has an Ace or King with a club flush draw? Then he actually has 12 or more outs to bust me here and I am no better than 50-to-55 percent to take down this huge pot.

Calling off all your chips when the blinds are low and your chip count is near the average stack is normally not the right play, unless you have a set or maybe a flush draw and up-and-down straight draw with an over card (more than 15 outs). I deliberate for a long time, but then I finally release the hand, and the body language of the rest of the table suggests that this kid stole the pot with his all-in play. If that's true, then give this kid props. But I am there to play poker, not to call off my remaining stack with the unknown.

We Bid Adieu to Liz Lieu

6:10 pm - Level 6, blinds at 200-400, 50 antes: Liz Lieu, who was raised all day by the player to her left (Aaron Lerner) just about anytime she entered a pot, finally pushes. She raises pre-flop, but Lerner takes two minutes and re-raises. It folds back to her, she waits close to 5 minutes and finally says "All-in." Lerner stands up and gives her a little speech: "Did your friend John Phan teach you that move?" It's a tense moment, but it's poker.

Lerner calls her with 10,10. Lieu surprisingly only has A-Q. Lerner wins the race and Lieu is eliminated. After she packs her belongings and is about to leave, Lieu tells Lerner: "You had the best hand, but I didn't appreciate that comment you made about my friend John Phan."

Busted Mind, Body and Chips

9:30 pm - Level 8, blinds at 400-800 with 100 antes: When we came back from the dinner break, they announced that 330 players remained of the 1,531 entries and the top 153 players would make the money. The average chip stack was 18,500, which was more than twice my chip count (7,900) when we resumed. Not a good thing when you're card dead and paying 100 antes every hand.

I lose 2,200 chips in the first 10 hands after paying the antes and blinds. Then, with only 5,700 chips left, the final hand of my WSOP arrives. I pick up A-J suited spades. Plastik open-raises for 2,400 in early position, and it folds to me. A-J is the best hand I've seen in hours. I have to go all-in, and of course, Plastik has to call because it's only 3,300 more for him into a pot size of 10,200. At this point, I'd take a race, and I am hoping that Plastik has a small-to-mid pocket pair.

My worst fears are realized when he shows Q-Q. That sucks. Then the flop is a nightmare for me when it comes Q-4-5, the first time I've run into a set all day. The turn was a 2 which gave me 4 outs - any 3 on the river would make a wheel for me and would deliver a truly bad beat - but the river was a 7 and it was all over for me, and basically busting out was just a sickening feeling after lasting so long against all those sharks.

Oh well, it was a helluva run. And, of course, I still had a good story to take home.

TOP PHOTO: Celebrated poker pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was no match for Bodog Nation's Nick Lanteri. Especially after he had his chip stack severely dented. (AP Images)