Phil Hellmuth Wins The Greatest Hand In Poker History
2007-08-28 08:02:20
By:
Gene Bromberg
OK, maybe this is just my opinion, but the second hand of last night's episode was The Greatest in
poker history. I don't want to spoil it for you (though I'm about to, so stop reading if you haven't seen it and want to be surprised), but it had everything--Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, a big hand, and a big bluff.
As a card-carrying
poker blogger, 7-2 is my favorite hand in the world. About four years ago a friend of mine named
Grubby gave that hand it's nickname, "The Hammer", and started a weekly contest among our little gang to see who could take down the biggest pot with the worst starting hand in
poker. During our blogger tournaments every player making a re-raise is suspected of holding the Hammer, and flipping it over after running a bluff is the ultimate in-your-face move. I haven't had much luck with the Hammer the last few tournaments I've played in--actually, I've crippled myself with it the last three events I entered. It's takes considerable skill to play the Hammer--and a bit of luck doesn't hurt either.
Contrast two hands from last night. Mike Matusow held kings, raised, and then called when Hellmuth re-raised from the blinds. The flop didn't bring an Ace, but there was a Queen and a Jack and you could tell that Matusow was imagining Phil with a set. Phil bet the flop, bet the turn, and made a $40K bet on the river. "Phil never makes a big bet on the river unless he has it," Matusow muttered, and after a minute's though mucked his Cowboys face-up. And of course Phil showed his Hammer, both to confound The Mouth and to pick up the $500 bounty from each player for winning a pot with it. Matusow leapt up from the table saying "I knew it, I knew he had it!" when, of course, he didn't. Else he would've called. Which he didn't. Heh heh.
After Antonio Esfandiari took down a tiny pot with the Hammer and got $500 from each player (did Matusow ever pay Phil? He was fighting it after that hand) another big pot developed featuring the Hammer. Antonio Solario took it into battle against Brian Brandon's pocket Kings--the same hands held by Hellmuth and Matusow. A different flop, though--Brandon flopped quads. But Solario kept putting money in the pot, over $100,000 in total, before Brandon moved in on the river and brought an end to things. Like I said, playing the Hammer takes skill. And luck. And heart. And a flop that doesn't give your opponent quads.
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