Yapping With Heimiller

by Daniel Negreanu

There was a fun and interesting hand I played in the World Poker Tour event at the Legends of Poker tournament that I`d like to share. It was actually pretty funny to me, but I think you really had to be there to fully appreciate it. I`ll try my best to re-create the moment.

The blinds were $50-$100 and I`d gotten off to a pretty decent start, running my $10,000 starting stack up to about $17,000. Dan Heimiller showed up late and sat down on my immediate right at an otherwise soft table. I have a long-running joke with Dan, always referring to him as a bizarre nut case as far as his playing style goes. Playing hands very strangely and bluffing in even more odd situations is something I`d seen Dan do quite a bit in the past.

In this hand, there was a limper and Dan went ahead and raised to $300. I`d seen him make this play quite often, hoping to isolate his opponent heads up with position.

With the 9 6, I called from the cutoff seat, as did the big blind and the first limper. So, four of us took a flop of the 9 5 4. Everyone checked to me, and with $1,250 already in the pot, I decided to try to protect my hand by betting $800.

The first two players folded quickly and the action was back on Dan, the original raiser. I could see it in his eyes that he just didn`t believe me. I could sense that he thought I was just bluffing randomly, since everyone had checked to me. So, in trying to help him along, I said aloud, "How did you know I`d bet if you checked? That was crazy, dude."

He continued to ponder his decision, and I said, "Wow, you are going to try to take this pot away from me, aren`t you, Dan? That is so nuts; you really are crazy!"

Dan continued to think for a moment, then reached for his chips and raised to $2,000. Now, that didn`t really change my read of the situation much, but I did have to worry about him having flopped a set or having an overpair.

It was just hard for me to believe that with four-way action and a flush draw and a straight draw present, Dan would run the risk of me checking behind him and giving everyone a free card if he had an overpair. It just seemed so strange, but then again, that`s Dan for you!

I called the raise and decided to see what developed on the turn. The turn brought the K. Once again, Dan fired out $2,000, which could mean one of two things: He was sucking me in with a monster hand, or was trying to bluff me without risking too many chips.

My read was that Dan had ace high, but he easily could have A-K, as well. It was a tough decision, especially knowing that if I called this $2,000 bet, I might be forced to make a very risky call on the river if he made a big bet.

I went with my gut, though, and called once again. The river brought the 7, which looked like an absolute death card for me. However, if Dan didn`t have a drawing hand, either, that card had to look like his worst nightmare, also.

I watched and waited as the wheels turned in Dan`s head. If he could bet that card, I`d put him on a hand that made a flush, or continue to put him on an ace high that he was trying to run through as a bluff. I`d decided that I was going to call a decent-sized bet on the river when Dan finally gave up and checked.

I didn`t see any point in betting the river with my pair of nines since Dan would surely call me with a better pair and likely fold if he was bluffing. So, I checked, and Dan turned over the A Q.

I was actually quite surprised to see him check that hand on the river. Why? Well, for starters, he held the "key card," the A. That lets him know that I couldn`t possibly have the nuts. The naked-ace play is one that is used more often in a game like pot-limit Omaha, but it also has a place in hold`em in many situations. Take my bluff versus Freddy Deeb at the Plaza a while back, for example. I bluff-raised Freddy on the river with the naked ace, knowing that he couldn`t have the nut flush. That can turn out to be a valuable piece of information when used properly.

So, I raked in the pot and had my stack up over $20,000. Dan, on the other hand, mumbled to himself while clipping his fingernails under the table. No, I`m not kidding! He actually chose this tournament as the appropriate moment to do some personal grooming! Dan, you are one strange brew, buddy!

In analyzing the hand, I think Dan missed out on a few key things when trying to run this bluff. The situation wasn`t set up right for him. He had to know that I was going to be very suspicious of him checking a strong hand with just one player behind him. It`s certainly not the "standard" play there with an overpair, or even a flush draw.

In fact, the way Dan played the hand, it looked like he had precisely what he had: ace high - or a set. Had he simply bet the flop and then bet the turn again when the king fell, he would have had an easier time convincing me that he had a strong hand.

That one clue, or giveaway, was enough for me to make a nice call in a difficult situation. Unfortunately for me, my run ended later that day in disappointing fashion. I`m not one to talk about bad beats, so I won`t bore you with the details. I try to live by the motto that if I absolutely hate listening to bad-beat stories, I`m sure everyone else is equally annoyed by listening to mine!