Isabelle Mercier | How Phil Hellmuth got rich

One of the most memorable poker day in my life, is when I made it to the final table of the 5K No Limit Hold’em at the World Series in Las Vegas. For me, this moment was just incredible: I was playing with @Phil Hellmuth, @Marcel Luske and @Vinny Vinh – all at the same time around the final table! It was absolutely awesome.

Those guys are so aggressive; it felt like being in an ice hockey match up against three big, strong defenders. Three huge monsters – and little me trying to get past them! But their quality forced me to raise my own standard and I actually really impressed myself. I ended up playing in a way that even I didn’t know I was capable of. It also taught me that I’ve got to be a little bit “bigger” myself. These guys are really powerful on the table, they have a lot of experience at this level – and it really shows. So even though I was really happy to finish fifth and win 175,000$ – my biggest ever cash in a tournament – I also learned I was not quite in their league yet.

Hockey and Poker have a lot in common in term of mental strength

Everything was going brilliantly… until I made a really bad bluff… that practically killed me. I had an average chip stack and the blinds were 12K/24K with a 4K ante. I was in the big blind. Everybody folded to me, apart from the small blind, Phil Hellmuth, who flat-called the 12K more. I had 8-2 offsuit. Complete trash. So I checked, and the flop came A34. Now, I was sure he didn’t have an ace – and he probably assumed the same. He checked. I bet 25K, because I figured he’ll put me on one of those small pair and let me have the pot. But he didn’t, he instead decided to flat call. Still, it was just a call. I still didn’t think he had a pair and I definitely didn’t think he had an ace.

The turn card came and it was another 4. I figured that’s a really good card for me because I’m attacking already and I might easily have a four. Phil checked again, so I decided to bet 60K. He tanked, but not for too long, and called. I don’t know why. Poker is a game of instinct. I don’t know what he thought I had, but at that moment I knew he didn’t have anything. Maybe he had some kind of draw or something, but I knew for sure it wasn’t much. Then the river card came and no, it wasn’t a 5 to give me the straight. An ugly 6, on which Hellmuth checked again. My problem is, I don’t have anything, I mean I have 8 high! If I check, I just abandon the 200K in the middle. I can’t afford to do that. So I have to bet. I had 250K left, and this is where I made my big mistake. It’s very rare to go all-in on an Air Bluff, but it does happen.

Sometimes it’s just necessary. I had to do it, I had to go all in, because Hellmuth would then have to fold – I was 200% sure of that. But…I didn’t. I listen to my head instead of my instincts, and only bet 100K into the pot. Now this was a really bad bluff. It was such a big mistake. It was a beginner’s mistake, if I’m honest. Phil Hellmuth has been a top pro for a long time and he’s seen this before. It’s not the first time somebody’s tried to bluff him like this, like a novice. Anyway, that’s what I did - I bet the 100K – keeping 150K back just in case my bluff didn’t work. And you know what? Hellmuth didn’t even need time to think. He called straight away, I mucked my hand immediately and he turned over King high, as if nothing special happened.

If you want to show your presence at the table, you have to be ready to jump on your opponents at all time!

I snapped. I jumped out of my seat. I was furious. Not because he called me with a king, but because I had been so stupid to make that mistake again. And that’s the important word – AGAIN - because just a few months ago, on my last final table, at the EPT Deauville, the exact same thing happened. I was bluffing, nothing came on the river, but when I made my move I only bet about 40% of my stack. The guy got suspicious, just like Hellmuth, and called me, just like Hellmuth, with king high! When I made that mistake in France, I knew it was a basic, silly error. So what do I do!? I make exactly the same mistake against one of the best players on the planet at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas! I mean, how many times do I have to live through this before I learn!? The same error has cost me several hundred thousand dollars in prize money and two potential titles. I’m not saying I would’ve gone on to win my first WSOP bracelet, but I had a real chance and I blew it.

One thing’s for sure, I’m never going to make that mistake again. Maybe my experience that week will really help me in the future. Maybe It’ll help me spot people doing the same thing to me. I honestly believe everything happens for a reason, so maybe it was always going to finish like that. The funny thing is, only a week before that final table, Phil Hellmuth told me how he’d got rich - he looked at me straight in the eyes at the restaurant table and he said people always tried to bluff their chips away at him! So what do I do a week later when I find myself on a final table against him… I make a super-bad bluff with nothing…and he calls!

Well, he’s right, I guess that’s how he got rich!