Check out Poker After Dark if you get a chance, anywhere on the Internet or television. I recently saw a cool little hand that ended up being between Sammy Farha and Phil Ivey (who else?)
First, these specifically for television games like Poker After Dark bring in such a different mood than watching a tournament such as the World Series of Poker. It’s a cash game, there’s more chatter and seemingly looser, more casual play.
After the hidden cards come around a few back and forth bets are placed, Farha, Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow remain in the game. Farha has 5, 7 spades. Ivey has 6 diamonds and 6 spades, Hellmuth with King, 10 and Matusow has Ace, 9.
There’s almost so much chatter going back and forth right now, you can’t even hear the chip stacks being moved around. Of course, Phil Ivey is dead silent.
The flop comes up – 6 clubs, 8 spades, 9 spades. Time for some fireworks.
Ivey of PokerStars stares down the flop through his set of sixes and makes a move. Farha raises back with his made straight, one off from a straight flush – not knowing obviously that Ivey holds the block card there.
Hellmuth drops out. Matusow raises (I wouldn’t have) with top pair. Ivey re-raises and quickly goes back to putting his head in his hand. This brings Farha all-in, to which Matusow promptly back away from. Ivey calls and they work something out mathematically about who would owe whom what depending on the outcome.
Ivey finally speaks and remarks about how nervous Farha looks, even after the all-in hands are revealed.
The next two cards are queens to give Ivey the come-from-behind victory. Pot wasn’t huge, and Ivey’s face never wavers, but you can just feel the smirk under his breath there.
Almost in unison, Farha and the great poker star Hellmuth both say they never beat Ivey in a cash game. Ivey makes a fairly humorous comment as he takes the chip lead away from Farha. But he does it with such a straight face, and just waits and watches the response of his competitors that you wonder if he’s just kidding or even has a purpose behind these off-the-cuff comments, like he’s always on the job.
Whichever it is, there’s no doubt Ivey’s one of the greatest to ever play the game and definitely the greatest alive today.