A tournament of champions
For the third year, I was asked to host and emcee Michael Jordan's celebrity poker tournament in the Bahamas. This four-day event is, by far, the weekend I look forward to most every year. This is nothing but first class all the way. The four days of golf are incredible, the parties every night are spectacular, and the Atlantis Resort is one of the finest facilities in the world. In short, it is pure paradise.
If you've been following my columns, you know that I believe there are six qualities that one must possess to be considered "great" at their endeavor: aggression, patience, resiliency, observation, courage and an intense desire to improve. Among superstar athletes that have attained the most their sports have to offer, these qualities are commonplace. Let's hark back to the glory days of the Chicago Bulls and the unbeatable Michael Jordan:
Aggression: Michael had it in spades. Remember the way he cut to the hole, took the ball to the basket, and played tenacious defense?
Patience: Remember how he let the game come to him? Rarely did you see MJ take a forced shot or try a desperate pass. He waited for scoring opportunities and then exploited the other team's weakness.
Courage: Who, without fail, would take the last shot in a close game while triple-teamed? Is there anyone else you'd want to have the ball at the end of a game?
Observation: MJ was a student of the game. He studied game film and he knew, without a doubt, the weaknesses of his opponents.
Resiliency: Way back when, MJ was cut from his high school basketball team. Did he give up the game? No. He bounced back, learned from his mistakes, and went on to become the greatest of all time.
Desire to Improve: MJ was known and revered for being the first to every practice and the last to leave. When the best player in the world is on your team and you see that kind of work ethic, doesn't that inspire you to be better, to work harder?
At the poker tournament, the best of the best in the world were present. Hall of Famers abound. The guest list included, in no particular order: Johnny Bench, Vince Coleman, Brandi Chastain, Lawrence Taylor, Jason Taylor, Chris Doleman, Ben Roethlisberger, Rollie Fingers, John Smoltz, Stuart Scott, Dan Jansen, Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Terrell Owens, Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, and many more. It's fair to say that these people are among the best in their profession. It is also fair to say that they all have the six qualities presented above.
At the end of the shootout, four celebrities joined Jordan at the final table. At stake: $20,000 to the charity of the winner's choice.
Seat 1: Zach Thomas of the Miami Dolphins Seat 2: Oliver Hudson, actor and son of Goldie Hawn Seat 3: Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time Seat 4: Brandi Chastain, a gold medal-winning women's soccer star Seat 5: Stuart Scott, da-da-da … da-da-da … of ESPN's SportsCenter. Boo-ya!
On the first hand of the final table, MJ showed me four of his six championship qualities. Starting stacks were $5,000, blinds $100/$200, the button starting with MJ, as is tradition.
Zach folded under the gun, Oliver limped for $200 and MJ aggressively raised on the button to $600. Chastain and Scott folded, and MJ was heads-up against Oliver, in position and with control of the betting. Perfect. I was standing on the left of Michael, and he playfully showed me his hole cards: Q-9 offsuit. OK, so not a textbook play, but I like it -- Oliver is obviously weak after limping in and the preflop raise should give Michael a good shot at either picking up the pot preflop or getting heads-up in position. So far so good. $1,500 in the pot.
And when the flop comes A-9-9, it's even better. Michael observed a slight hesitation from Oliver before Oliver checked. MJ counted out $800 and bet. The perfect bet. Slowplaying could be correct, but very unlikely to work. Either Oliver has an ace, or he doesn't. Michael definitely wants to get paid off if Oliver gets fancy with a small pocket pair (7-7, 6-6, etc). That noticeable hesitation makes the small pocket pair much more likely. Oliver called, clearly uncomfortable.
The turn card brought an ace, making the board A-9-9-A. Clearly that was the worst card in the deck for Michael's hand. Oliver bet out $1,000. Michael showed courage and made the call, putting him on either the same hand (unlikely, granted) or a complete bluff.
The river came a blank. Oliver checked, and Michael correctly checked behind him. Oliver turned over 7-7, and the greatest basketball player of all time had a commanding chip lead after the first hand at the final table.
"How'd I play that one, Phil?" he asked after the hand was complete. He didn't ask me in a way that would tilt Oliver, he asked me in a way that told me he had an intense desire to improve his game.
Later, Michael took a bad beat against Scott and got short stacked. He bounced right back, made a couple of bold all-in moves to rebuild his stack, and showed great resiliency in the process. Michael went on to finish second to Chastain.
A side note: the gift bags at this tournament are absolutely incredible. Once again, I racked up a new Kenneth Cole suitcase full of incredible "freebies": Ugg slippers (maybe the most comfortable things I've ever put on my feet), Actifirm facial products, Kyocera bluetooth rearview mirror speakerphone, Brooks Brothers ties, Michael Kors Aviators, Nike+ Ready footwear with the iPod Nano and much, much more.
In the golf tournament, I was paired with Doleman, a former Pro Bowl linebacker. He's a great golfer and we definitely had our chances to win the event, but we just lipped out too many putts, especially on Day 1. Still, our tie for fourth place was respectable. I'm already starting to work on my golf game for next year's tournament. You can be sure I'll be taking those six qualities to the course with me and to the poker table as well.
The Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Invitational will be airing on ESPN on Feb. 15. Tune in to see select action from the poker tournament and probably a few swings from yours truly as well.
Phil Gordon is a World Poker Tour champion, host of The Poker Edge in the Podcenter and plays online exclusively at FullTiltPoker. Phil Gordon's educational poker DVD and books are available at ExpertInsight.net.
