Annette Obrestad is the first female to win a WSOP Main Event and the youngest person (18 years old) to ever win a WSOP bracelet.

Interview with Elmore Hodges

There are few immortals in the world of poker but Lancey Hodges, the controversial victor of probably the most famous poker game of all, was surely one of them. Being his son must have presented its’ own problems but today we’ll have a chance to find out. Elmore Hodges has witnessed, at first hand if not at second, much of the great poker played in this great land since coming home as a decorated veteran from the Korean War. Not only is he the possessor of a proud poker birthright, he is no mean player himself and was also the close friend of the man that was famously defeated at his father’s hand that summer night back in St. Louis. The Cincinnati Kid.
Q-Mr Hodges, does it bother you that after such an illustrious career as his, your father is most closely associated with that one game all those years ago in a St.Louis hotel room?

EH-You mean that most people still think his name was Lancey Howard on account of that movie? But no, it doesn’t bother me at all. Worse for Uncle Shooter. There are some squares who still think he dealt a crooked game. Drives him nuts. I guess it surprises me a little but then Johnny Moss often said the same thing about that hand of stud against Nick the Greek when Nick hit a Jack in the hole.

Q- Of all the great games you’ve been around, and there have been many, which game do you remember as the best?

EH-The best game I ever saw was a game I never played in. It was in New Orleans and broke down to a tussle between the great Whistling Sam McGee and the Shooter. Six days and nights, back and forth. To the true card player, it was exhilarating. Sam got him in the end of course. Shooter was always good but he was never as good after that.

Q-Many people consider Sam the best player ever. Would you agree?

EH- At stud? Well, Mr. Boyd might not agree. Dad did beat Sam a year or two later on, but of course Sam wasn’t that well by then so it didn’t mean a whole lot. In his day he was truly as good as it gets but that’s always a tough question. Poker’s hard to put into perspective like that. Too many variables. Like comparing fighters from different eras. I’ve seen Brunson play some No-Limit Hold’Em that was as close to art as anything you’ll find hanging on a wall. It was as though he’d climbed inside the other players’ heads. They couldn’t do anything without him pouncing all over them. I hear Chan is a veritable steamroller but I’ve never seen him up close. Chip Reese at seven card. Bobby Baldwin before he went square. There’s a bunch of them on a given day.

Q-What do you think of the current boom in tournament poker around the world?

EH-Amazing. I guess it’s true if you live long enough you get to see just about everything. One minute you’re paying off the cops or the hoods just to get a game in safety and the next it’s all over the TV and they’re giving out trophies. Progress.

Q-Has it produced better players?

EH-No. It’s produced a different type of player, I think, for a different type of game. Tournament Poker and Regular Poker are two very different things. Probably not that many people that are really good at both. But beyond that there are obvious differences between public poker and the old road games. The road players of old had a lot more to contend with than just the rake or the entry fee and they learned the game the hard way. Doesn’t mean one’s better than the other, just different.

Q-Like a Ty Thompson?

EH- That’s a different horse altogether. There’s a very fine line between hustling and cheating. And if you’re a cheat you’re just a common thief like any other. Ain’t anything clever about it. To me Thompson crossed that line way too many times. What a waste of talent. I’ve got no patience at all for people like that. There’s way too many thieves around who like to think of themselves as hustlers or gamblers. There’s a big difference.

Q-You mean like the famous ‘A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place?’

EH- You ever heard anything dumber than that in your whole life? Invariably said by someone who considers others to be fools but who himself can’t win without cheating. Morons.

Q-You don’t often hear people speak out that strongly about that side of the game.

EH- It shouldn’t be that way when gambling itself, pure and true gambling that is, is as worthy a profession or skill as any there is. And the cheats, or whatever they choose to call themselves, have nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Q-Do they ever cross over?

EH- I’ll give anybody a second chance but not a third. The test of a player, a true player, is one who won’t resort to cheating just because he’s getting broke. And by that I include playing partners or teams or anything of the sort. He borrows money to get back into action, he doesn’t steal it which is what a cheat does. And, just as importantly, a real player pays it back.

Q-Do you mind if we talk about the game with the Kid now?

EH-You’d be the first interviewer ever who didn’t. Go ahead.

Q-Would you agree that the final hand was badly played?

EH-Of course. No question about that. But what’s frequently forgotten is that they both played it badly, not just Dad.

Q-Would you mind going through it for those readers who aren’t familiar with the hand?

EH-The first thing to remember is that it was late. Obvious thing to say but even in the biggest game that can be an issue. It was 2.30 am on the third (?) day. The masseur Jansen and his assistant had been in around midnight and sometimes that hurts more than helps. But the biggest issue was the plain and simple fact that The Kid was winning. He was a lot younger, in better shape of course, and he was winning. You wouldn’t be human if that didn’t get to you a little. History remembers the Kid as a loser but he was one of the greatest players ever and he was in full flight.

Q-The old demon was in effect: Pressure

EH-Exactly. And the result was that Dad just made a mistake. I don’t think he would ever have attempted to defend his decision to call on third street. I mean he has only an eight showing. Against a pair of tens? Of course it was a mistake. A lapse in concentration. And the Kid saw it. In the book Jessup recounts the Kid going over the possibilities at that point which was a complete joke. The Kid knew he was a mile ahead, he knew Dad had made a mistake and he hesitated because at that point it was all over in the Kid’s mind. Regardless of what happened with the hand, he felt he had broken his opponent. And a lot of times in poker games that’s the moment you know you’re going to win regardless of how the cards might fall at that moment.

Q- So the Kid overbets the pot?

EH- Yes, Absolutely correct. The last thing he expects now is for Dad to call. He thinks the hand is over. But he was right about one thing, he had put Dad on tilt. Momentary tilt for sure but he had him in a way that nobody else ever had. And so, like many a guy on tilt from the best players on down to kids playing for chump change, he compounds one bad mistake with another and calls. Unbelievable. I remember Shooter’s eyebrow twitching ever so slightly. Probably nobody noticed but he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, the utter collapse of a great champion.

Q- And then he caught another heart.

EH- Yes. He got real, real lucky. And that is the moment when the Kid stumbled. He throws in a little come-on bet of $1,000. It’s that bet that the Kid regretted the rest of his life. Not losing the hand. The cards can always turn around and smack you in the teeth. All you can do is play them well. And because it was obviously a mistake, it brought Dad back into the game not just back into the hand. He was reminded that the Kid, who hadn’t made a mistake in three days of play was capable of doing so, and at that point the contest was back on. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get you off the canvas. To relieve all the pressure. Suddenly you’re no longer up against the immovable object. Once that happened, I’m convinced that Dad would have won in the end even if he’d busted his flush on the last card. If that had happened, he would have just folded his hand and carried on.

Q- For those who don’t know, why was the bet such a mistake?

EH- Because instead of forcing your opponent to bet at unfavorable odds which in many ways is the essence of poker, he offered Dad a nearly reasonable bet. At this point with almost $7,000 in the pot, the Kid still has only two pairs. He has to at least suspect that Dad has a draw at a straight flush which means either/or rather than really drawing for the straight-flush itself. This means that out of the 44 cards left in the deck there are 9 hearts to give him a flush. (He didn’t know the Kid had a heart in the hole) and 3 nines to give him a straight. This means he’s only about 7-2 against to make either one and the Kid’s giving him a 7-1 pay-off if he hits.Which means that he has turned a hand that Dad made two huge mistakes in, into a favorable odds situation. Granted the Kid could also improve to a Full House and beat the Flush or Straight but that’s not the point. Of course, he should have just bet it up because of course if Dad doesn’t hit, he can’t even call any final bet so the Kid should have made him pay then.

Q- And then?

EH- Well, then of course the sky falls in on the Kid and my Dad gets the one card in the deck that gives him the nuts. Of course the Kid has to call the final bet but he knew it was over even with the Full House he’d made. Quite something.

Q- Many thanks. Stop by any time you like.

EH-Be happy to. I enjoyed it.

Q-Anything else you’d like to say?

EH- Poker’s a great game. Be good to it.

WSOPE Main Event:
Well with Gus Hansen Eliminated in 10th Place, we are now down to the final table that will start tomorrow at 2:00pm local time.
Here is the line up of players that are looking to score the first ever WSOP European main event bracelet in poker history:

Matthew McCullough - Cherry Hill, New Jersey, US.
Oyvind Riisem - Bergen, Norway.
Annette Obrestad - Sandnes, Norway.
Theo Jorgensen - Copenhagen, Denmark.
Johannes Korsar - Uppsala, Sweden.
Magnus Persson - Gothenburg, Sweden.
James Keys - Bury St Edmunds, UK.
John Tabatabai - London, UK.
Dominic Kay - London, UK.