About Arnold Spee

Arnold Spee (pronounced "Spay") says that during the year 2004 he kept telling fellow players that he was going to win a World Poker Tour event in 2005. At his lowest point in the 2005 World Poker Challenge at the Reno Hilton, Arnold was all-in with pocket jacks up against pocket queens; he had the shorter stack and thus faced being knocked out. The flop brought three rags on the board; Arnold needed to catch a jack to stay in the tournament. A jack came on the turn, strengthening Arnold's conviction that destiny had decreed he should win a WPT event in 2005.

Despite Arnold's belief in destiny, commentators agreed that he won the event by playing excellent poker. Indeed, he defeated a field of 361 players that included many of the world's most expert professionals. No less a figure than Mike Sexton said that Arnold's playing at the final table was very solid; according to Sexton, he avoided risky plays and made the right moves at the right times. Only on the last hand did he really need to catch a card, and even then he had a chip lead that was substantial enough to have enabled him to absorb the damage if his card hadn't come.

When play was down to just three players, Arnold was facing Phil Ivey and Blair Rodman. At one point, Arnold pushed all-in on a board of 10-6-4-8-Q; Phil took a long time to make a decision but ultimately folded. The crowd was chanting "Show it! Show it!" to Arnold, who obliged by showing pocket aces.

Once Ivey was eliminated, Arnold and Blair traded blinds and antes for a time, folding to each other's bets. When they saw a flop of 9s-7s-3c, Arnold bet out for $270,000. Blair went all-in, and Arnold called. Blair showed Kd-7s for middle pair, and Spee had 4s-3s for bottom pair and a flush draw. The turn card, a 2d, was a blank, so everything depended on the river. Arnold needed a 3, 4 or any spade to win. What came on the river? 4d, giving Arnold two spare to eliminate Blair.

In addition to winning $663,880 in the 2005 World Poker Challenge, Arnold won a $25,000 seat to the WPT World Championship, a plaque, a silver watch, and an official World Poker Tour poker chip set.

Trivia

• His poker playing has been praised by Mike Sexton