Jeff Haney describes the eye-popping cash flow as well-heeled poker pros take on Texas businessman Andy Beal at Wynn Las Vegas

By Jeff Haney

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006 | 12:32 p.m.

Only in the world's richest poker game would a one-day net win of $1.2 million be considered child's play.

But that was the case this week at the Wynn Las Vegas poker room, where Texas businessman Andy Beal is facing off against a consortium of poker pros, most from Las Vegas, in a series of head-to-head matches for stakes that rival the largest in the history of gambling.

Beal and the professionals group - informally known as "the Corporation" - also played at the Wynn for about a week leading up to Super Bowl Sunday before resuming competition this past weekend.

This week's game marks the latest skirmish in an on-again, off-again high-stakes rivalry between Beal and the professional players that began nearly five years ago at the Bellagio.

Because neither side courts publicity for the big game, the exact terms of the latest arrangement have not been released, though the Corporation reportedly cobbled together a $10 million kitty to go up against Beal's $20 million stake. The game is not a "freeze out," or winner-take-all contest, so either side has the option of quitting at any time.

The form of poker they play is heads-up limit Texas hold 'em. Although the limits have varied in other incarnations of the competition, this week they are playing $50,000-$100,000 hold 'em with blinds of $25,000 and $50,000. To put that in perspective, if a mere mortal sits down at his local $4-$8 hold 'em game with $100 in chips, an equivalent buy in for the Beal game would be about $1.25 million.

On Monday, Beal rallied from a low point of about $2.5 million in the hole against Las Vegas poker pro Todd Brunson to record a $1.2 million win after a day's worth of play.

"The good guys won today," Beal joked after removing his headphones and shaking hands with Brunson, a top-level professional who happens to be the son of two-time World Series of Poker champ Doyle Brunson.

Todd Brunson, sporting his signature long ponytail, said he ran into trouble a couple of times when he made two pair but Beal had a better hand. In heads-up Texas hold 'em, two pair is generally considered a strong hand. If your opponent has your two pair beat, you'll usually lose a lot of chips.

Still, "it was a very enjoyable game," Brunson said.

Given the stakes involved, Beal said, the dollar amount of his take wasn't all that significant.

"It's actually less than one good-sized pot in this game," Beal said. "So it's not a big deal."

A self-made billionaire banker and entrepreneur from Dallas, Beal retains a down-to-earth disposition, insisting on "Andy" rather than "Andrew."

"And Mr. Beal is my father," he said Monday.

Beal, known as a mathematical genius, first challenged the pros to the heads-up matches in a bid to prove he could successfully compete against the best poker players in the world, at the highest limits.

Throughout the competition, the professional players have squared off against Beal one by one in an agreed-upon rotation.

Beal admitted the pros got the best of him before this year, but also claimed some of the pros exaggerated the amounts of their wins.

This year, Beal and the Corporation appear to be running neck-and-neck, with Beal losing a little before the Super Bowl but rebounding to win this week.

"It's really a remarkable achievement," said author Michael Craig, who chronicled the first series of games in his compelling 2005 book "The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King."

"You might hear Andy Beal lost $3 million in five days (before the Super Bowl), but that comes out to an average of one average-size pot every three hours."

Another way to look at it is the pros ended up with 50.5 percent of the money in play while Beal got 49.5 percent.

"It's an extremely close match," Craig said, "a really tough competition."

It's not clear exactly which poker pros invested money in this year's game, but Jennifer Harman and Ted Forrest have also played against Beal at the Wynn. High-stakes players Phil Ivey, Minh Ly, Chau Giang and Johnny Chan were sweating the action for at least part of the afternoon Monday.

In Craig's book, Doyle Brunson was described as the de facto leader of the poker pro investors.

On Tuesday, Beal was holding his own against Forrest, one of the world's top players.

"It's been going great," Beal said. "But you always want to win more."

Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.

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