Nick is a cash game player, content creator and part of 888poker’s Stream Team. Each week he shares his thoughts and experiences as a player dedicated to the daily grind. This week he recalls the biggest bluff he ever attempted - and in the WSOP Main Event, no less…
Last week I spoke about one of the nittiest plays I’ve ever had to make at a poker table: folding kings preflop, on Day 1 of the WSOP Main Event. In a bid to ‘balance my range’, this week I’ll be talking about the biggest hand from Day 2, which happens to be the most insane bluff of my entire career.
After bagging 78,000 from a 60,000 starting stack on a Day 1 which was turbulent, to say the least, I was feeling pretty happy and confident moving into the second day. To set the scene for this hand, I had spent much of the first level accumulating chips, winning almost every pot I played. Around an hour into the day, I was up closer to the 95K mark without being in any real jeopardy. This was about to change.
After an open from the hijack to 1,700 at 400/800, I looked down at 
on the button and decided to call. The big blind, a player named Gabriella who had recently won a tournament in Florida for around $18,000, decided to squeeze, making it 6,500 to go. After the initial raiser elected to call I was pretty happy to call along, flicking in the extra 4,800.
The flop brought 
(I bet you’re already wondering how I end up bluffing here), giving me top pair, top kicker and some backdoor potential. Gabriella started out with a bet of 6,500 which was called by the player in the hijack, and I again felt I was left with very little option in this spot but to call as well.
After I tossed in the chips, the dealer laid out the 
on the turn, pretty much one of the best cards I could hope to see. What I wasn’t hoping to see, however, was the exceptionally meaty bet from Gabriella, first to act, as she wagered 27,000 into a pot of around 40,000. The hijack quickly got himself out of the way, but my hand was certainly too strong to let go of at this juncture. Not only did I still have top pair, but now both a nut flush and straight draw had been added to the arsenal. It certainly wasn’t comfortable, but it was time to see a river.
I called, only to see the rather disappointing 
hit the felt, completing the front door flush. There was around 92K in the pot, and I had an effective stack of 53K. While this was certainly not the river I was looking for, it felt like it wouldn’t be Gabriella’s favorite card either. She checked rather quickly (she was acting quickly a lot), and I briefly considered a check back before beginning to evaluate my exceedingly devious intentions.
Into the tank
For starters, Gabriella had begun the day with around 130K, and the second largest stack on the table. She had lost around 30,000 of these chips early on, and it was certainly in my mind that she may not want to bust so early on level 1 of the 2nd day. Coupled with the fact that at this stage of the Main Event you very rarely see bluffs, I thought this was a great set of building blocks for a successful steal.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: with top pair, top kicker, couldn’t I just show down? A very reasonable question to ask, and checking certainly would have spared me some heart palpitations. But given the strength of Gabriella’s actions to this point, I felt there was a very strong chance that I wouldn’t be able to win by showing down. Kings and queens seemed the most plausible holdings, given that I blocked aces, and I wondered how happy someone would be to put their Main Event on the line with just one pair.
Another important point is that I very credibly represented flushes, given that I would have most Ax of hearts hands in this line, and certainly 
to go with a few others. Additionally, after she checked, I thought it was very unlikely to be a flush, as most players struggle to find traps in these spots and usually go for the value jam themselves, concerned that in position players will check back a lot of the time. That means not only do I not expect to ever get snap-called by a flush, it’s also very easy for me to have hands other than a flush that can jam for value, such as sets or 
suited.
As far as my specific hand choice goes, I actually quite like it. Blocking aces is great as already mentioned, but having a jack is likely to also block Gabriella’s most likely check-call, namely a set of jacks.
Lastly, and potentially most importantly of all, how is anyone ever bluffing in this spot?! I can’t even think what my bluffs would look like, maybe 
, 
or 
? And as my good friend and fellow 888 Stream Team member Aaron Barone put it, “if you’re having to turn top pair, top kicker into a bluff to find enough bluffs, then it’s definitely underbluffed!” And while it’s certainly reasonable to just never bluff in a spot like this, I felt there was enough chance it would get through to go for it, given that it only had to work around 25% of the time to be profitable here.
A most ridiculous spot
After some deliberation, I decided to go for it, putting my tournament life on the line in the most ridiculous spot I can even remember, let alone in the Main Event. Gabriella asked for a count (not a good start), and started to talk out loud, asking “How do you even have a flush here?”
I felt like leaping across the table to list all the potential flush combinations I could have in this spot, but I felt that might give me away. I had no choice but to sit and hope.
But that wasn’t enough, as Gabriella spent less than a minute before tossing in a chip to indicate a call.
“Nice hand” I said, dejected, as I prepared to take my leave of the tournament with my tail firmly between my legs.
But lo and behold, she quickly tabled 
for the ‘I absolutely DO NOT believe you’ call, and we were left to chop the pot. Incredible. I thoroughly recommend checking out my vlog from the day so you can hear how relieved I was to still be alive!
Even I didn’t think I was bluffing
It’s hard to be too critical of the call, especially considering I was actually bluffing, but I feel like just calling her overpairs with a heart, as well as top set, would be a more reasonable starting point. I mean, even I didn’t think I was bluffing, and I could see my hand!
Whether she picked up on something or not, I give Gabriella a huge amount of credit for an incredibly courageous call, effectively for her tournament life. I know from experience just how hard it is to go with your gut and call it off.
So there we have it, the biggest, most ridiculous bluff of my life, and I got called. And chopped. In the Main Event. I’m not sure I will ever play a hand like this again!
How would you have played it? What was your strangest hand of the WSOP, or any other poker tournament? Leave your comments below.
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Images courtesy of 888poker/Gema Cristobal.
