Poker: Sometimes even the best bluffers get bluffed

Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker main event champion, often says he wants to be known as the best bluffer in poker. But sometimes even the bluffer gets bluffed.

With blinds at $50-$100 at the $15,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2007, Darrell Dicken limped from under the gun. The player in Seat 4 raised to $300, a small increase with one player already limping in.

"I put him as being weak," Gold said. "I was thinking about raising, but instead I just called with 10-3 of hearts to see what would happen.

"I believed that Brad Booth, who is an excellent player, would make a move, and he did (re-raising to $1,600 from the big blind). He may have had a hand, though, but it's a perfect position for him to make a move because there's a lot of dead money in the pot."

Dicken folded. Seat 4 called Booth's raise.

"There's more than $4,000 in the pot, so I made it another $4,000," Gold said. "I knew that unless someone has aces or kings, they can't make that call."

Booth folded, later saying he had pocket queens.

"I made the move and I got the only guy I cared about to fold," Gold said. "I didn't care about the guy in Seat 4. My plan was to make a huge move on the flop, as long as there was no ace."

But an ace fell on the flop of ace-6-5, two clubs. Seat 4 checked. Gold bet $2,000.

"I wanted him to put me on the kings, and that's what kings would do — just test it with that kind of bet," Gold said. "I also made that $2,000 bet as if I might have clubs.

"But I'd already made up my mind that I was folding to an ace, because it was just too common that he could have A-K there. I'm not going broke with this bluff."

Seat 4 threw out a $10,000 chip but didn't say "Raise," reducing his action to a call, a rule he apparently didn't know and one that created frustration. But Gold got the message.

"That's what an ace would do — raise big there," Gold said. "You have to protect it. He can't give me a free card. What if I hit my set on the next card?"

The turn came the 2 of hearts, Seat 4 led out $10,000, and Gold folded to what he believed was top pair/top kicker. Seat 4 showed king-jack offsuit.

"He outplayed me, bluffing with a better hand," Gold said. "He actually made an extraordinary play and kept the bluff going."

By Steve Rosenbloom Tribune Media Services

News Added: 12 September, 2008

Number of views : 724