REVERSE BLUFFS OF TOGEL
Checking a very strong hand in order to lure your opponents into a trap is the flip side of betting a hopeless hand. A reverse bluff , when it works, will cause your opponent to do the betting for you. In fact, he will generally be wed to his hand until you snap him off with a well-timed checkraise.
No one did this better than Johnny Chan; and no one did it
under more daunting circumstances. Read on, and see how Johnny Chan
reverse-bluffed Erik Seidel at the World Series of Poker. It was a big, gutsy
bluff. But the rewards were big too: a second consecutive world championship.
Famous Bluffs: Johnny Chan versus Erik Seidel
In this "reverse" bluff, Johnny Chan bluffed Erik
Seidel into thinking he held the best hand, lured him into betting, and won a
$1,600,000 pot during the final stages of the 1988 World Series of Poker.
Chan had won the World Series the previous year and had been
on a roll ever since. Here he was 12 months later, with a chance to win
back-to-back titles. But he'd need some magic to accomplish it. Seidel, a former
commodities broker from New York City left Wall Street for the life of a
professional poker player, and now he had a big chip lead on the defending
champ.
At this point in the tournament, the blinds were $10,000 and
$20,000. Chan called Seidel's big blind, making the pot $40,000. The flop was
Qª10¨8¨. Seidel bet $50,000. Chan called. The turn card was a complete blank,
and both men checked. The fifth and final card was another blank. Chan checked.
Seidel held a queen in his hand, giving him
top pair, albeit with a weak kicker. He thought for a moment that Chan might
have a queen with a better kicker. But by checking on the turn and on the river
Chan passed up his final chance to bet! Seidel then w88 login pushed all of his
chips into the center of the table, certainly a sizable enough bet to cause
Chan to release any slightly better hand in the event that Seidel had misread
him. Seidel thought his all-in bet would prevent Chan from calling with hands
such as a queen with a better kicker, or two small pair.
Seidel had, in fact, misread Chan. And not by a little, but by
a lot. Chan smiled as he turned over his hand. Johnny Chan had flopped a
straight with the J§9§.
Had Chan not bluffed, more than likely Seidel would have
folded in the face of a bet from his adversary on the turn or the river. But
Chan did bluff. In fact, he did it twice, once on the turn and again on the
river and he reaped a handsome reward: his second consecutive World
Championship.
BLUFFING AND POSITION
In most instances, acting last ¾ after you've had a chance to
see what your opponents do ¾ is a big advantage. But when you're bluffing it's
often advantageous to act first.
If your opponent checks and you bet, he's likely to realize
that you are trying to take advantage of the fact that he's shown weakness. As
a result, he is more prone to call ¾ or even raise, if he's a very aggressive
player ¾ with marginal hands.
But betting from first position conveys the image that you
really do have a strong hand. After all, you are betting into someone who could
have a really powerful hand. Your opponent, of course, will realize that and be
more willing to release a marginal hand than he would be if you bet following
his check.
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