Poker Phils Strategy – Reraise With Nothing
When I teach NLH theory in seminars, I like to use an example from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2001. I had been watching Daniel Negreanu very closely during the championship event on day three. In this particular hand Daniel opened the pot for $10,000. I knew he had nothing, and when it was my turn to act I made it $30,000 to go with [jV]-[2 (bluffing). Now John "World" Hennigan decided to move all-in for $30,100, and Daniel quickly folded his hand. I called the $100 more, but I would have called another $10,000 because of the size of the pot (I had about $210,000 in front of me at the time).
After all, I already had $30,000 in the pot plus John's $30,100 and Daniel's $10,000. Much to my embarrassment, the tournament director required us to flip our cards faceup before the flop. He wasn't picking on us; that's the rule at WSOP when one player is all-in. This is a new, controversial industrywide rule in poker in 2002, and the reason that it exists is to prevent collusion. Many of the top players hate this rule because it forces them to show their hands and therefore exposes their style of play. Now players get to see, free, what the great players are doing. ("He bet all his chips with that hand?")
When the hands were announced, a lot of snickering was heard from the crowd (how did Phil get $30,000 in before the flop with 10-2?), and most of the players left in the tournament came over to watch this pot. John had 9-9 and I had 10-2! Basically, I needed a 10 to win.
Anyway, the flop and the turn came 7-8-3-K, and then a 10 hit on the last card! What a lucky card for me! I don't know what John was doing putting his last $30,000 into a pot when it was raised and reraised in front of him before the flop, and I didn't like his play at all. I hadn't been making any plays that day, and even if he suspected that I was making a play, pocket nines isn't a very good hand to make a stand with, especially given that he couldn't even raise me out of the pot. Also, John had to worry that Daniel would get involved in this pot, although Daniel was probably going to throw his hand away, facing both my raise and John's call. Still, there was some chance he was going to be facing two opponents, which meant that his 9-9 was just too vulnerable. More to the point, though, John had to figure he was going to be heads-up with me, and my reraise against Daniel should have meant strength to him.
Be that as it may, John's instinct was right, so I have to give him credit for his call, and perhaps for figuring out that Daniel and I were both bluffing! Anyway, here is an example of a pot that was won while someone was making a move. Daniel later admitted having six high in this hand (he folded his hand facedown because he didn't call the $30,100 bet).
Ace Video Poker - Learn the poker game. Here you will find alot of information about the online poker games.Live Online Poker Games Try our live games
Casino En Ligne Liste de casino en ligne au top
Tags: casino, daniel negreanu, poker, world series of poker