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Most athletes train for months or years for their moment in the spotlight – and so do poker players. Many of us play countless hours for the chance of someday winning a big event that can possibly change our lives. We learn that there is a right way and a wrong way of playing. The fact is, there are many different reasons why a player may play a hand a certain way. The following hand shows why some people can play a hand a certain way, even though we may have learned that it's the wrong way.

During the no-limit hold'em championship event at Foxwoods last fall, my friend Boris Alec raised from late position with A-Q offsuit. Boris hadn't played a hand for three rounds, and everyone knows that when he raises, he has A-Q, J-J, or better. Boris had a lot of chips, and his raise was for eight times the big blind. Former World Champion Berry Johnston called him from the big blind, thinking that the raise was for $3,000. The dealer informed him that it was for $4,000. After hesitating with the J 9, and with an equal amount of chips, Berry called.

The flop was Q 10 5. Berry had flopped a flush with an open-end straight-flush draw. He moved all in for his remaining $20,000, knowing that there was a possibility that Boris could have a big heart in his hand, and he didn't want a call. Boris thought about the situation, and thought that maybe Berry had a K-Q or the A in his hand, and was on a flush draw. After putting Berry on the wrong hand, he called. Boris lost the hand and was distraught about Berry's preflop call. When telling me the story, he referred to it as "dirty poker." I am not going to analyze the hand after the flop, but let's look at the psychology of the preflop call.

Berry Johnston is known for being a solid player. By smooth-calling preflop after a huge raise with the J 9, he was advertising that he had a big hand. I don't think he was calling to make a move on the flop. Instead, I think he was calling the raise knowing that Boris had a big preflop hand, and if he hit the flop, he would double up and instantly become the chip leader. Berry was looking for either a flush or a straight. If the board came K-Q-10, he would have flopped the joint and Boris most likely would have flopped a big pair or a big set. I think Berry was looking at the implied pot odds here. He took a gamble, and got lucky. If he had missed, he easily could have gotten away from the hand.

I would not have called preflop with his hand. For me, it is much easier starting with the best hand. Then again, Berry Johnston can call because he is one of the best after-the-flop no-limit hold'em players around. Was it "dirty poker"? Of course not – in a way, there was a stroke of genius to it.