The Low-Risk Bluff

In big-league contract bridge, there are three 10-day national championship tournaments each year. This year, the American Contract Bridge League national championships were held at the Reno Hilton in March. Quite conveniently for me, there was also a World Poker Tour tournament at the Reno Hilton during that same 10-day period. I managed to take two days off from my busy bridge schedule (playing with clients) to play in the $330 no-limit hold'em event and the $220 Omaha high-low event.

There were more than 400 entrants in the no-limit hold'em event, which started at noon. When we finally broke for supper at 6:30 p.m., there were only 13 of us remaining to compete for the $29,000-plus first prize (including a $5,000 seat in the final three-day event). At that break, I had an average-size stack, but there were two very large stacks at my six-player table. I noted that there were also two more large stacks at the other table, which had seven players. If I could avoid disaster, I could probably cruise to the final table.

When we came back from the supper break, the action at our table was fast and furious. A stack was pushed in before the flop in each of the first five hands, but no one was called. Then, in third position, I picked up the A K. Since the blinds and antes in the pot totaled more than $2,000, and I had only about $8,000, it seemed automatic to push in my stack and try to grab the antes. At that point, it was costing more than $2,000 to play a round.

One of the big stacks called my all-in raise and proudly turned over pocket threes after everyone else folded. I didn't think it was a wise call on his part, since he rated to be no better than a coin flip against two overcards, and much worse off if I had a higher pocket pair.

However, as fate would have it, I could not beat the pocket threes and found myself settling for only about $700 of the prize money. In retrospect, I think going all in was correct in that situation, and that it would have been even more risky to simply call and play the hand slowly. And if I had been called by a big ace or king, such as A-Q or K-Q, I would have been better than a 2-to-1 favorite.

An interesting ploy that I call "the low-risk bluff" occurred in the Omaha high-low tournament. With $500-$1,000 limits, I had raised before the flop from late position with A-2-4-J, and there was four-way action. The flop came A Q 8, giving me the nut-flush draw for high, the second-nut low draw, and a pair of aces.

It was checked to me, and I thought it was worth betting. The button called, the big blind check-raised, the fourth player slowly called, and it was back to me. The check-raiser was a tight-aggressive player who usually had the goods. I just called.

The turn card was the 6, giving me the second-nut low. The check-raiser (the big blind) led with the $1,000 big bet – quite possibly with the nut low (2-3). The thoughtful player again called slowly, I called, and the button folded. I was silently rooting for the 3.

However, the last card was the "Curse of Scotland," the 9. It certainly did not help me, and made several straights possible. I was thinking seriously about folding, but the lead bettor had only four chips left and went all in for $400. The thoughtful player did his usual think routine and called the $400. It seemed like he might be calling only because of the bargain price. I quickly called the $400, and completed the bet to $1,000! The thoughtful player, who had only about $2,500 left, shrugged his shoulders and folded.

The check-raiser indeed won low with his ABC (A-2-3) hand, and I narrowly backed into high with my aces and jack kicker (he had A-2-3-10). The thoughtful player was visibly upset for having folded what was apparently the winning high hand.

Note that I made my successful "bluff" with very little risk. Although I suspected that the check-raiser had me beat for low, my second-nut low suddenly had value once he went all in, since it was likely that I had the thoughtful player beat for low. Thus, if he had called my raise and beat me for high, I would have gotten my raise back as the low half of the side pot.

In many high-low situations in which a player who is likely to have a winning hand in one direction goes all in, there are often "low risk" opportunities for a skillful player who has accurately diagnosed the situation.