The Gus Hand

As much as I'd like to forget about the $600,000 pot I played against Gus Hansen on High Stakes Poker, it seems there has been a lot of discussion on various Internet forums about the hand, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on what turned out to be an intriguing hand.



Play started out innocently enough, with Gus coming in for a pretty standard-size raise of $2,100. With the blinds at $300-$600 with a $100 ante, the standard-size raise is generally a little more than three times the big blind. Players will generally bring it in for anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000.



Now, a standard-size reraise would generally be in the neighborhood of $8,000 to $10,000 more. That's how the game had been played on virtually every episode of High Stakes Poker.



Well, since I've played so many hours on the show, with people being given an opportunity to get a better read on my play, I thought about using this hand to make a variation play. I looked down at 6-6 and made it a total of $5,000, raising just $2,900 more.



The play makes little sense, frankly, since there is no chance at all that I could win the pot before the flop. Gus would be forced to call me with any two cards at that point. It's also important to note that my goofy little reraise completely disguises my hand, as no one would ever put me on a middle pair in that spot.



Everyone knows that with a middle pair, you either smooth-call the raise or make a substantial reraise to pick up the pot right then and there. My raise had to have Gus thinking he was up against either a big overpair or possibly a hand like 9-8 suited.



While all of the money doesn't get into the pot until much later, this preflop action ends up becoming extremely important. No one else called my raise, so Gus and I took the flop heads up, with me in position.



The flop came 9-6-5 rainbow – a perfect situation, as I hit an extremely hidden set. Gus checked, and since I wanted this pot to grow a little bit, I bet $8,000. After a little hesitation, Gus decided to check-raise me, making it a total of $26,000.



I was left a little puzzled, half worried about Gus possibly flopping a straight, and half wanting to make sure I got maximum value for my hand. Gus and I were the only players at the table who were playing with very deep stacks, so I needed to think about being a little cautious. I just called.



The turn brought another 5, giving me a full house. This time, Gus bet $24,000, and once again I figured that I'd let Gus hang himself. If he was bluffing, I wasn't about to stop him! At the same time, I didn't think he'd be able to call a raise with too many hands I could beat.



I did my best acting job on the turn, trying my absolute best to convince Gus that I was pondering with a big overpair. I wanted to give him a chance to represent a river card. If he had a hand like 10-9, I wanted him to "know" that I had an overpair, so that if the river brought a 7 or an 8, he might try to steal the pot with a big bet. Also, if he did flop the straight, I figured he'd bet the river anyway.

Finally, I just called the $24,000 bet. The river was an 8. Now, in one sense I loved the card, in that it would give Gus a card to represent, but on the other hand, that card could possibly kill my action.



Gus checked the river, and by that point the pot had grown to $111,700. I wanted to get called for a big bet, but I didn't want to bet so much that he might consider folding a straight. I finally decided to bet $65,000, hoping to hear Gus moan for a while, and then finally throw 13 chocolate chips into the pot.



Well, that's not exactly what happened. Instead, Gus announced, "All in," raising me an additional $167,000.



At this point, a lot was racing through my mind. "OK, how in the world can Gus check-raise me here in this spot? I'm totally selling an overpair, so if he had quads or nines full, why wouldn't he try to value bet it?"



I just couldn't figure out a reason why Gus would go for a check-raise on the river. Finally, I decided that I could still beat a few hands – namely, the nut straight, 6-5, 8-5, or 9-5. If you don't believe Gus would play a 9-5, well, you just don't know Gus!



Ultimately, though, it was that goofy preflop raise that I made in the name of trickery that cost me. Since I had disguised my hand, it made laying the hand down much more difficult, since Gus wouldn't have put me on that range of hands.



How can Gus check the nuts to me when he puts me on A-A? Well, he did, with 5-5, and it fooled me enough to lose an additional $167,000. Had he bet out on the river, my play was likely just a call. By check-raising me, though, he was able to win a $575,700 pot.



I asked Gus why he went for the check-raise on the river, and his answer will surprise you. He had this to say: "I put you on something like A-A or K-K, but I didn't think you'd call a bet on the river when the 8 came. I figured that there was a better chance you would value bet the hand."



Wow, that's a very interesting point of view. As it turns out, Gus' thinking was wrong: I was more likely to call the river with A-A than I was to bet it. His "error" in judgment, in an extremely goofy hand, paid off rather handsomely.