Great Moments in World Series of Poker History Part 3

In just a couple of weeks thousands of dream-filled hopefuls will take their seats in the 44th annual World Series of Poker Main Event.
With its $10,000 buy-in and historic playing fields the Main Event has produced many of the greatest moments in World Series of Poker history.
Guest blogger James Guill continues his Great Moments in WSOP History series with this Main Event-themed installment.

Action Dan Goes Back to Back in Main Event

When Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event, 1995 Main Event Champion "Action Dan" Harrington finished 3rd.
The very next year, Harrington navigated through a then-record field of 2,576 players to finish in 4th place.
While Harrington's 1995 Main Event title may be his greatest victory, many consider his back-to-back final tables in the 2003 and 2004 Main Event to be his greatest accomplishment in the marked cards game.

Chan Beats Seidel to Win Back-to-Back Main Events

Johnny Chan was looking to stake his claim to history in the 1988 WSOP Main Event with back-to-back titles.
Erik Seidel was looking to make a name for himself by taking down the richest prize in poker. Both eventually were immortalized but it was Chan that went in the history books first.
Chan held a slight edge over Seidel when he limped in with J♣ 9♣ and Seidel followed suit with Q♣ 7♥. On a flop of Q♠ 10♥ 8♦, Chan had a nearly unbeatable straight and Seidel top pair. Chan tested the waters against a Seidel with a 40k bet and knew he had him when Seidel put in a 50k raise.
When the turn fell the 2♠ Chan checked in hopes that Seidel would overcommit to his hand. Seidel shoved and Chan made the easy call. The river was irrelevant and Johnny Chan made history.
Ten years later both Seidel and Chan would be immortalized in Rounders with Seidel portrayed as the sucker of the encounter. Ironically Seidel has $9 million more in career winnings than Chan.

Lamb Goes From Contender to Bust in Four Hands

Ben Lamb's run in the 2011 WSOP led him to his first WSOP bracelet, three preliminary event final tables and a spot in the 2011 WSOP Main Event November Nine.
Lamb was second in chips when the final three took their seats on the last day and many felt he had the best chance of winning it all.
The very first hand of three-handed play Lamb decided that it was wise to four-bet shove against the solid Martin Staszko.
Lamb held K♥ J♦ and Staszko, knowing that Lamb liked to shove light, made the call. The board failed to help him and Lamb was crippled.
Three hands later Lamb shoved with Q♠ 6♥ and this time around Staszko had pocket jacks. The board blanked again and Ben Lamb went from possible Main Event champion to third place in four hands.

Bluff of the Century

When Chris Moneymaker reached heads-up play of the 2003 WSOP Main Event, many did not expect him to prevail despite easy cards tricks the fact he had two-thirds of the chips in play. Moneymaker even offered an even chop with Sam Farha but Farha wanted to play it out.
A short while later Moneymaker decided to raise to 100,000 with K♠ 7♥ and Farha made the call.
On a flop of 9♠ 6♠ 2♦ it was checked around and the 8♠ hit the turn. While Farha had the best hand with a pair of nines, there was now both a straight and flush possibility on the board.
Farha bet out 300,000 in hopes of winning the pot there and prevent any further drawing. Moneymaker then decided to test Farha and put out a 500,000 semi-bluff raise. Farha made a reluctant call and both saw the river 3♥.
With the multiple straight and flush possibilities on the board Farha checked. Moneymaker, holding nothing but air, knew he could only win with a bluff and shoved for his tournament life.
Farha took a while to make his decision and even commented that he could make a "crazy call" and that it could be the winner. Giving Moneymaker too much credit for a hand, the seasoned veteran folded the best hand in what Norman Chad referred to as the "Bluff of the Century."
Moneymaker's bluff would give him the momentum needed to finally take down the Main Event title and usher in the Poker Boom.

10 Essential Texas Hold'em Moves: The Reverse Tell

We’re here to tell you winning at poker isn’t all about fundamentals.
There are a handful of special moves that, when mastered, can make the difference between winning a little, and winning a lot.
In this ten-part beginner poker strategy series we’re going to show you exactly how to use these powerful poker moves to make more money.
Today we’re talking about the reverse tell, sometimes called a false tell. It’s a move that can disorient your opponents and make it a lot harder for them to make the right decision.
By mastering the reverse tell you can trick your opponents into mucking when they have the best of it and shoveling their chips into the middle when they’re crushed.
The What: A form of misinformation, reverse tell refers to a deliberate behavior or action intended to make your opponent(s) think they’ve picked up information about your hand.
The Why: There are many common tells that poker marked cards players look for. By imitating these tells in the right spot you can influence your opponent’s thought process.
The Where: For a reverse tell to be successful your opponent needs to be paying attention, so this move will only work against experienced, thinking players.
The When: The most common time you can use a reverse tell is when you have made a big bet or raise and your opponent is deciding whether to call or fold.

Reverse Tells for Beginners

The essence of a reverse tell is about being able to influence your opponent’s behavior, by feeding him false information.

Anyone who's good at spotting tells is susceptible to the reverse tell.

 

If you know your opponent has been reading Joe Navarro’s Read ‘Em and Reap, for example, you can take advantage about what he’s learned about poker tells.
Navarro suggests that people tend to get closer physically to their cards and chips when they have a strong hand, and farther away when they’re weak.
Next time you’re bluffing all-in and your opponent looks like he’s having a tough time making a decision, lean into the table and cozy up to those cards like they’re your two best friends.

Advanced Reverse Tells

The next level of reverse tells involves setting up your opponents over the course of a session or sessions.
By making sure the other players take note of a certain behavior or tell, you can use that behavior at an opportune time to force a mistake.
For example, every time you pick up a monster hand and are value-betting or raising, make sure to completely change the topic of conversation, as if to draw attention away from the hand.
If you think your opponent has picked up on it, do the same the next time you’re running a big bluff.
The reverse tell isn’t foolproof, but poker is full of times when players are torn between calling or folding in a tough spot. Sometimes all they need is a nudge in the right direction.

Five Most Common Tells You Can Reverse

For every common tell there’s a simple reversal.
If the tell normally means you’re holding a monster hand, do it when you’re bluffing and give your opponent another reason to fold infrared contactlenses.
If the tell usually indicates air, make sure to break it out when you’re betting or raising with the nuts.

If someone hits the flop hard they'll often look away.

 

Here are the top five tells you can reverse:

• Strong is Weak, Weak is Strong: Most people believe that when a player is holding a strong hand, they’re most likely to act weak in order to confuse their opponent. The reverse is true of someone bluffing. Throwing out bets forcefully, staring down your opponent and speaking with inflated bravado are just some of the ways players act strong.
• A Shaky Hand Means a Monster: Many players, especially beginners, will be more nervous when they’re holding a monster hand than when they’re bluffing. Hence the idea that when someone’s hand is shaking and jittery when they put out a bet, they’ve probably got the nuts.
• Staring at or Looking Away from the Flop: Similar to the ‘Strong is Weak’ idea, when a player looks at the flop and then quickly looks away it indicates he likes what he sees and is attempting to look uninterested. When a player is staring at the flop for a long time it usually indicates he has missed.
• Glancing at Chips: When a player quickly looks at their chips after seeing the flop, it usually means they connected with it somehow.
• Nonsensical Conversation: If a players is normally very smooth in their conversation and begins to speak nonsensically or clumsily when involved in a massive hand, it’s usually means they’re bluffing.

The Reverse Tell in Action

If you’re still not convinced about the power of the reverse tell, cast your mind back to the 1998 WSOP Main Event.
It was the final hand between Scotty Nguyen and Kevin McBride and there was a full house on the board, eights full of nines.
Scotty had a nine in his hand and pushed McBride over the edge into a call with the famous line, “You call, it’s going to be all over baby.”
Scotty was playing on the common tell that weak means strong and vice versa. He acted strong with a monster and tricked McBride into thinking he was trying to buy the pot.
Skip to 3:00 for the good stuff.