Win the War, Not All the Border Skirmishes

Date: 2007.12.24 | Category: Hand Of The Week | By: Phil Hellmuth   

I’ll tell the story the way I always tell it. At one memorable World Series of Poker tournament in 2003, Freddy Deeb and Marcel Luske bluffed me a combined total of 17 times. They laughed at me, then they laughed some more, but I gave them credit. They truly had outplayed me many times that day. But those were all border skirmishes (small pots). My plan was to win the war, not all the battles. When I hit the final table that day, I was the chip leader. I know what you’re thinking: How could Phil let Deeb and Luske bluff him 17 times and still be holding the chip lead? Since I let them win so many of the small pots, they were confident they could outplay me all day long. Finally, when I did have the goods, I picked off a Luske bluff to double up. In one stroke, I won back all the money he had bluffed from me.

Though the rest of the world hates to be outplayed and bluffed, I don’t much mind, for two reasons. First, I’m looking to put my chips into the pot when I’m super-strong, and because this doesn’t happen very often, I’m forced to fold a lot of hands while waiting for the strong ones. Second, by folding a number of hands, I give the other players the illusion that I’m a “weak player,” someone who folds a lot, someone who can be bluffed. Then, when I do have the hand I’ve been waiting for, I check to my now empowered opponents, who take their usual “I can bluff Phil out of the pot” stance and make their big bluffs. But this time I called them down and hauled in a huge pot.