The place is Las Vegas, at the World Series of Poker. It’s the first day of the “Big One for One Dropâ€, the record-setting $1 million buy-in pro-am tournament at Caesar’s. And if all that money on the table isn’t epic enough, we also have a moment straight from Casino Royale. In it, a corporate CEO named John Morgan quite possibly bluffed someone on a $3.4 million raise … even though that someone, Moscow businessman Mikhail Smirnov, was sitting tight with four eights. Click below to read the rest of the story.
Yep, he folded on a multi-million hand while holding four-of-a-kind. Well-played, Mr. Bond.
The blow-by-blow is here at WSOP.com, but suffice it to say that Smirnov had just raised Morgan $700,000 after getting his fourth eight on the flop (he held two eights down). Without much hesitation, Morgan then went all-in, shoving $3.4 million to the middle of the table. With a 7, 8 and Jack of spades showing, Smirnov was concerned that Morgan might have the 9 and 10 for a straight flush, which would have beaten his eights. So after some lengthy consideration, he folded.
Smirnov (in verbatum broken English): “It’s hard for me to explain. It seemed like a very difficult call to make. But for me — I think that my read of the table and when you think about this hand and it’s very easy for me to fold. It was the right play. Sometimes it’s very difficult to fold top pair, but this time I don’t know what he should have. It’s impossible for him to have full house of Kings, impossible full house of Jacks, because he did not re-raise from button (pre-flop). He would have re-raised with Jacks and Kings (pre-flop). If he has full house of sevens, then he’d just call (the river bet). A bluff is impossible because he likes to play in the tournament and he is not a professional. I think I have no chance to win, plus he was so excited on the turn (when he made, what could be a straight flush).†As a follow up, Smirnov was asked, “Will you be able to sleep tonight?†“Easy,†Smirnov replied.
