History: It’s 1.30am in the morning and we’re down to our final two in the 2003 Main Event. Veteran Sammy Farha is heads-up with Chris Moneymaker, a 27-year old amateur from Atlanta, Georgia who qualified online for $39. Moneymaker has dominated the final table, eliminating Phil Ivey, Jason Lester and Dan Harrington. Moneymaker has played a solid game, showing few bluffs. Farha has been ‘mixing it up’ and playing his usual fast game. Although Farha has a chip disadvantage of 3,770,000 to 4,620,000, he rejected a deal to split the prize, believing he could outplay his less experienced opponent.
Moneymaker is on the button. The blinds are currently 20,000/40,000.
Moneymaker down at [Ks-7h].
“Don’t do it,” warns Farha with a smile.
What’s your move? If you were Moneymaker, what sort of heads-up strategy would you adopt against a more experienced player and an opponent like Farha?
Adam Goulding says:
“I’d raise. In fact, I’d be raising most buttons as I know Farha will be wanting to play flops with me in order to try and out-play me, so making bigger than normal raises and trying to inflate the pot as early as possible would be my strategy. Although Moneymaker has done well to get this far, there’s still a lot of money up for grabs, and he possesses a huge skill and experience disadvantage against Farha, so getting stubborn and trying to outplay him would be an error. A ‘Kill Phil’ philosophy would likely be the way forward – force them into decisions for large chunks of their stack. Farha isn’t the most patient of players, and I believe he would eventually become frustrated and make a mistake.”
Gavin Hall says:
“Sammy likes to have his crazy, loose image on shows like High Stakes Poker, but, remember, this is the World Series of Poker Main Event final table down to two players, so he is going to be 100 percent gunning to take this down and not do anything too crazy. However, its still Sammy Farha, and the ability to go off on one is still high so I would be playing a standard heads-up strategy of raising a lot of buttons looking to have him making decisions, and putting that to the test as for me that’s where his weakness is. I am also 100 percent plugging in the iPod and not listening to a word he says.”
Moneymaker raises to 100,000.
Farha raises an eyebrow before making the call.
Flop: [9s-2d-6s] (Pot: 280,000, Moneymaker: 4,480,000, Farha: 3,630,000)
Farha checks.
What’s your move? Is checking bad?
Adam Goulding says:
“I would be making a standard continuation bet here and preparing for a double barrel on the turn. Whether he believe us or not, I think Sammy will call the flop with a wide range, but fold most of that range on the turn if we applied pressure. We have to remember that Moneymaker has played a relatively solid game so far and not really shown any bluffs down, so a made hand is certainly well into our range, even heads-up, and given that Sammy considers himself to be a vastly superior player who can play small ball and take advantage of that experience, he won’t want to be putting a lot of chips into the pot out of position and with a weak hand. He’d likely prefer to wait for a better spot. For these reasons, I think checking would be bad, and paramount to giving up the hand unless a scare card arrives on the turn that we can represent, either by betting or raising if Farha leads.”
Gavin Hall says:
“As I said’ I am looking to pressurise his decision-making so I am going to be continuation betting a lot of flops to bring his weakness to the fore. However, this is a potential action flop with hands like suited spades - 7-8, 4-3, 5-3, 7-5, etc - that could reraise us with decent equity. We still have king high, but our equity can improve a lot on the turn, with a good spread of cards - 10 spades, 3 fives, and 3 eights (not including the ones counted in the spades) - for flush and straight possibilities, so that’s 16 out of 47 or 34 percent. Also have 3 kings and 3 sevens, 6 out of 47 for 12 percent, so, overall, there is a forty six percent chance that our hand will improve on the turn. So, despite my overall strategy of looking to build up pressure on Sammy, I am checking behind here as I don’t want to be raised off a hand that can develop from air to good equity.”
Moneymaker checks.
Turn: [8s] (Pot: 280,000, Moneymaker: 4,480,000, Farha: 3,630,000)
Farha quickly bets 300,000.
What’s Your Move? What range of hands do you put Farha on?
Adam Goulding says:
“I’d flat call the hand as it is hard to represent a strong holding having checked the flop, and if we were trap-checking a flopped set, then, as an amateur, we’d be expected to flat call the turn (even if, to a professional player, a raise would be more optimal) in fear that our opponent has turned a flush. We may have made a straight, but even then it would rely on us having raised preflop with T-7 or 7-5 and checked the flop back. We also have a decent drawing hand, so there is value in seeing a cheap turn, we may even be able to bluff if we miss dependent on what card hits.
I certainly wouldn’t contemplate folding as Farha’s range is so very wide. He may have hit a monster on the turn, but he’s more likely to be either protecting a marginal hand, taking a stab at a drawing hand similar to ours, or simply seeing our lack of continuation bet on a drawy flop as a sign of weakness that will lead to a likely fold if he donk leads the turn. I put Farha on anything from the nuts all the way down to bottom pair and ace high with the ace of spades.”
Gavin Hall says:
“The quick bet is the tell for me; if he had made a flush or had a set, an overpair, or some other disguised big hand, then he would be stopping to think about his action. I don’t see him having the ace of spades as that would reraise us a lot preflop. Giving Sammy a range that is wide (about 40 percent of a hands, but excluding hands he is likely to raise with preflop), we need to realise that, against this range, we are still an underdog as so much of it has connected with this board in someway. We do have decent equity, though, for our hand to improve which I have at about 35 percent versus the likely range that Sammy has called us preflop with - it contains plenty of draws, air, two pair, one pair, flush draws, made flushes, and straight draw combos, so is still wide.
As we have decent equity here, I am going to want to raise to help narrow his range. If he ships on us then he is likely to have a low flush / T-7 or 7-5 sometimes for the straight, I expect him to flat call a lot with a high spade, basically the queen, jack or ten that has paired the board with its kicker, or got a straight draw. In other words, he either has a similar hand to us or a weak flush or straight that may not be able to take the heat if we want to play chicken here.”
Moneymaker announces raise. “There’s the 300,000,” he says, sliding the chips across the felt. The T.D. incorrectly announces that Moneymaker is calling; “No, I raise,” confirms Moneymaker adamantly. “Five more.”
Farha thinks momentarily, before making the call.
“We said it was gonna be over soon,” he grins.
River: [3h] (Pot: 1,880,000, Moneymaker: 3,680,000, Farha: 2,830,000)
Farha taps the table.
What’s your move? What river cards would you bluff, and which would you give up on?
Adam Goulding says:
“Farha seems very relaxed about the hand, but I feel that is a sign of weakness more than anything. If he was playing a monster, I believe he would think more carefully about his decision and have a generally more serious demeanour regarding what would potentially be a WSOP Main Event winning encounter. As such, I really feel as though he has a marginal holding and is trying to be affable/jovial in order to reach a cheap showdown.
I very much think whether to bluff or not is a very close call. The pros are that we have enough chips to bet way more than the pot in the hope that it represents strength (I imagine amateurs rarely make such a huge bet unless they have the goods), that Farha has shown weakness through his persona and rapidity in calling, and has a preference for trying to outplay his less experienced opponent over the long-run rather than making a call that he isn’t totally comfortable with in the short-term. On the flip side, if Farha is able to brush those factors aside, he may be able to calculate that our line doesn’t really make that much sense having checked the flop, and that we could easily have raised a draw on the turn, that has now missed on what is essentially a brick river. Farha even suggested that we have missed our flush draw, and he’s right. I think the fact that Farha still had a decent stack leftover if he were to make the fold was a major factor in his eventual decision.”
Gavin Hall says:
“I wouldn’t be too fond of the river pairing the board, but I do interpret Sammy’s check as indicative of a high spade that has now missed. Lets look back at the story of the hand: Sammy has flatted in the big blind, checked the flop, quickly bet the turn, then checked the river. There is no sign of any strength being shown here, he probably has the best hand with his kicker being paired but he is not in love with it on this uber connected board. So, we go back to our main strategy, which is putting his decision-making to the test and the pressure that he will feel knowing that he should win this and not wanting to be out-played by an amateur, etc, we challenge his ego, so I would basically put his tournament on the line.”
Moneymaker glimpses down at his stack before announcing all-in with a wave of his hand.
“You must have missed your flush draw,” probes Farha as he riffles his chips. “could make a crazy call on you; could be the best hand.”
Eventually, Farha folds, and Moneymaker exhales in relief.
“The price of poker is going to go high now,” comments Farha.
“I figured it would”
“I was 50:50, I almost call you.”
“You can tell me what you had, I’ll turn my head.”
“No, I don’t care, you ask me what I had, I said I had a pair, big pair, and a flush draw, queen high flush draw, if I make it, and a pair of queens.”
“A pair of queens? Two queens in you hand, there wasn't a queen on the board, was there? Highest card was a 10.”
“Queens in my hand.”
What do you think of how the two players played the hand? What do you make of Moneymaker’s all-in overbet on the river? Was this really the “Bluff of the Century?
Adam Goulding says:
“I admire Moneymaker’s bravery, but I don’t like the way he played the hand as he tries to represent a hand when his line suggests otherwise. If he correctly deduced that Farha would still fold, then sure, I give him credit, but I think it was more good fortune than anything else that the situation was such that Farha felt he could wait for a better opportunity.
I think the overbet was crucial to the hand. A normal sized bet could easily have been called, but, in what reflects back to pressuring a superior opponent with a Kill Phil strategy, the all-in left Farha with a big decision for what was his tournament life. As a man with a big ego, this pushed Farha out of his confort zone, which is one of the key elements of the Kill Phil style.
Technically, this wasn’t the ‘Bluff of the Century”, but in terms of courage, and how important is was to the industry as a whole, then yes, it should go down in the record books as one of the single most pivotal bluffs poker has witnessed. If Farha had called and gone onto win the Main Event, then it’s possible that the poker boom may never have quite developed into the monstrosity that we witnessed over the subsequent years. That, of course, could have made a massive difference to the immediate history of the game.”
Gavin Hall says:
“I think Sammy played the hand a little bit tamely and was just unsure of exactly how Moneymaker was playing and was having difficulty in assigning ranges to him. But, basically, I think Moneymaker gets this bluff through as Sammy doesn’t want to look an arse on the WSOP final table calling off to an amateur with a weak hand on an action board. Whether Moneymaker realised that at the time or not, who knows, but one thing for sure is Moneymaker picked up on Farha’s weakness and passivity and pounced. Good play for sure.
Adam Goulding and Gavin Hall both became Blue Belts as a result of the Grading process. If you would like to express your views on the hand, then please leave your feedback in the comments’ box below.