Victor Ramdin Analyzes Bluff from The Big Event
Victor Ramdin came into Day 3 of the Big Event at the Bicycle Casino as the overwhelming chip leader. With about twice as many as his closest competitor, Ramdin wasted no time in putting his chips to use. He pulled a bluff early with just a few players to bust before the money bubble and took time out to talk to PokerNews about it.
Blinds: 2,000/4,000 with a 400 ante
Preflop Action The under-the-gun player raised to 11,000. Ramdin reraised to 35,000 with 6?2?. Hughes called on the button, and the original raiser folded.
I played with the raiser yesterday. He's a rookie obviously. He made a few plays, and the hands that I was seeing from him were not premium hands whatsoever. He was playing hands from any position. I noticed a consistency and pattern for his preflop raises. When he made it 15,000 or three-times the big blind, he had a monster. When he raised to 11,000 or smaller, he had a poor hand like suited connectors. I figured there was enough money in the pot, and that I'd take it down preflop. Hughes, the guy who called me, is a really good player. When he called, I was sick.
Flop Action: The flop came A?8?A?. Victor bet and Hughes called.
I continuation bet because I'm representing an ace. I'm the aggressor in the hand. I was sick again when he called. I have no pair no draw.
Turn Action: The turn was the 3?. Ramdin spent some time stacking out a potential bet, he checked instead. Hughes checked.
My plan here was to check-raise the turn. I'm going for the gusto. I figured, what the hell. At that point, I put him on a middle pair. He's not an easy guy to bluff because he's a really good player.
So you decided to go for a check-raise because you think he'd be more likely to fold to that rather than a double barrel?
Yes, correct.
River Action: The river was the 4?. Ramdin immediately slid out a bet of 130,000. Hughes tanked for a few seconds, then mucked his cards.
Why did you think he would fold the river?
I thought he was afraid of the spades. I didn't give him an ace preflop or on the flop because I thought he'd raise. I thought I played it well because I anticipated what was going to happen in the hand.
It's interesting that you began the hand making a move against another player, but continued to bluff against another when the it didn't go exactly as planned.
You have to remember, I have a lot of chips. Forget about just playing the player, I'm playing power poker right now. If I lose 150,000, it's not the end of the world.
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