Klein vs Galfond
High Stakes Poker, Season 7, 2011. Three players see the flop.
A three-way pot on season seven
The hand
Robert Croak, Bill Klein and Phil Galfond. Stack sizes from this hand were not published.
Before the flop
- Blinds are posted. Another player has the button.
- Another player folds.
- Galfond raises to 3.5K.
- Two other players fold.
- Croak calls.
- Klein calls.
The flop
- Croak bets 5.5K.
- Klein raises to 17.5K.
Galfond calls. Why
Galfond. An open-ended straight draw is worth a call with two players still in to pay off. The pot is big, and a raise would face a re-raise from either of them.
- Croak calls.
The turn
- Croak checks.
- Klein bets 28K.
Galfond raises to 67K. Why
Galfond. The best possible hand on a board with a flush draw wants the money in now, before a spade or a paired board slows the action down.
- Croak folds.
- Klein calls.
The river
Klein bets 150K. Why
Klein. Ten-high can never win at a showdown. The paired river makes a full house believable, and only a big bet can make a straight fold.
- Galfond folds. The famous decision
The river
The famous decision
Galfond. Klein called the turn raise and then bet big when the board paired: that line fits a set that just filled up. A straight beats only bluffs here, and a bet this size is a lot to call with that.
Klein had ten-high and a missed flush draw. The call would have won.
The result
Klein wins the pot.
Why it is famous
Phil Galfond turned the nut straight and raised Bill Klein on the turn. The river paired the board, and Klein bet $150,000 with ten-high, a missed flush draw. Galfond thought it over and folded, and Klein showed the bluff.
What to take from it
A paired river turns a straight from the best hand into a bluff catcher, and a big bet there asks you to believe a full house.
Sources
What the sources do not say. The blinds, the table and the stacks are not documented; only Klein’s $1,600 straddle is. The players who folded before the flop are not named. Wikipedia gives the pot before the river as $192,800, but the bets PokerNews lists add to more than that, so the pot is not shown.
Quads is for adults, 18 and over. It teaches with play chips only: there is no real money, ever.