Poker Concorde

This is an interesting poker hand from a poker strategy perspective. The poker hand begins with Chan being dealt (Jc,9c) and Seidel (Qc,7h).

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Chan makes up the blinds and Seidel checks, with the flop falling (Qs,8d,10h). Seidel then makes a bet of 50k and Chan does some theatrical thinking before smooth calling and setting a trap. The (2s) falls on the turn meaning that Seidel is drawing dead, and after Seidel checks, Chan again lures him into a false sense of security by taking the time to think, and finally checking behind.

The river is the (6d), and surely feeling his top pair is in front, Seidel pushes the rest of his chips into the pot. Chan immediately calls to win his second WSOP main event in a row. This poker hand demonstrates perfectly how you can respond to an aggressive poker player when you hit a flop very well.

Chan had to feel that Seidel had some part of the flop due to the 50k raise, but he resists the urge to reraise, feeling that by convincing Seidel his poker hand is weak, he can extract the most from his poker hand. The turn card brings a second spade to the table, but again Chan resists the temptation to raise and protect his hand. He is an astute enough poker player to know he has little to fear from a Flush. An aggressive poker player would certainly see picking up a Flush draw as good reason to follow up his bet on the flop, with another bet on the turn.

Seidel checks however, and Chan does too, knowing that his position of second to act means that Seidel is forced to make the first move on the river. This poker play works out perfectly when Seidel bets it all on the river, and is understandably surprised to see Chan instantly call and turn over the nuts.