The Poker Quiz

It is late on Day 1 at a $10,000 buy-in tournament. You are a seasoned professional and always play for first place. After starting the day with 20,000 chips you are down to only 15,000 when the average is around 28,000. The blinds are currently 400-800 with a 100 chip ante.

In middle position you open the pot for a 2,300 raise with 10 8 . A player behind you re-raises to 6,000 and the button calls. Both players have a stack just under the chip average, and you don't recognize either player as being another pro.

The Solution

If you're Thayer Rasmussen you Re-raise all-in.

At the Bellagio Cup III this exact scenario happened to Thayer "Thay3r" Rasmussen. If you are willing to gamble and your goal is to win, this is a brilliant play on so many levels. It's definitely not a standard play, but almost works like a second-tiered squeeze play.

Thayer opened the pot, meaning his range of hands is anything from Aces to 10-8. A player behind him made a re-raise and the button smooth called. Although both of these players may have a big hand, you are putting them in such a hard spot by re-raising all-in. First, your play looks incredibly strong. You are pretty much declaring that you have a big pair or ace-king, as it is very hard to pull this off with anything else. After all, you are putting in a third raise with two people to act behind you. They have to have a monster to call you. Second, they are medium stacks, meaning if they call your all-in for 15K and lose they will be crippled. If they fold, they can live to easily fight another day. Most people are not willing to gamble in this spot with a lot of hands. Third, even if they do call, you should have two live cards going to the flop as your chances of being dominated are slim. Even if they do have an overpair, you have a good cracking hand.

The last thing that makes this a great, gutsy play is the increase in stack that you receive if your opponents fold. With the blinds, antes, and two players putting 6,000 into the pot you can win 14,100 in this hand. Effectively, you can double-up without having to see a flop.

Most players would insta-fold in this situation, but by thinking out all the possibly implications of his action, Thayer was able to stay alive and double up in this tournament.

* A special thanks to Thayer Rasmussen for showing the bluff so we all can learn from his play.