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According to the 2006 World Series of Poker champion, Jamie Gold, he would be happy to be recognized as the all time best bluffer in the world of poker. But if his last tournament is any sign, his wish may not come true at all.

The site is the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic held at the Vegas Bellagio Hotel Casino in 2007. Featuring $50 - $100 blinds and a $15,000 buy-in, Darrell Dicken is just barely holding on. The seat 4 player has just raised his bet to $300, a pretty small raise with only one player taking the bait. “I put him as being weak,” Jamie said, “I was thinking about raising, but instead I just called with a 10-3 of hearts to see what would happen.”

Jamie thought that Brad Booth would make some kind of move, which he did. He re-raised to $1600 from the big blind. Gold was thinking that Booth had a decent hand, but he was in an excellent position to make a move considering the quantity of dead money in the pot. Dicken ended up folding, and the unknown in Seat 4 called Booth’s raise.

At this point there was over $4000 in the pot, so Jamie wagered another $4000. His thought was, only if someone else had aces or kings there would be no possibility they would make that call. Jamie’s strategy was to make a sizeable move on the flop, as long as no ace was dealt. The second part of his strategy was to get Booth to fold, which he did. Booth folded with pocket queens.

Coming out of the flop there was an ace of ace-6-5, two clubs. The player in seat 4 checked and Jamie bet $2000. Jamie’s first thought was to make him think that he had clubs. Seat 4 tossed out a $10,000 chip, but didn’t say anything thus changing his raise into a call. Jamie’s thought was that seat 4 definitely had an ace, but you have to protect it in case he hits his set on the upcoming card.

A 2 of hearts was dealt on the turn, and Jamie quickly folded to what he thought was a top pair kicker. Seat 4 displayed a king-jack off suit. Seat 4 overpowered Gold by bluffing with a superior hand, he created a great poker play and continued with the bluff all the way through to the finish.

Anyone familiar with the Texas Hold’em poker tournaments that take place all year round and are widely publicized on television and in other forms of media can very likely tell you all kinds of information about how to successfully play in these types of tournaments.  The play style of the Texas Hold’em poker tournament is quite well documented through these televised events, where announcers give the viewers a play-by-play of exactly what is going on and all the strategies involved in the assorted types of gameplay that are present on the viewers television screen.  With this ubiquitous display of Texas Hold’em poker tournament strategy, many players assume that they can sit down at a table and began to win right away.  This concept could not be further from the truth, as  play is far different from the strategies that are utilized in the cash game.  When playing in the professional Texas Hold’em poker tournament, there is a far different strategy at play than what the player might see in the same Texas Hold’em poker match, but in the form of a cash game.

The Texas Hold’em poker tournament player is focused on staying in the game until the bitter end, regardless of how many chips you finally end up with.  This concept is predicated on the idea that the winner receives a set amount, regardless of how many chips he crosses the finish line with in his possession.  Playing in Texas Hold’em poker tournament games requires strategies that include slow playing, bluffing and all manner of strategy that involves simply staying in the game to the final table.  By making it to the end, the poker tournament player is guaranteed a strong level of success.  By obeying the rules and strategies of this type of gameplay, the professional Texas Hold’em poker tournament player can ensure that they can compete on a regular basis in the tournament, with little chance of being knocked out unless they come across a more skilled player or are simply dealt a bad hand of cards.

While the professional Texas Hold’em poker tournament strategy is all well and good for its genre, the style of play involved in Texas Hold’em poker cash games can be a world apart, as the focus of the cash game is coming away from the table with as much money as possible.  In tournament play, getting to the end is all that matters.  But playing in cash games, ending the game with all the money is the one and only priority of the professional poker player.

Keeping this in mind, it is important for viewers of Texas Hold’em poker tournament games on television to understand the world of difference between the strategies involved in the two different types of gameplay.