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Brad Booth Reflects on Iconic $1m Bluff Against Phil Ivey (Video)

Brad Booth Reflects on Iconic $1m Bluff Against Phil Ivey (Video)

Brad Booth Reflects on Iconic $1m Bluff Against Phil Ivey (Video)


In Season 3 of the televised cash-game High Stakes Poker on GSN, Brad Booth pulled off one of the most iconic bluffs in TV poker history.

Now, six years later, he tells the story behind the hand.

“It was one of the most unique experiences of my life and I’ll never forget it,” Booth said in the first installment of www.pokerlistings.com’s new video series Best Poker Moments.

Booth Bluffs Ivey

Booth bought into the high-stakes cash game for $1 million and was up against legendary poker players including Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Antonio Esfandiari.

Booth had already earned the respect of many of the top high-stakes pros in Las Vegas but it was this hand that introduced him to a worldwide audience.

Stakes were $200/$400 and David Williams opened to $1,800. Booth raised to $5,800 with

2
4
 and Phil Ivey four-bet to $14,000 with pocket kings.

Booth decided to call and was able to execute a massive bluff on the flop, putting $300,000 in cash on the line with four-high and an inside straight draw.

“I had really dialed it in and put him on kings,” Booth says in the video. “I knew he was going to fold in that spot. Even if he thinks he has the best hand he’s probably just going to lay it down.

“And I was sure he going to lay it down.”

Watch Brad Booth Talk Ivey Bluff on High Stakes Poker

Check out the first episode of www.pokerlistings.com’s new series Best Poker Moments and keep an eye out for the next installment featuring Annette Obrestad coming soon:

Dumbfounded Ivey to Booth: “You Sick F**k”

Booth goes on to tell the story of what happened after the television cameras were shut off and the players were sent on a short break.

While getting food at the buffet table Ivey approached Booth and asked what he had been holding. The two players agreed to share and after Ivey admitted to having pocket kings with the

K
, Booth told him he had the
2
4
.

Brad Booth
“It wasn’t so much about making a name for myself.”

Dumbfounded, Ivey looked Booth in the eye and said, “You sick f***.”

Since that hand aired on TV Booth has been taking advantage of his hyper-aggressive, bluffy image.

“I just put the whole thing into perspective as if it was just a cash game,” said Booth. “But I also added in the fact that I was really going to be able to get the implied odds in my own life in live cash games.

“It wasn’t so much about making a name for myself. It was just about me winning that pot and picking up a free $45,000 and getting those implied odds for the rest of my life and I still do to this day.

“I can value bet top pair. If there’s $3,500 in the pot I can bet $5,000 and get called with top-pair no kicker or worse.”