The 2024 World Series of Poker was filled with countless memorable hands, but a select few stood out as the most outrageous bluffs of the summer.
Watching a daring bluff get through with a lot at stake is one of the most thrilling parts of the game of poker.
And in the World Series of Poker, there are every player’s hopes and dreams ready to be made or crushed. It’s why we love this game so much.
GGPoker has done some work by sorting through the countless hours of footage from the summer to choose what it thinks are the best bluffs from the 2024 WSOP.
Hand #5 – Bleznick vs. Sternheimer $25K NLH High Roller
This first hand is a perfect example of how great players are able to read their opponents in spots when both of them have a ton of air in their ranges.
Jared Bleznick opens to 85K from UTG with 9♠ 9♥ and he gets a call from Philip Sternheimer holding 8♥ 8♦ on the button.
The flop was 10♥ 5♥ A♣ , favouring the pre-flop raiser, and Bleznick pops out a bet of 85K into the pot of 270K.
Sternheimer knows that his opponent is betting this flop with a high frequency and decides to continue and see what happens.
The turn is the 10♦ and both players check.
The A♦ river card makes the next street very interesting. Bleznick likely bet the flop with all of his air and Sternheimer still has plenty himself.
Bleznick checks again and Sternheimer takes his shot at the pot now that his pocket pair has been counterfeited with a bet of 175K into 440K.
You can see Bleznick now thinking deeply with a look on his face that screams “I don’t believe you.”
And so with that he bumps it up to 400K and Sternheimer makes a quick fold.
Hand #4 – Foxen vs. Astedt 2024 WSOP Main Event Day 6
In this hand, Kristen Foxen shows us how fearless she is while running deep in the WSOP Main Event, bluffing not one but two players off a better hand.
Niklas Astedt raises to 240K from early position with A♣ J♠ and Kristen Foxen opts to only call with K♥ K♦.
Tyler Montoya overcalls with A♠ J♥ in the big blind.
The flop is 6♥ A♥ 7♣ and Montoya checks.
Astedt leads out for 200K into the pot of 900K. Foxen and Montoya both call.
The turn is the 5♥ and all three players check.
The 6♦ river pairs the board and now the action heats up. Montoya checks and Astedt bets 200K again.
Foxen now seizes her chance as the commentators debate whether she would ever check back a flush three-way on the turn.
Clearly the Canadian isn’t worried and puts in a raise to 1.3M. Montoya gets out of the way quickly, but Astedt ponders for a while sensing something might be amiss.
But in the end, he doesn’t find the hero call and Foxen scoops a nice pot.
Hand #3 – Bryce Yockey vs. Farid Jattin $5,000 PLO
Here we witness Bryce Yockey pulling off a move where a third player is all in for very little, leaving a dry side pot where the odds are always unfavourable.
Colombia’s Farid Jattin opens for 560K with A♣ J♦ 9♦ 8♠, putting Jason Berilgen all-in with 6♣ 5♥ 4♣ 2♥.
Yockey comes along in the big blind with 8♣ 6♥ 6♦ 4♥.
The flop comes down as 10♠ 10♥ A♥ and Yockey checks.
Jattin bets 200K into 1.91M and Yockey calls.
The turn is the 3♦ and Jattin fires again for 335K. Yockey calls.
The A♠ river muddies the waters as any ten has now been counterfeited. Seizing his chance, Yockey now donks out for 900K, leaving Jattin wondering what on Earth is going on.
After a couple of minutes thinking it through Jattin pitches his hand into the muck to leave Yockey to collect the 3.88M pot.
Hand #2 – Neves vs. Johnson $1,500 Monster Stack
Pedro Neves raises it up to 6M four-handed, holding K♦ 4♥ and Aaron Johnson calls with A♠ 2♥ in the big blind.
The flop comes down 7♥ A♦ 6♦ and Johnson checks.
Neves has nothing but this is his board as the pre-flop raiser and so he leads out for 4M into the pot of 16.5M. Johnson calls.
The turn is the 7♠ and Johnson checks once again. Neves now fires the second barrel after asking his opponent how many chips he has. It’s an old trick to look confident but many still use it.
The 5♣ river changes nothing and Johnson still has the best hand with top pair, and he checks again.
In just a blink of an eye, Neves jams in a 45M bet to leave his opponent shrugging and throwing his hand to the dealer.
A great example of a three-barrel bluff with complete air.
Hand #1 – Galiana vs. Guilbert $2,500 NLH Freezeout
This final hand sent poker journalists all over the world scrambling for their notebooks after this hand was being tagged as the “Bluff of the Year.”
Johan “YoH ViraL”Guilbert found himself on the wrong end of a battle of wills against Antonio Galiana on a five-card monotone board during the heads-up battle in the $2,500 NLH Freezeout.
Guilbert limps his button with J♠ 2♦ and Galiana checks his option with 7♠ 5♥.
The flop is 10♣ 6♣ 3♣ and Galiana checks. Guilbert does think about firing but eventually checks behind.
The turn is the 8♣ and both players check again.
The 2♣ river leaves nobody having shown any aggression and 2.1M in the pot with both players sitting with stacks of 20-23M.
Taking a shot, Galiana fires out a 900K bet to claim the unwanted pot.
Guilbert now goes into the tank and decides he can take this pot away from his opponent, understanding that he doesn’t have it a lot of the time. The Frenchman raises the bet up to 1.95M to give his opponent a tough decision.
Deciding that Guilbert is playing hardball, Galiana three-bets the river to 6.3M.
At this point, the commentators think the hand is over. This is a line that has been played many times, but almost never do we see any further action. This hand, though, is a bit special, to say the least.
Guilbert knowing that he is now in a game of chicken, announces raise to 10M, thinking that he’s pulled off the impossible, but in a matter of only seconds, Galiana shouts “all-in”, leaving Guilbert nothing to do but clap on the table.
Truly one of the best hands you will ever watch at the World Series of Poker.
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