Poker Guy: Jean-Robert Bellande reels in a fish
THE CHIPS you win off the tough players are worth the same as those you win off the fish, so target the live ones because it's easier.
THE CHIPS you win off the tough players are worth the same as those you win off the fish, so target the live ones because it's easier.
What's more, you're likely to get more of their chips, as wild pro Jean-Robert Bellande demonstrated in this hand from the World Poker Tour's $10,000-buy-in Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2010. With blinds at $150-$300 plus a $25 ante, Bellande limped under the gun with J-8 of spades. A player in middle position also limped. The player in the cutoff seat raised to $750.
The button and both blinds called. Bellande also called the extra $450 because he was getting attractive odds in a pot bloated to more than $3,800 and because his targets in the cutoff and small blind were involved.
"I want to play as many hands against the live ones as possible," said Bellande, the poker ambassador at the new Aria poker room. "The cutoff made the raise, and I know if I flop something, I'm liable to get him to pay me off. I want to mix it up with them with any kind of pair, any kind of suited connector. I want to flop something and double up against them."
The other limper also called, so six players took a flop of 8-8-6, two clubs, giving Bellande trips. Both blinds checked. Bellande bet $3,000.
"It's hard for them to give me credit for having three 8s," said Bellande, who spent a season on "Survivor." "I've got some creative minds behind. Anybody might raise me to try to represent the card that I'm holding. I'm expecting them to float me or raise or make a move."
The next player folded. The cutoff raised to $10,000. Everybody else folded to Bellande, who shoved in his remaining $21,000. Having Bellande covered easily, the cutoff called and turned over pocket 9s. He showed his disgust when he saw Bellande's trip 8s.
"I was never going to have less than two 9s there," Bellande said. "I can understand his disappointment, but to get all my money in that spot, there was no way his hand was ever going to be good on that board."
The turn came the 7 of hearts, giving the cutoff more outs to an open-ended straight draw. But the river came the 3 of spades, and Bellande doubled up through a player he targeted.
"Sometimes when you have this image of strong and aggressive, a lot of times people think it's bluffy," Bellande said. "My bet on the flop was a pretty strong bet, but it still looked bluffy. If I was one of them looking at what I did, I'd think the same thing - that I'm trying to scare them off the hand.
"I was really fortunate the guy raised with two 9s and he was willing to call off another $11,000 after he put $10,000 in for the raise. I got my money in a really, really good spot."
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Steve Rosenbloom is a sports columnist for the Chicago Tribune and the author of the book "The Best Hand I Ever Played." He can be reached at