Flashback Friday: Brad Booth Pulls Memorable Bluff on Phil Ivey on ‘High Stakes Poker’

3 min read

Two months after he went missing, poker pro Brad Both was finally located safe and sound. Coincidentally, a day later, Nick Schulman announced the return of “High Stakes Poker,” the show where Booth pulled off a memorable bluff against the great Phil Ivey.

Brad Booth poker Phil Ivey
Can Phil Ivey call this massive bet from Brad Booth? (Image: YouTube)

Poker Central announced the reboot of the popular cash game show late in 2019, but COVID-19 put a damper on the poker network’s plans to launch it earlier this year. Schulman, who commentates on many high-roller events, gave a brief update to poker fans on Twitter.

“It is with great pleasure to confirm the return of the esteemed, the legendary, the only, the original, the iconic, really needing no introduction the world over, back for another run. 2020, details soon,” Schulman wrote.

That’s good news for fans who watched the show on the Game Show Network from 2006 to 2011. Two of the players who competed on the old “High Stakes Poker” were Booth and Ivey who were involved in one of the show’s most memorable hands during its first season.

Can Booth Really Get Pocket Kings to Fold?

Booth was a bit of a loose cannon at the poker table back in the day. He was never afraid to pull off a bluff for his entire stack, no matter the stakes. But could he get the stingy Ivey, arguably the best player in the world at the time, to let go of a monster hand?

The hand begins with David Williams, the 2004 WSOP Main Event runner-up, raising it to $1,900 with an off-suit J-9. Booth, who regularly competed in the highest-stakes games in Las Vegas, then went for an ambitious three-bet to $5,800 with a suited 4-2. Unfortunately for both players, Ivey woke up with pocket kings in the big blind and bumped it up to $14,000.

Williams folded his hand, but Booth came along for the ride. The flop ran out 3-7-6, not the worst flop for Booth, who picked up a gut-shot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. Ivey made a sizable continuation bet of $23,000 in cold hard cash.

Getting less than 2.5-1 on his money to chase his inside straight draw, Booth knew he wasn’t getting the right price to continue …. unless he could raise and somehow convince Ivey to fold his hand. That’s exactly what he went for, putting Ivey to the test with an all-in over-raise to around $250,000 more to call.

Ivey didn’t snap-call despite having an over-pair to the board. He took a couple of minutes to weigh his options before deciding to fold. Booth pulled off a bluff that had the poker world buzzing back in 2006.



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