Phil Ivey's Epic Bluff in High Stakes Poker: The Greatest Ever?

Phil Ivey's bluff in the eighth episode of High Stakes Poker's sixth season has been hailed as one of the greatest in the show's history. The hand in question began with Barry Greenstein raising $5,500 with Qc Td. Ivey, who had just won a pot by bluffing two streets against Andrew Robl, decided to ignore the strength of his own cards and made a 3-bet of $18,000 with 5s 2d.

Lex Veldhuis, holding Kh Jh, made a 4-bet of $51,600. Given Veldhuis's aggressive reputation and frequent preflop re-raises, his opponents were onto his strategy. In the first six hands shown, Veldhuis re-raised preflop four times but only won once. Greenstein folded, and Ivey asked Veldhuis how much money he had left. Veldhuis responded with '140 something,' to which Ivey declared 'All-in.' Veldhuis sighed and folded his cards.

Another notable moment involved Dennis Phillips and Tom Dwan. Phillips, with a pair of valets, called Dwan's $8,300 raise with Ah Qc. On the flop of Qh Ts 5s, Phillips check-called Dwan's $15,600 bet. Both checked on the turn, and on the river 4s, Phillips saw an opportunity to bluff. He bet $33,000, and after some thought, Dwan folded.