When Bones turned over his cards in the showdown, he had precisely ace, jack. Brunson won the hand with two queens and went on to win the world championship of poker that year. When Bones turned over his cards in the showdown, he had precisely ace, jack. Brunson won the hand with two queens and went on to win the world championship of poker that year.

 

Many people thought Brunson played incorrectly in calling with two queens. Berland was not about to bluff in this situation. These critics felt there was a great chance that Berland had two aces or two kings, and there were other hands he could have had that Doyle’s two queens couldn’t beat. Given the way he played it, the only hand Bones might possibly have that Brunson could beat was an ace, jack — the top pair on board with an ace kicker.

 

On the other hand, if you are playing against dunces or just mediocre players, you don’t gain enough in deception to justify the cost. Against such players you should put in an extra raise when you think you have the best hand, but throwing in an extra bet with a weaker hand, against someone who won’t fold anyway, simply costs you extra money. In using deception, then, you must weigh the ability of your opponents against the extra cost.