It’s pretty rare to see something happen right in front of you and know, right then and there, that you’ve witnessed a piece of poker history. But that’s exactly what happened on Friday night at the World Series of Poker when Spain’s Antonio Galiana and well-known poker personality Johan ‘YoH ViraL’ Guilbert engaged in one of the wildest games of chicken while heads-up for the bracelet in Event #34 ($2,500 No Limit Freezeout).
Already being called “one of the best bluffs in WSOP history”, the five-bet jam with air on a single-suited board by Galiana has already got to be the Hand of the Year front-runner at the next GPI Awards.
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The hand looked innocent enough to start after Guilbert started off with a limp on the button holding the and Galiana checked his option with his .
The flop missed both players and it checked through to the turn. With four clubs on board, the action checked through again. The fireworks got started after the dealer ripped off the on the river. Both players share the flush on board, but neither were content with chopping.
Galiana kicked things off with a 900K lead, pushing the pot to 2 million.
“As played, it seems like we would have heard from a club by now,” Brent Hanks offered on commentary. “I think that ‘YoH ViraL’ is sensing and understanding that Galiana just doesn’t have any clubs…”
Almost as if on cue, Guilbert made his move and put in a raise to 1.95 million.
“This is very bizarre,” Hanks said, as Galiana sat in the tank. “It’s a game of chicken between both players. Who will jump out of the way first?”
It wasn’t going to be Galiana who put in a chunky three-bet to 6.3 million.
“I mean, really…is Johan going to see through this,” Hanks said. “I can’t fathom him pulling the trigger and clicking it back. This would be one of the sickest plays we have ever seen.”
Minutes later, Guilbert followed through with a four-bet of 10M. Galiana didn’t wait to hear what amount the raise was for before announcing he was all-in. Guilbert hadn’t even put the chips from the raise into the pot before realizing that Galiana was all-in and finally, ‘YoH ViraL’ was forced to concede as he folded his hand.
“That’s one of the best bluffs in World Series of Poker history!” Jeff Platt exclaimed as Galiana stood up and tabled the bluff that will have the poker world talking for some time to come.
Guilbert eventually managed to claw his way back into the heads-up match, doubling up multiple times, but ultimately after a lengthy battle Galiana would win the bracelet and the $439,395 first-place prize. This was Guilbert’s third career runner-up finish in a WSOP bracelet event.