AP article about WSOP - "bluff" wins

[7ontheline]

This kinda pissed me off, for no real reason other than that I am a nit. The article posted on ESPN.com says that Gold "bluffed" his way to the title by inducing a call from a weaker hand. I always thought bluffing meant betting with the intention of getting your opponent to fold, not overbetting the pot and sending out reverse tells trying to get a call. Would it be that hard to get someone who knows even a little about the game to write about it? No one would have a reporter cover a football game without at least knowing the darn rules/terminology. (And yes, I understand poker != football in terms of cultural importance.)

[eclinchy]

I didn't think the article was that bad. I think "bluffing" can mean any deceptive play that's meant to draw a mistake from your opponent. Not the definition we're used to, but not terrible.

I have some experience in sportswriting, and I can definitively say that the writer asked a lot of good questions in his interviews. If you look at the quotes from the players, I think they're all interesting stuff.

Plus the writer had some grasp of tournament theory... he understood the chip leader's role as table captain, etc...

[banditbdl]

It looks to me like their flagrantly stretching the definition of "bluffed" to make a sexy headline and sexier story for all the poker rubes out there.

Gold value bets his way to 12 million just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[72off]

GOLD VALUES CALLS THE NUTS ON THE WAY TO THE WSOP ME!!!1!1!!!1111

[fnurt]

It's very good for poker that they wrote it up this way. I mean, tricking your opponent into calling by acting weak - whether that's how it actually happened with Gold or not - is the kind of gamesmanship you'd typically see in your Wednesday night home game. If people read this and react like "I could do that, I pull that stuff on Bob and Charlie all the time!" it just serves to restock the pool.