Sam Trickett Bluff Lead To $1m Win In Macau Big Game

Sam Trickett is considered one of the UK’s best poker players and has earned $1,640,466 since he cashed in his first live tournaments in 2007.
However, it is in high stakes cash games where the Titan sponsored pro has really earned a reputation as a fearsome competitor. Therefore, it is little wonder that he decided to head off to Macau late last year after he had heard there was a host of super rich Chinese businessmen welcoming foreigners to their high stakes poker game.
As it turned out it proved to be quite a lucrative move as he walked away with a $1 million profit by the time he left Macau.
While talking to Bluff Europe, Trickett explained it was the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event winner James Bord who had actually inspired him to head to Macau and even bought in for 30% of his action. 
Sam Trickett then explained that when he arrived, he started out at the lower stakes of US$40/$80 and turned a profit of arounf $257,115 before buying in to the US$600/1200 game. The 24 year-old then ended up making around $1 million in profit by the time he was finished, but at one stage came dangerously close to blowing James Bord and his own money and busting out of the big game.
The hand which was to be the turning point for Trickett was when he was dealt Qh-Jh on the button in a three-way pot involving Tom Dwan and one of the Chinese businessmen.
Trickett explains that he and the big blind called Dwan’s pre-flop raise, with the big blind then leading out for £16,000 (US$24,857) on a T-3-2 rainbow flop. Dwan made the call as did Trickett, who decided to represent a set after surmising the big blind probably only had top pair at best.
After the turn came a 7, the big blind lead out for what Trickett considered a small bet of US$38,567, which he then raised to $102,846. The big blind quickly called Trickett’s raise confirming his belief he only a weak holding and as he goes on to explain:
“The river was another seven and paired the board, so I jammed. If he calls, though…I’m out of money. I’m all in for 2,000,000 HKD (£160,000) and I might have to go home and ring James up and tell him he’s lost whatever amount of money. But I just had a specific read on the hand and how it would play out.”
The rest, as they say, is history as the big blind folded to Trickett’s bluff allowing him to go on to become a big winner in Macau. Interestingly, though, Dwan later clocked the well-timed bluff and, as Trickett explained:
“When I scooped the chips I actually felt my hands shaking as I stacked up the £200,000 profit. Tom just looked at me then texted me under the table saying, “Nice bluff”. He said at the time he was 100% I had it but saw the hands shake afterwards. He said he used to get that when he first ran his huge bluffs live.”