Chan vs Seidel
World Series of Poker, Main Event, 1988 · The Final Hand
The hand from the movie Rounders
The Hand
Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel.
Before the Flop
- Blinds are posted. Chan has the button.
- Chan calls.
- Seidel checks.
The Flop
- Seidel checks.
- Chan bets 40K.
- Seidel raises to 90K.
Chan calls. Why
Chan. Seidel is short and clearly likes his hand. A re-raise announces the straight and lets a queen fold. A call looks like a draw or a weaker queen, so Seidel keeps betting.
The Turn
- Seidel checks.
Chan checks. Why
Chan. Chan wants Seidel to put the rest in. Checking again looks like giving up, which invites a river shove from any queen.
The River
- Seidel moves all in. The famous decision
- Chan calls.
Play Chan vs Seidel, decision by decision
Play This Hand
The river
The Famous Decision
Seidel. He read Chan’s passive play as weakness and shoved. A pro learns the other lesson: a player who calls your raise on a board full of straights, then checks behind, often has it.
Chan called with the nut straight. Seidel said later that any aggression from Chan was the sign that queen-seven was not good.
The Result
Chan wins at the showdown with Straight, Queen high.
- ChanJ♣9♣Wins
- SeidelQ♣7♥
Why It Is Famous
The final hand of the 1988 Main Event, and the opening scene of the film Rounders. ESPN asked, "Will Erik Seidel fall for the bait?" Seidel said that any aggression from Chan told him his queen with a seven was not good.
What to Take from It
A player who calls your raise on a board full of straights, then checks behind, often has it.
Sources
What the sources do not say. The blinds come from a single source, so they are not shown, and prices are given in words. The stacks, 1.375 million for Chan and 295,000 for Seidel, also come from that one source. They fit the 167 entrants at 10,000 each and the size of the river shove. One site reverses the positions. Most put Chan on the button and Seidel in the big blind.
Make all three decisions, then see what really happened
Play This HandTry Quads freeFree. No real money. 18+.
Quads is for adults, 18 and over. It teaches with play chips only: there is no real money, ever.