Vilkki and Sarwer Playing Above The Rim
Juha Vilkki and Jeff Sarwer were spotted engaging in mental warfare during a recent hand. The flop fell and Sarwer, a world renowned chess prodigy earlier in life, fired 27,000 into the middle.
Vilkki, who himself is a highly-skilled online player from Finland, made the call and after Sarwer checked the on the turn, he bet 67,000. Sarwer called and the river fell . This time the Finn fired 75,000 at the chess master and Sarwer went deep into the tank. He began asking Vilkki questions in an attempt to discern some sort of read, eventually asking "will you show if I fold?"
Vilkki just smiled and nodded his head in the affirmative. Evtually Sarwer made the tough laydown and said he folded pocket aces. Vilkki proved to be a man of his word and showed Sarwer his for two pair on the turn. After previously discussing various nuances of PLO play, these two players appear to have developed a respectful rapport, and this hand proved just how complex a game poker can be when it is played by two extremely intelligent individuals.