The bluffer in question was the late great Jack Straus who had won the Poker World Series in 1982.

The game was No Limit Hold Em and Strauss started with a 7–2 off suit, the worst starting hand in poker. Strauss should have just folded straight away but he actually raised, as a result all but one of his opponents put their cards down, with the remaining player calling. The flop produced 7-3-3.

Straus was now holding 2 pair, however he had the worst possible kicker. The obvious question and the one which Straus would have been thinking is what possible hand could his opponent have to have called that initial raise and how likely is it that it would contain either a 7 or a 3??

Straus bets again but immediately knows he has made a terrible error as his opponent raises him $5,000. The obvious conclusion is that his opponent has a big pair, and the percentage play is to cut his losses and fold. But Straus calls sowing a tiny seed of doubt. The turn card is dealt and it’s a 2, this pairs Straus’s other card but does not improve his hand in the slightest. He knows his hand is a losing one.

Straus now throws in a massive bet of $18,000, that seed of doubt is now germinating!! Silence. This is when the magic of this hand which has gone down in history really begins to manifest itself. As his opponent contemplates his next move Straus strikes. "I’ll tell you what" he says leaning forward nice and friendly "Just give me one of those $25 chips of yours, and you can see one of my cards, whichever you choose".

His opponent thinks for a while, and finally decides what has he got to lose. He throws over the $25 chip and points to one of the two cards in front of Straus. Straus flips over the two!! Those seeds of doubt have now become fully grown. The obvious conclusion is that Jack Straus has a pair of 2’s and therefore a Full House.

His opponent folds a winning hand and Straus takes the pot.