Miss Finland – Beautiful, Smart and Great Bluffer

You may have not seen Sara Chafak, Miss Finland 2012, at any major poker events, but in the recent episode of the PokerStars Shark Cage, the girl has shown that she’s got some serious skills. Or she may have just been lucky that one time, but one way or the other, it was hilarious to see her owning a seasoned pro that is Ronnie Bardah. Even Ronnie was amused and stunned when the hand was over.

In case you missed it, Shark Cage introduced an interesting concept where if you successfully bluff your opponent(s) on the river, you send them to the Cage for one orbit. If you fail, you are the player who has to spend time behind bars. This adds extra motivation for trying sometimes insane bluffs even if it is just for laughs (although there is $1 million on the line in the end).

The hand in question saw Bardah and Chafak go heads-up in the pot that Miss Finland was clearly very determined to win. Ronnie outflopped her by hitting bottom pair. He led into Sara to find out where he was and faced a strange play – the min-raise. What to do but call?

Yeah, I min-raise, what up?

The turn was the gin card for Bardah, turning his bottom pair into trip Fours. Check-raise time, right? Wrong. Miss Finland came right over the top of his raise with a big 3-bet. Ronnie was confused, to put it mildly.

Oh, really?

So they go to the river, and it is pretty much a brick. Sara moves all in. How do you like me now? Insane bluff, but Bardah is facing an amateur who’s bet or raised every street. He’s got a monster in a way, but what could she play this way? It’s nuts or nothing. He even turned his hand over to try and gauge some reaction.

So you've got a four? That don't impress me much.

Bardah spent his entire time bank (yeah, they have that as well), trying to figure this one out, but eventually came up with the conclusion that there is no way she could ever be bluffing in this spot; except for the fact that she was on a stone cold bluff.

Is this real life?

On your bike Ronny, the Cage is not that bad of a place – especially if you just got owned. That one’s going to hurt for a little while, but we are sure Ronnie can handle it.

As for Sara – whether it was a sick read or a moment of inspiration – mad respect, one of the funniest moments in poker in quite a while!