A little quiz
Today I was reading Winning Low-Limit Holdem by Lee Jones and I’ve seen a little quiz there.
You may check your skills here. The answers will be given after the quiz.
1. Give three reasons why the flop is the most crucial point in a hold’em hand.
2. What is the most common mistake made by low-limit hold’em players on the flop?
3. What is the most important use of the check-raise in low-limit hold’em games?
4. How should you normally play A♠-Q♠ if the flop comes Q♦-J♥-2♣ and you were the only one who raised before the flop?
5. How should you normally play A♠-5♠ in late position if the flop comes A♥-8♦-4♣, there has been no raise before the flop, and you have six opponents?
6. How should you normally play Q♥-Q♣ in early position against five opponents if the flop comes A♣-T♦-4♦ and there was one raise pre-flop?
7. If you have T♦-9♦ and the flop comes T♣-9♠-4♣, what should you do, and why?
8. Suppose you have K♥-K♦, you have raised before the flop, and six players take the flop, which comes K♣-7♦-2♥. What should you normally do?
9. You have A♣-T♣ on the button. Six people take the flop, which comes J♣-9♦-4♣. There’s a bet and three calls in front of you. What should you normally do?
10. You have 9♥-8♥ in late position. There is no raise preflop, and five people take the flop, which comes T♦-6♣-3♣. It is checked until the player to your right bets. What should you normally do? Now assume the same situation, but there was one raise pre-flop. What should you normally do?
11. Suppose you have T♣-T♦ in middle position, there is a raise before the flop and five callers. The flop comes T♥-8♥-8♠. How should you normally play? What would be a reasonable alternative play?
12. Suppose you have 5♠-3♦ on the big blind and get to see the flop for “free.” The flop comes 4♣-7♣-6♥. You have four opponents. How should you normally play?
13. You have J♦-T ♦ on the button and are the fourth caller (no raise). The flop comes 7♣-6♥-2♥. There is a bet and one call in front of you. How should you normally play? Now suppose the flop comes 9♣-4♥-2♦. How does this change the situation?
14. You have 6♠-5♠ in middle position with four opponents, and no raise pre-flop. The flop comes T♣-6♥-3♣. There’s a bet and a caller in front of you. What is typically the best play in this situation?
15. You have A♦-A♠ in late position and raise before the flop, ending up with two opponents. The flop comes K♣-T♣-4♦. The first player to act bets, the second folds. You raise and the first player makes it three bets. What would be reasonable plays in this situation?
16. You have Q♣-J♠ on the big blind, and there are five callers including you. The flop comes 8♥-J♦-2♥. You check, as does everybody else until the last player to act, who bets. You check-raise, and the original bettor is the only one to call. Now the T♣ comes on the turn. What should you normally do?
17. You have A♥-9♥ on the button and are one of six callers. The flop comes A♣-3♦-8♣. You bet and get two callers. The turn is the 6♠ - they check, you bet, and they call. The river card is the J♣ and again they both check. What’s probably your best play here?
18. You have A♥-K♦, you raise under the gun, and get three callers. The flop comes 7♥-K♣-3♠. You check, planning to check-raise, but it’s checked around. The turn is the J♥, you bet and get one caller. The river is the 8♠. Should you bet or check, and why?
Answers:
1.a) The flop determines the likely winner of the hand.
b) It is when you must make a crucial play/no-play decision.
c) (In structured-limit play only) you can gain information using cheaper bets that will allow you to make the correct decisions on later, more expensive, cards.
2. Calling bets and raises with hands that have little or no chance of winning the pot.
3. To force players to call two bets instead of one, often making it incorrect for them to call at all.
4. Aggressively. Raise or check-raise. Assume you have the best hand until somebody represents something better.
5. You have to play very cautiously. Against this many players, there’s an excellent chance that somebody else has an ace with a better kicker. If there is a raise, you should get out. If there is a bet and a couple of calls, you should probably get out. If it’s checked to you, go ahead and bet, hoping to win the pot right there.
6. Unfortunately, you can be almost sure that you’re beaten. In spite of the large pot size, you should normally check, and fold if there’s a bet. As you get to later position, if it’s checked to you, it might be worth an exploratory bet. If you get called there, then you probably shouldn’t invest any more money in the pot.
7. You should play very fast. Do whatever is necessary to get lots of bets in on the flop. While you almost assuredly have the best hand, there could be some very big draws out against you, and you want them to pay heavily to draw.
8. You should bet or raise immediately on the flop. The flop is just about perfect for you - it’s virtually impossible you won’t have the best hand on the turn. However, there is so much money in the pot, there’s no reason to slow-play. Furthermore, after you raised pre-flop, your opponents will expect you to bet, so you haven’t given out any information.
9. Normally you should raise. You are about a 2:1 dog to make your flush, so you are actually raising for value here. Also, your raise may get you a free card on the turn, should you need one. Note also that an eight or queen on the turn gives you an open-end straight draw as well; you may be able to bet your draw for value on the turn.
10. In the First case, you can’t call with your gutshot straight draw - there are not enough bets in the pot, and you must worry about a raise behind you or a check-raise in front. If there was a raise before the flop, you can usually call because the pot has gotten so large.
11. You have flopped a monster hand, and the chance of your being beaten is tiny. However, the pot is huge (10 small bets on the flop), so there’s probably no point in slow-playing. On the other hand, slow-playing this hand is a reasonable approach - you’re not worried about getting beaten, and you’re willing to let some lesser hands catch up.
12. In spite of a relatively small pot, you must do everything you can to eliminate opponents immediately. You could be up against a club flush draw or a big straight draw (such as 9♥-8♥). It’s even possible you’re dead against 85, but that’s unlikely. You must bet and/or raise on the flop.
13. Even though you have two overcards, you should normally fold. You have no backdoor flush chances, and the 7-6 combination on the flop makes two pair more likely. In the second situation, you have backdoor straight and flush chances and there’s perhaps less chance that you’re already up against two pair. You can call a bet here.
14. You’ve missed the flop - your second pair with no kicker is useless. Fold immediately.
15. You could call and then call your opponent’s bets on the turn and river (assuming he bets). It’s possible he has already made two pair or a set, but with this flop you can’t fold yet. On the other hand, if you suspect your opponent is raising with a king or a draw, you could raise once more and try to regain control of the hand, forcing him to check on the turn. An alternative is to call and then raise on the turn.
16. You should probably bet out. You may run into two pair or even a straight, but you have to take that chance on the turn. You don’t dare give a heart flush draw a free card, or a jack with a smaller kicker a free card with which to beat you. On the river, you should usually check, since now there are no “free” cards to give, and you’re not sure if you want to be called or not.
17. You should typically check. As in the above situation, the board is fairly scary, and you just have one pair with a mediocre kicker. If you bet and get called, you can’t be very happy. If an opponent bets into you on the end, you should call. If the river card were the J♦ instead of the flush-completing club, you should bet.
18. Go ahead and bet here. There are many worse hands that will call you. The flop that got checked around may confuse some people; you will probably get called by a worse king and maybe even a jack.
How many right answers do you have?