All Things Poker Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fido

Fido is K-9 (as in "canine"). It is sometimes referred to as The Donk because a donkey (or "donk") is a new player who doesn't know what he's doing. K-9 may look like a good hand at first, but is not a statistical favorite to many of the hands that poker players would play. Thus, playing K-9 religiously will lose you a lot of money and is considered a donk move, giving it the nickname.

The reason K-9 is usually no good is that it rarely makes winning hands. Let's say you pair your king on the flop. Even assuming there's no ace on the board, anyone else with a king in their hand is likely to beat you, as you have a weak kicker and they probably would not have played the hand with a kicker less than 10. One reason that bad players will play K-9 a lot is that they see a straight opportunity (K-Q-J-10-9). The chances of achieving a straight by the river (assuming you stay in that long) starting with K-9, though, are bad, namely 2.68%, or approximately 1 in every 37 hands.

Bullets are pocket aces, marriage is K-Q, and snowmen are pocket eights.

Answer: 10-9 suited

Assuming a pocket pair isn't an option, the best hand to beat pocket 2s is mid-level suited connectors. If you pair either card, you win; if you make a flush, you win; if you make a straight you win. Here, all four of the hands listed have equal chances of making a flush or a pair, but 10-9 has the greatest chance of making a straight.

With 10-9 (approximated over one million simulations):

Chance of making a straight by the river: ~9%
Chance of making a flush by the river: ~6%
Chance of pairing either card by the river: ~48%
Chance of the opponent not making a set: ~81%

Chance of pairing a card and opponent not making a set: 0.48*0.81 = ~39%

Chance of making a straight, flush, or pair (and the opponent missing a set) by the river 1-(1-0.09)(1-0.06)(1-0.39) = ~48%.

Pocket deuces are about a 52-48 favorite against a 10-9 suited.

Note that these calculations are approximate and do not take into account any of the lower-probability outcomes, such as straight-flushes, full houses, the 2-2 hitting a straight or a flush, etc.

Answer: Raise

A good thing to do at this point is to look at his range. What is it that he could have? He could have (in order of likeliness):

1.) NOTHING (High cards, etc.)
2.) A Pair (Jacks, Eights, or Threes)
3.) A Straight draw (10-9, Q-10; he wouldn't call a pre-flop raise with 10-7 or 9-7)
4.) A Pocket pair
5.) A Set
6.) Two Pair

Two-pair isn't likely as it would have required him to call a raise pre-flop with J-8, J-3, or 8-3, which isn't likely, even given that he's loose.

Note that until you get pretty far down the list, you have his hand dominated. Raising in this situation will discourage him from playing a straight draw, as the pot odds are not in his favor. (He'll be winning double what he bets 1 in 3 times, making for an overall loss.) If he's waiting on the straight draw, he'll probably fold (even as a loose player), and even if he calls, you're the favorite for this hand. If he is short-stacked, you could consider putting him all-in.

Answer: 12

Your outs are as follows:

Any of the eight remaining spades would give you the flush.
Either of the two remaining queens would give you three of a kind.
Either of the two remaining kings would give you the straight.
Double-counting is not a problem as all of those are mutually exclusive.

The ace wouldn't help you, because as you were getting two-pair, he'd be getting a straight.

This makes 12 outs. You odds to win this hand are 12/44 = ~27%.
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Doyle Brunson, one of the world's best poker players, hates A-Q and states that he almost never plays it.

A-Q is sometimes called "Little Slick" or "Big Chick".

Answer: Calculationally speaking, it is the average hand.

If you ordered all of the Hold'Em starting hands from worst to first, this one would be in the middle. I guess the idea is that you would use a computer to calculate all the winning probabilities. All three of the other choices are completely fabricated.

Answer: Phil Hellmuth

Phil is infamous for getting angry at opponents for making what he considers bad calls, or really for doing anything he doesn't approve of. He sometimes calls opponents names. In the 2008 WSOP, he called Cristian Dragomir an idiot five times on national television and was penalized for it. His actions are really deplorable and childish, and the rest of the poker community knows it.

Answer: Fold

Again, let's look at the range of hands your opponent could be playing.

In order of likelihood:

1.) A pair (Kings, Queens, or Jacks)
2.) A straight draw
3.) A flush draw
4.) A straight
5.) A pocket pair
6.) NOTHING
7.) Two Pair
8.) A set

The fact that this conservative player raised under the gun means that he probably has a good hand, which almost certainly means at least one face card. This makes a pair for him extremely likely. Even if he doesn't have a pair, he is likely to have an ace, which gives him the straight draw (and eliminates yours, as a 10 would give him a better straight). A flush draw is always possible, seeing as there are already two diamonds on the board. The moral of the story is that you should fold, because given how this person has been playing this hand, the fact that they play tight, and the list of things he could have, you're probably drawing to a nine, if that.

Answer: 17

Any of the 9 remaining diamonds will give him the flush.
Any of the 4 Jacks will give him the straight.
Any of the 3 remaining Aces will give him a better two pair.
Any of the 2 remaining Tens will give him three of a kind.

Adding these up gives 18 outs, but one of the Jacks is a diamond, so to avoid double-counting, subtract 1 from the total to get 17 outs.

Your odds of winning are 1-17/44 = 61.4%, so still pretty good.

Answer: Retirement

Retirement is the name generally given to 6-5 (65 is the age for retirement.)

It's called the Beer Hand because you'd need to be drunk to play it.
It's called The Hammer because you 'drop the hammer' if you win with it.
It's called The WHIP because it's The (W)orst (H)and (I)n (P)oker.

You should fold this hand.

The worst starting hands are 7-2 offsuit followed by 8-2 offsuit and then 8-3 offsuit.
The best three starting hands are pocket aces, kings, and queens, respectively.

Answer: 16%

For the most part, the only way he's going to win is to make a set (three-of-a-kind) without having you also make a set. There are other factors that would come into play, such as the slim chance of making a flush or a straight, but for the purposes of this question, those can be ignored because their probability is so small (and you have an equal chance).

The probability of making a set by the river is 1-(46/48*45/47*44/46*43/45*42/44) or about 20%. Thus the probability of him making a set by the river and you not is 0.2*(1-0.2) or about 16%. Looks like you're going to win the prize!

Thanks for playing. I hope you did well. Please rate and feel free to send any compliments or corrections.