WSOP Main Event Hands Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

In this hand, calling for half of your chips is a statistically bad play because too many hands can beat you. It is possible your opponent already has a flush. If that flush contains either the Ad, Kd or Qd you would have only a 2.83% chance of winning the hand by hitting runner runner for a full house. It is possible that your opponent could have a flush with two cards under your Td but even then your odds of winning the hand are only 31.52%. If your opponent has an over pair with only one diamond, say Kd Kh, your odds of winning the hand are only 6.77%. If you opponent has an over pair with no diamond then your odds improve markedly but you are still an underdog with only a 42.12% chance to win the hand. He could also have trips with either pocket 5's or pocket 2's, in which case you would have only a 34.34% chance. The best you could hope for here is a possible coin flip if your opponent holds two pair with 5's and 2's. In this instance Alexander made the call and his opponent showed 8d 6d for the flush. Alexander got lucky with runner runner Jh Js for a full house. He only had a 31.52% chance to win on the flop and a 25% chance on the turn. Statistically he was gambling.
All hand information courtesy of
http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/tourney/updates.asp?tid=7283&grid=607
All percentages courtesy of
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-tools/odds-calculator/texas-holdem

Answer: No

In this hand, calling for half of your chips is a statistically bad play because too many hands can beat you. It is possible your opponent already has a flush. If that flush contains either the Ad, Kd or Qd you would have only a 9.09% chance of winning the hand by hitting a J or a T for a full house.

It is possible that your opponent could have a flush with two cards under your Td but even then your odds of winning the hand are only 25.00%. If your opponent has an over pair with only one diamond, say Kd Kh, your odds of winning the hand are only 4.55%. If your opponent has an over pair with no diamond then your odds are only 22.73% to win the hand.

He could also have trips with either pocket 5's or pocket 2's, in which case you would have only a 9.09% chance.

The best you could hope for here is that your opponent holds two pair with 5's and 2's, in which case you are a huge favorite to win the hand at 90.91% or that he is bluffing outright. In this instance Alexander made the call on the flop and his opponent showed 8d 6d for the flush. Alexander got lucky with runner runner Jh Js for a full house.

He only had a 31.52% chance to win on the flop and a 25% chance on the turn. Statistically he was gambling.

Answer: Yes

If your opponent has Aces your chances of winning the hand would be around 20% so a fold here would be the statistically correct play. Kings are the second best starting hand with only Aces dominating them. In this hand the small blind(SB) had Kh Kd, the under the gun player(UTG) had Kc Ks and the final player had Ad Ah.

As it stood the SB player was drawing completely dead to an outright win, he doesn't even have a flush draw because the Aces have his suits covered, and only had a 1.34% chance of tying with UTG for a split pot if straight cards came.

The SB's read of the situation was great and his fold even better.

Answer: Yes

Although there are a couple of hands that could be ahead of Landgraf here, statistically he needs to call. Pocket Kings would have him dominated with only a 4.65% chance to win the hand and Kx Qc would also have him dominated with only a 12.42% chance to win but he dominates everything else.

It is highly possible his opponent is on a flush draw or has one King with no Queen or possibly even a Queen with a worst kicker but he would dominate all of these situations. Against a flush draw he would be favored by 70% to 75%. Against One King he would be favored by 90% or more depending on the kicker. Against a Queen with a worst kicker that is not a King he would be favored by about 70% with a possibility of a tie at about 18%.

In the hand his opponent actually held Ah Jh.

The turn came as the Qc giving Landgraf four of a kind and a virtual lock on the hand as a 97.73% favorite to win. Only one card could save his opponent and that was the Th for a royal flush. The river brought the Th and was accompanied by an eruption from the table.

Answer: No

Even though the hand looks very tempting, the reality is that a call here is statistically a bad play. You do not yet have a made hand and your opponent most likely does. His made hand could have you drawing almost dead. If he holds Kx Qx you would only have a 4.75% chance to win the hand. If he holds a Queen without a King your odds only improve to about 35% and if he holds a Qx Tx your odds are only 30%. If he holds Kx Kx your odds are only 4.85% and if he holds the two remaining Q's your odds are only 4.44%. If he holds pocket Aces your odds improve but you still only have a 42.73% chance to win.

In the hand Yaroshetskiy's opponent held Ac Qd for three Queens on the flop and a dominating position. The turn was the Qc giving his opponent a virtual lock on the hand and leaving Yaroshetskiy only one out, the Th.

The Th came on the river for the miracle win for Yaroshetckiy.

Answer: Yes

At this point making this call is a statistically sound play because only three hands dominate Bowen - pocket Aces, pocket Nines or pocket Tens. Bowen dominates the vast majority of hands an opponent would push all-in with here including but not limited to Ax Tx, Ax 9x, Ax 2x, 10x 9x, Qx Jx, Qs Js, Jx 8x, Js 8s, 8x 7x, 8s 7s. With only one more card to come even if his opponent has a hand like Qs Js or 8s 7s with both a flush draw and an up and down straight draw he is still a 70% favorite to win the hand. If his opponent holds two pair of some sort he is a 90% favorite.

As it played out all of the money went in on the turn and Bowen got the bad news that his opponent was holding As Ad for top trips. Bowen hit the miracle 2h on the river however to win the hand with quad Deuces.

Answer: Yes

Garrity has middle pair, a flush draw and a backdoor straight draw at this point. He is most likely trailing but he has probably 14 outs twice (9 diamonds for the flush, any remaining 7 (3) for two pair, and any remaining 9 (2) for trips). Worst case scenario is that his opponent already has trips, either Aces, Tens or Nines in which case he would have a 30% chance to win the hand. If his opponent has two pair Tens and Nines his odds improve to about 35%. If his opponent has two pair with either Aces and Tens or Aces and Nines then he would improve to about 40%. If his opponent has only one Ace for top pair then the hand would be a coin-flip with the Aces slightly favored. If his opponent has pocket Kings, Queens or Jacks it would still be a coin-flip with the over pair slightly favored. If his opponent has an under pair he would be a 90% favorite.

At worst he is a 30% dog and most probably he is in a coin-flip situation. Considering it is only 25% of his stack and that he is getting better than 2 to 1 on a call, statistically this is a good place to gamble to try to knock a player out and gain much needed chips.

As it played out in the tournament his opponent held As Kd. The turn was 6s giving Garrity an inside straight draw to go with his other outs. The river was the 7s and Garrity improved to two pair to knock his opponent out.

Answer: Yes

Lisandro probably knew his Aces could be in bad shape here but the cost, only 17% of his stack even if the SB calls (21,100), made gambling here a statistically wise play. If he loses the hand he is down to about 104,000 chips, which is still better than twice the average chip stack, but if he wins he gains 29,475 chips and grows his stack to 154,475, almost four times the average chip stack. Basically he risks 17% to gain 23.6% so he has equity in the play. If the SB folds then Lisandro is only risking 6,875 to pick up 11,475 or close to 2 to 1 on his money.

As it played out the SB did call and turned over Qs Tc for two pair and the lead in the hand as a 59.8% favorite. The MP turned over Jc Jd for the worst of the three hands. The turn brought the Jh giving the MP trips but gave Lisandro more outs since he now had a flush draw and an inside straight draw.

The Kc came on the river giving Lisandro Broadway and knocking out the other two players.

Answer: No

At this point your opponent is either bluffing, has a made hand or has a better draw than you. The best you could hope for if he is not bluffing is that you are in a coin flip but the probability is that you are way behind. Although the hand looks appealing with its flush, straight, and straight flush draws it is most likely trailing. If your opponent has a T you would only have about a 34% chance to win. If he has a J your odds improve to 42% but you are still trailing. If he has pocket Jacks or pocket Tens or Jx Tx you only have a 4.44% chance and one out, the 9d. If your opponent has an over pair you only have about a 40% chance to win. If your opponent has a diamond higher than 8 with another diamond your odds are only around 30%.

As it played out Hal Lubarsky was all in with As Ts against the 8d 7d. Lubarsky's hand held up when the turn and river came 6c Kh and he doubled up.

Answer: No

Although Danzer has an almost unbeatable hand there is one hand that can beat him and unfortunately for him his opponent, Christian Jeppsson, held it, Kh Qh for a Royal Flush. Although it was a demoralizing way to lose a hand, it was early on Day One and Danzer still had 30,000 chips, his original starting stack.