Here are the answers and explanations from our live poker quiz.

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Question #1

Live $1/$2. 8-Handed. Effective Stacks $200.

Hero is in the BB with T♥ 7♥
UTG+1 raises to $10. Lojack calls. Button calls. SB calls. Hero...

Fold -✅

Call - 🔲

3-bet - 🔲

Even though we are getting much better odds to call than all of the other players, there are three reasons why we cannot call with this hand:

• The raise size is very large
• We are up against three other ranges
• We are playing out of position against the two strongest ranges

As far as 3-betting goes, our hand doesn’t have the right properties to do so as it doesn’t do a good job blocking the continuing ranges of the other players involved. For that we want to have hands like strong Ax suited (ATs through AQs) and other strong suited broadways such as KJs, KQs, QJs and JTs.

If the raise size was smaller and/or if the other players in the hand are particularly weak, calling would be a reasonable play.

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Question #2

Live $1/$2. 8-Handed. Effective Stacks $200.

Hero is UTG+1 with A♥ Q♠
Hero raises to $8. Lojack 3-bets to $36. Hero…?

Fold -✅

Call - 🔲

4-bet - 🔲

Our hand is very strong in a vacuum, but it drops significantly in value as the 3-bettor’s range should be very strong given the positions and because we are not getting good pot odds.

Although this hand is generally a good candidate for 4-bet bluffing (as it’s blocking a lot of villain’s continuing range), in this case, given the positions involved and the general passiveness of live players, this hand is much better suited to be thrown in the muck. We should look to call such a 3-bet with strong pocket pairs (99-QQ) and AQs.

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Question #3

Live $1/$2. 8-Handed. Effective Stacks $450.

Hero is in the Cutoff with two cards
Hero raises to $6. Button 3-bets to $21. 

What 4-bet size should Hero use in this spot?

$42 - 🔲

$50 - 🔲

$63 -✅

Given that the effective stack size is 225 big blinds, we should opt for a significantly larger 4-bet size than when playing with 100 big blind stacks.

The reason behind this is that we will be playing out-of-position, which means it will be harder to realize our equity postflop, which means we are more incentivized to capture the pot preflop and reduce the stack-to-pot ratio should the button call. This fact is exacerbated as stack sizes get deeper.

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Question #4

Live $1/$2. 8-Handed. Effective Stacks $200.

Hero is in the Lojack with Q♣ T♣
Hero raises to $6. Button calls. SB calls. BB calls.

Flop ($24): Q♠ 8♦ 4♠
SB checks. BB checks. Hero…?

Check -✅

C-bet - 🔲

In a heads-up pot, this hand is strong enough to c-bet with for value, especially for a small size. In this scenario, though, given that we are playing against three other players who will share the burden of defense, they will not be forced to call with nearly as many weak hands to render this hand an efficient value-bet.

There is an argument to be made about betting to deny equity, but it’s a not a compelling one. This top pair specifically doesn’t suffer as much as lower top pairs (e.g. Q8 on 8-5-2) from getting checked through for a few reasons:

• There are only two possible overcards.
• It doesn’t extract as much value given it’s weak kicker.
• Most gutshots won't fold to a bet, so when QT it does hit the 2-pair on a T turn, Hero will be up against a straight more often after betting on the flop.
• When it gets checked through and the turn is a T, it will get action from Jx and 9x draws.

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Question #5

Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.

Hero is on the Button with K♣ Q♦
Hero raises to $15. SB 3-bets to $55. Hero calls.

Flop ($112): T♣ 6♦ 3♣
SB bets $55. Hero…?

Fold - 🔲

Call -✅

Raise - 🔲

We have an easy call on the flop holding two overcards and multiple backdoor draws.

Raising on the flop as a bluff is somewhat reasonable given our hand’s great blockers to overpairs and because of all the outs and backdoor outs this hand has. 

However, according to solvers, raising is an extremely low-frequency play. This is most-likely due to the low stack-to-pot ratio, which enables the in position player to easily get all his stack in by just calling the flop.

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Question #6

Live $1/$2. 8-Handed. Effective Stacks $200.

Hero is in the BB with 5♦ 5♣
UTG+1 raises to $8. Lojack calls. Button calls. SB calls. Hero...?

Fold - 🔲

Call -✅

3-bet - 🔲

Pocket pairs perform excellently in multiway pots because they are very easy to play correctly postflop. When you hit the set, you will generally lean towards raising depending on the exact board texture. When you miss, you will almost always have to fold your hand.

Additionally, these types of holdings have very good implied odds since sets are very strong, disguised hands.

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Question #7

Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.

Hero is on the Button with A♠ J♥
Hero raises to $15. BB calls.

Flop ($32): T♣ 6♦ 3♣
BB checks. Hero bets $10. BB calls.

Turn ($52): J♥
BB checks. Hero bets $40. BB calls.

River ($132): 2♠
BB checks. Hero…?

Checks - 🔲

Bet -✅

Hero’s hand is far stronger than the BB’s defending range, given that the river doesn’t improve almost any hand in said range.

Going a bit deeper and exploring exploitative reasoning, the BB is likely to observe the huge amount of possible semi-bluffs from the turn that have missed on this river and opt for to call light on the river as a result. Combining both these reasons, checking here would be a very big mistake in terms of EV.

As far as sizing goes, a large bet ($100+, maybe even an overbet) is most appropriate. Overbetting on the turn would also be reasonable.

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Question #8

Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.

Hero is in the Cutoff with Q♣ T♠
Hero raises to $15. Button calls. SB calls. BB calls.

Flop ($60): K♣ 6♦ 3♣
SB checks. BB checks. Hero checks. Button checks.

Turn ($60): T♥
SB checks. BB bets $40. Hero…?

Fold - 🔲

Call -✅

Raise - 🔲

Given the action, and the fact that there is only one other player behind, it’s safe to assume this hand is strong enough to bluff-catch with on the current street. There are many natural bluffs that the big blind can have in this spot. Raising with this hand would make no sense as all worse hands will fold and all better will call.

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Question #9

Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.

Hero is in the Cutoff with Q♣ T♠
Hero raises to $15. Button calls. SB calls. BB calls.

Flop ($60): K♣ 6♦ 3♣
SB checks. BB checks. Hero checks. Button checks.

Turn ($60): T♥
SB checks. BB bets $40. Hero calls. Button folds. SB folds.

River ($140): 9♠
BB bets $110. Hero…?

Fold -✅

Call - 🔲

Raise - 🔲

Given that the river completes a large number of semi-bluffs to either a straight or a pair, plus the fact that most live players are generally going to play on the passive side, this hand is a fold.

Raising as a bluff is not out of the question since it does have blockers to the straight and to the KT two-pair, but there is a very limited amount of value hands that you would have in this situation, which means you should only bluff with a small number of combinations as well.

QT without a club is a more effective raise since it doesn't block the missed flush draw, so we should fold this combo and raise when we do not have a club.

If the river was the 9♣, completing the flush draw, raising with this exact hand would be a great play.

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Question #10

Live $2/$5. 6-Handed. Effective Stacks $500.

Hero is in the Cutoff with K♠ Q♠
UTG limps. Hero raises to $18. UTG re-raises to $72. Hero…?

Fold -✅

Call - 🔲

Raise - 🔲

In this spot, we should always opt to fold. The UTG player usually holds a super premium hand, such as AK or QQ+, with some random hands every once in a while. Against this range, our equity is far too low to continue and the implied odds are very bad because our hand is often dominated. 

4-bet bluffing is out of the question, despite holding very good blockers. We simply will not generate enough fold equity to make a 4-bet bluff +EV.

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