Post by jdaddy on Nov 28, 2007 11:11:29 GMT -4
# Source: The Offical World Poker Tour Magazine
Qualification: Academy-Level Examining
Authority: WPTMB Paper Category:
Multiple Choice Time Allocation: 30 Minutes
#12…POKER A-LEVEL EXAM 2007
The location is the Bellagio casino. You are playing above yourself at the $50 / $100 No Limit cash game with $17,000 on the table, having started with $10,000, so you are doing well. Your Vegas nerves are starting to subside until you look up to see a big guy with a white Stetson and glasses standing at the side of your table, politely asking: “Do you mind if I sit in folks?” To which the guy next to you calmly says: “Hell, no! Always glad to have you on our table, Doyle.”
Doyle? You have seen his picture thousands of times, but only in magazines and on TV. Now the legend himself, Doyle Brunson, is at your table. You can feel your heart rate quicken, and you haven’t even seen the next hand yet.
The great man does not usually play in games as small as this, but the other tables are either full or empty. He calmly places $50,000 on the table in an intimidating mixture of chips and cash – a stack that easily dwarfs the next highest, not to mention your $17,000.
The game was eight-handed, but two players quickly leave the table – probably out of fear. But you want to test yourself against one of the very best, so you stay for a while. Brunson is one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet, but an absolute tiger on the table – raising eight pots on the trot pre-flop, and winning every last one of them unopposed.
QUESTION 1
Doyle Brunson is sitting off to your right and in the cut-off seat as you get dealt A♥ J♣ in the Big Blind. It is folded around to Brunson, and he raises once again – to $300. The Button folds, as does the Small Blind, so now it is up to you. What is your play? Oh, and by the way, Brunson is fixing his cold stare straight at you!
■ a Fold
■ b Call
■ c Raise
Don’t tell me that you folded an A-J in a six-handed game against a guy who has raised nine hands on the trot before the flop! That is taking respect to the extreme, don’t you think? I thought that you said that you wanted to test yourself against the best. What are you waiting for before you do that – Aces?
I have allocated a couple of points for folding if the reason that you folded was to avoid going heads-up and conceding position to one of the greatest players ever. But really, if you folded A-J under these circumstances, you don’t belong in the game. Brunson will be attacking your blind every chance he gets, so what hand are you waiting for before you confront him?
So, the real choice is between calling and re-raising. There is nothing wrong with re-raising – in fact, it has a lot of merit – but I prefer controlling the size of the pot with a call.
If you re-raise, then what will you do if Brunson re-raises you back? He is capable of anything, and you must respect not just his superior skill but also his superior position. Position is crucial in No Limit Hold ’Em, and Brunson once famously said that he could beat any No Limit game in the world if he could have position all night long. So whatever small advantage you have before the flop with having A-J, and it being the best hand, is wiped out and then some by being up against Brunson and conceding position.
QUESTION 2
You decide to just call, making the pot $650 before the flop. The flop comes A♦ J♠ 3♣, giving you the top two pair. What is your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
Do you seriously think that you can get cute against this man with a hand like this? If you check-call the flop, then alarm bells will start ringing with Brunson. The best play, and often the far more deceptive one, is to bet straight out with a strong hand. Betting tends to get seen as weakness rather than strength by many players, because people tend to bet hands that they are not overly confident about.
QUESTION 3
So you bet $500 into the $650 pot, and Brunson starts to stare at you again. Suddenly the likable guy of a few minutes earlier has disappeared, and you get the impression that this man wants to eat you alive at the table. After a few seconds of looking at you, Brunson calls your bet and puts five $100 bills in the middle, making the pot $1,650. The turn card is the 2♦, making the board A♦ J♠ 3♣ 2♦, what is your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
Often a player like Brunson will call your flop bet with nothing, just to watch what you do on the turn and see if he can smell any weakness. You could go along with that line of thought and check the turn in the hope of planting this idea in Brunson’s mind.
But I prefer betting again, as I don’t much fancy giving Brunson a free card – plus, betting again could still be interpreted as a sign of weakness. I advocate betting between half and two-thirds of the pot, as I’d want to get maximum value on this hand.
QUESTION 4
So you bet $1,100 into the $1,650 pot, and Brunson thinks for a few seconds and calls again. The pot now stands at $3,850, and the river card is the 7♦ to make a board of A♦ J♠ 3♣ 2♦ 7♦. What’s your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
It is likely that you are in front and Brunson has merely been responding to your action so far. You want to get some value on what is probably the best hand – and if Brunson is holding a marginal second-best hand, then you could get paid off some more on the river. Checking seems too wimpy with a hand as strong as this one on this type of board.
QUESTION 5
You bet $2,000 and Brunson immediately moves all-in for his entire stack, which easily covers what you have left. What are you going to do now, tiger?
■ a Fold
■ b Call
You have to ask yourself: could Brunson be bluffing? And the answer is: not likely. He would not have waited until the pot escalated like this before launching a bluff to move you off the hand. Do not be swayed by the fact that there are no possible draws out there. He could have a flopped set, or even a straight, because Brunson plays a wide range of hands.
It is possible that he could be trying to move you off the hand – but why would he wait until the river when you could have possibly improved your hand by then? And he could be re-raising a powerhouse.
He does not know much about you as yet, but he suspects that you will not get involved with him without a hand, because of his reputation – like so many others do. For the sake of your bankroll, I thoroughly recommend that you fold this hand.
Notice to examination candidates: You just can’t help yourself, can you? A combination of curiosity and the strength of your own hand lure you into making an eventual call – all because you want to be able to tell people how you won a big pot against a legend.
With your heart racing and your head in a spin, you push your chips in the middle and show you’re A-J for top two pair. The other regulars know the score, and Brunson flips up the 5♠ 4♠ for a straight. You feel the sickening sledgehammer blow of losing a huge pot and try to leave the table with grace.
Hopefully, you have learned a very valuable poker lesson today – that top players don’t get involved in big pots without big hands. Don’t miss your flight home!
HERE ARE THE SCORES. HOW WELL DID YOU DO?
Q1: a 2; b 10; c 6
Q2: a 5; b 10
Q3: a 5; b 10
Q4: a 3; b 10
Q5: a 10; b 2
SCORE RATING
50 Very well done indeed. You lost the pot, but that should not concern you.
40+ Still good – but not really good enough to compete in this company.
30+ You should have left the table when Brunson arrived.
20+ Why in heaven’s name are you sitting down at a poker table with ten grand?
Under 20 I am lost for words…
Qualification: Academy-Level Examining
Authority: WPTMB Paper Category:
Multiple Choice Time Allocation: 30 Minutes
#12…POKER A-LEVEL EXAM 2007
The location is the Bellagio casino. You are playing above yourself at the $50 / $100 No Limit cash game with $17,000 on the table, having started with $10,000, so you are doing well. Your Vegas nerves are starting to subside until you look up to see a big guy with a white Stetson and glasses standing at the side of your table, politely asking: “Do you mind if I sit in folks?” To which the guy next to you calmly says: “Hell, no! Always glad to have you on our table, Doyle.”
Doyle? You have seen his picture thousands of times, but only in magazines and on TV. Now the legend himself, Doyle Brunson, is at your table. You can feel your heart rate quicken, and you haven’t even seen the next hand yet.
The great man does not usually play in games as small as this, but the other tables are either full or empty. He calmly places $50,000 on the table in an intimidating mixture of chips and cash – a stack that easily dwarfs the next highest, not to mention your $17,000.
The game was eight-handed, but two players quickly leave the table – probably out of fear. But you want to test yourself against one of the very best, so you stay for a while. Brunson is one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet, but an absolute tiger on the table – raising eight pots on the trot pre-flop, and winning every last one of them unopposed.
QUESTION 1
Doyle Brunson is sitting off to your right and in the cut-off seat as you get dealt A♥ J♣ in the Big Blind. It is folded around to Brunson, and he raises once again – to $300. The Button folds, as does the Small Blind, so now it is up to you. What is your play? Oh, and by the way, Brunson is fixing his cold stare straight at you!
■ a Fold
■ b Call
■ c Raise
Don’t tell me that you folded an A-J in a six-handed game against a guy who has raised nine hands on the trot before the flop! That is taking respect to the extreme, don’t you think? I thought that you said that you wanted to test yourself against the best. What are you waiting for before you do that – Aces?
I have allocated a couple of points for folding if the reason that you folded was to avoid going heads-up and conceding position to one of the greatest players ever. But really, if you folded A-J under these circumstances, you don’t belong in the game. Brunson will be attacking your blind every chance he gets, so what hand are you waiting for before you confront him?
So, the real choice is between calling and re-raising. There is nothing wrong with re-raising – in fact, it has a lot of merit – but I prefer controlling the size of the pot with a call.
If you re-raise, then what will you do if Brunson re-raises you back? He is capable of anything, and you must respect not just his superior skill but also his superior position. Position is crucial in No Limit Hold ’Em, and Brunson once famously said that he could beat any No Limit game in the world if he could have position all night long. So whatever small advantage you have before the flop with having A-J, and it being the best hand, is wiped out and then some by being up against Brunson and conceding position.
QUESTION 2
You decide to just call, making the pot $650 before the flop. The flop comes A♦ J♠ 3♣, giving you the top two pair. What is your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
Do you seriously think that you can get cute against this man with a hand like this? If you check-call the flop, then alarm bells will start ringing with Brunson. The best play, and often the far more deceptive one, is to bet straight out with a strong hand. Betting tends to get seen as weakness rather than strength by many players, because people tend to bet hands that they are not overly confident about.
QUESTION 3
So you bet $500 into the $650 pot, and Brunson starts to stare at you again. Suddenly the likable guy of a few minutes earlier has disappeared, and you get the impression that this man wants to eat you alive at the table. After a few seconds of looking at you, Brunson calls your bet and puts five $100 bills in the middle, making the pot $1,650. The turn card is the 2♦, making the board A♦ J♠ 3♣ 2♦, what is your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
Often a player like Brunson will call your flop bet with nothing, just to watch what you do on the turn and see if he can smell any weakness. You could go along with that line of thought and check the turn in the hope of planting this idea in Brunson’s mind.
But I prefer betting again, as I don’t much fancy giving Brunson a free card – plus, betting again could still be interpreted as a sign of weakness. I advocate betting between half and two-thirds of the pot, as I’d want to get maximum value on this hand.
QUESTION 4
So you bet $1,100 into the $1,650 pot, and Brunson thinks for a few seconds and calls again. The pot now stands at $3,850, and the river card is the 7♦ to make a board of A♦ J♠ 3♣ 2♦ 7♦. What’s your play?
■ a Check
■ b Bet
It is likely that you are in front and Brunson has merely been responding to your action so far. You want to get some value on what is probably the best hand – and if Brunson is holding a marginal second-best hand, then you could get paid off some more on the river. Checking seems too wimpy with a hand as strong as this one on this type of board.
QUESTION 5
You bet $2,000 and Brunson immediately moves all-in for his entire stack, which easily covers what you have left. What are you going to do now, tiger?
■ a Fold
■ b Call
You have to ask yourself: could Brunson be bluffing? And the answer is: not likely. He would not have waited until the pot escalated like this before launching a bluff to move you off the hand. Do not be swayed by the fact that there are no possible draws out there. He could have a flopped set, or even a straight, because Brunson plays a wide range of hands.
It is possible that he could be trying to move you off the hand – but why would he wait until the river when you could have possibly improved your hand by then? And he could be re-raising a powerhouse.
He does not know much about you as yet, but he suspects that you will not get involved with him without a hand, because of his reputation – like so many others do. For the sake of your bankroll, I thoroughly recommend that you fold this hand.
Notice to examination candidates: You just can’t help yourself, can you? A combination of curiosity and the strength of your own hand lure you into making an eventual call – all because you want to be able to tell people how you won a big pot against a legend.
With your heart racing and your head in a spin, you push your chips in the middle and show you’re A-J for top two pair. The other regulars know the score, and Brunson flips up the 5♠ 4♠ for a straight. You feel the sickening sledgehammer blow of losing a huge pot and try to leave the table with grace.
Hopefully, you have learned a very valuable poker lesson today – that top players don’t get involved in big pots without big hands. Don’t miss your flight home!
HERE ARE THE SCORES. HOW WELL DID YOU DO?
Q1: a 2; b 10; c 6
Q2: a 5; b 10
Q3: a 5; b 10
Q4: a 3; b 10
Q5: a 10; b 2
SCORE RATING
50 Very well done indeed. You lost the pot, but that should not concern you.
40+ Still good – but not really good enough to compete in this company.
30+ You should have left the table when Brunson arrived.
20+ Why in heaven’s name are you sitting down at a poker table with ten grand?
Under 20 I am lost for words…