PokerPlayer quiz: MTTs

Players 9 Blinds 25/50/ante1,000 Your stack 15,200 Your hand 8♣-3♠

 

It’s an ante-only online tournament and you’re getting short on chips. The first two players fold and you have a decision with 8♣-3♠ UTG+2. What do you do?

 

a) Fold

b) Limp in

c) Raise to 200

d) Move all-in

 

Players 7 Blinds 5,000/10,000 Your stack 60,000 Your hand J♣-T♠

 

It’s the final table of a $22 180-man hyper-turbo tournament. You have 60,000 chips and J♣-T♠ under the gun. Both players in the blinds have smaller stacks than you, and two monster stacks are immediately to your left. What should you do?

 

a) Fold

b) Limp in

c) Raise to 20,000

d) Move all-in

 

Players 9 Blinds 2,000/4,000 Your stack 220,000 Your hand 6♥-7♥-8♣-9♣

 

You are approaching the bubble with 62 players left in a $50 online PLO freezeout. It’s one of the largest tournaments you’ve played online and you are top ten in chips. You raise to 12,000 on the button and the tournament chip leader three-bets you to 40,000 from the big blind. You call. The flop is 5♣-8♠-3♥. The chip  leader continuation bets 50,000. What do you do?

 

a) Fold

b) Call and see a turn

c) Raise to 100,000

d) Move all-in

 

Players 9 Blinds 200/400 Your stack 25,000 Your hand 6♦-6♠

 

It’s the early stages of a $33 Knockout tournament online. For every player you eliminate you receive a $10 bounty. You’ve got off to a great start and raise 6-6 to 1,200 from mid-position. A short-stack moves all-in for 3,000 before another short player also goes all-in, for 7,500 total. It’s folded back to you. What do you do?

 

a) Fold

b) Call

 

Players 6 Blinds 2,500/5,000 Your stack 215,000 Your hand A♣-Q♠

 

You won a satellite into a live £300 six-max hold’em tournament and are doing well approaching the end of Day 1. You raise to 12,500 on the button with A♣-Q♠. The small blind calls and the big blind – who covers you – squeezes to 32,000. This player has been aggressive all day. What do you do?

 

a) Fold

b) Call the three-bet

c) Four-bet to 68,000 and call a shove

d) Move all-in

Answers

1 b) Limp in.
In an ante-only tournament it is very rare that you should ever open-fold preflop because the big blind is such a tiny proportion of your stack compared to your mandatory ante. You should almost always either raise or limp in, even with a hand as weak as 8♣-3♠.

 

2 a) Fold.
You must play aggressively and take chances in a hyper-turbo or you will be blinded out. J♣-T♠ is a decent hand when you only have six big blinds but, in this particular spot, you should fold and look to move up the money ladder. As both of the blinds are so short there is bound to be a showdown in this hand and one of them could easily be eliminated.

 

3 d) Move all-in.
You should be trying to win every tournament you enter, no matter the size of the buy-in or how much the money matters to you. Sometimes this approach means you will have to gamble – especially in PLO! You’ve flopped a super draw in this spot and must go with your hand.

4 b) Call.
In poker your strategy must always adapt to the circumstances you are in. In a standard tournament 6-6 is too weak to call when risking this much of your stack. However, in a KO tournament you can justify calling because winning the pot will instantly earn you $20 (or two thirds of your initial buy-in).

 

5 c) Four-bet to 68,000 and call a shove.
Six-max tournament poker is a lot more aggressive than full ring and you must adjust your hand values accordingly. Versus an aggressive player A-Q is the nuts on the button and you should be happy to get the money all-in preflop.

Your score

Stick to the simple no-limit games. You really are clueless

 

You’ve had limited success but you have a lot to learn

 

Congratulations, you are able to mix it up with the best of them!