Note: Not at the old Poker1 site. This 39-part series of quizzes, originally published (2004-2006) in Poker Player, is based on the Mike Caro University of Poker library of research and advice. In each entry, Mike Caro presents 10 questions covering a category of poker, targeted for beginner, intermediate, or advanced players. Answers with explanations appear below each quiz, with the questions repeated for easy reference.
The MCU Targeted Poker Quiz series
(See the index to this series)
Tournaments (level: beginner)
- The largest and oldest main event among poker tournaments is called…
(a) The Super Bowl of Poker;
(b) The United States Poker Championships;
(c) Real Poker Tour;
(d) The World Series of Poker.
- What does it cost per player to buy into the World Series of Poker main event?
(a) $10,000;
(b) $15,000;
(c) $25,000
(d)$1,000,000
- Tournaments in which the prize pool is divided among the best finishers, with first place getting a percentage, second place a smaller percentage, third place getting a still-smaller percentage, and so forth are called…
(a) Winner-take-all;
(b) Shoot outs;
(c) Proportional payout tournaments;
(d) Freeze outs.
- If first place pays $100,000 and second place pays $60,000, then…
(a) The final two players are fighting over $100,000;
(b) The final two players are fighting over $60,000;
(c) The final two players are fighting over $160,000;
(d) The final two players are fighting over $40,000.
- A single-table tournament in which the winner wins an entry into a larger tournament is called a…
(a) Qualifying event;
(b) Satellite tournament;
(c) Make-or-Break Standoff tournament;
(d) Preliminary tournament.
- In most major tournaments you can’t tell the truth about your hand during competition for a pot…
(a) True;
(b) False.
- How many players entered the World Series of Poker main event last year?
(a) 325;
(b) 220;
(c) over 800;
(d) over 2,500
- The first modern world champion, Johnny Moss, won by…
(a) defeating a field of just nine opponents;
(b) beating three aces with an inside straight;
(c) being voted champion by other players in attendance;
(d) folding only 11 times in the whole tournament.
- In what year did Doyle Brunson win his first World Series of Poker main event championship?
(a) 1911;
(b) 1983;
(c) 1976;
(d) 2001.
- If players compete until one has all the chips on the table and then advances against other table winners, it’s called…
(a) Hero’s Go Forward;
(b) a shoot-out tournament;
(c) a Stack ’em and Prance event;
(d) All of the above.
Answers and explanations (with questions repeated for convenience)
Tournaments (level: beginner)
- The largest and oldest main event among poker tournaments is called…
(a) The Super Bowl of Poker;
(b) The United States Poker Championships;
(c) Real Poker Tour;
(d) The World Series of Poker.
Answer: (d). The largest and oldest “main event” among poker tournaments is the World Series of Poker.
- What does it cost per player to buy into the World Series of Poker main event?
(a) $10,000;
(b) $15,000;
(c) $25,000
(d)$1,000,000.
Answer: (a). It still costs just $10,000 to buy into the World Series of Poker main event, while some other tournaments have had $25,000 entry fees, and one recent invitational event – Poker SuperStars II – is priced at $40,000 per player.
- Tournaments in which the prize pool is divided among the best finishers, with first place getting a percentage, second place a smaller percentage, third place getting a still-smaller percentage, and so forth are called…
(a) Winner-take-all;
(b) Shoot outs;
(c) Proportional payout tournaments;
(d) Freeze outs.
Answer: (c). Events where first place must win all the chips and gets only a predetermined share of the prize pool, the rest going to close finishers, such as 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, are called proportional payout tournaments.
- If first place pays $100,000 and second place pays $60,000, then…
(a) The final two players are fighting over $100,000;
(b) The final two players are fighting over $60,000;
(c) The final two players are fighting over $160,000;
(d) The final two players are fighting over $40,000.
Answer: (d). If first place is $100,000 and second place is $60,000, then the last two players already won $60,000 each and are fighting over the remaining $40,000 – winner take all.
- A single-table tournament in which the winner wins an entry into a larger tournament is called a…
(a) Qualifying event;
(b) Satellite tournament;
(c) Make-or-Break Standoff tournament;
(d) Preliminary tournament.
Answer: (b). A single-table tournament in which the winner wins an entry to a larger event is called a satellite tournament.
- In most major tournaments you can’t tell the truth about your hand during competition for a pot…
(a) True;
(b) False.
Answer: (a). It’s true that you can’t tell the truth about your hand in most major tournaments held in the last four years or so. This ridiculous rule means that – in those tournaments — you must be lying when you say anything specific about your hand, so you are giving information about your hand that opponents can figure out by process of elimination. If you could randomize and sometimes tell the truth for deception, rationality would return to the poker tournament circuit. (OK, that’s just a Mike Caro opinion, but it’s right on the money.)
- How many players entered the World Series of Poker main event last year?
(a) 325;
(b) 220;
(c) over 800;
(d) over 2,500.
Answer: (d). Over 2,500 players entered the 2004 World Series of Poker main even and most experts are predicting more this years. The exact count was 2,576 entrants at $10,000 each.
- The first modern world champion, Johnny Moss, won by…
(a) defeating a field of just nine opponents;
(b) beating three aces with an inside straight;
(c) being voted champion by other players in attendance;
(d) folding only 11 times in the whole tournament.
Answer: (c). Johnny Moss became the first modern poker world champion by being voted the title by his peers. He later repeated the championship in actual competition.
- In what year did Doyle Brunson win his first World Series of Poker main event championship?
(a) 1911;
(b) 1983;
(c) 1976;
(d) 2001.
Answer (c). Doyle Brunson won his first WSOP main event championship in 1976.
- If players compete until one has all the chips on the table and then advances against other table winners, it’s called…
(a) Hero’s Go Forward;
(b) a shoot-out tournament;
(c) a Stack ’em and Prance event;
(d) All of the above.
Answer: (b). The common term used to describe a tournament in which table winners advance is “shoot-out.”
