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)
History (level: advanced)
- Which three players have won the most championship gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker? (Question should be answered as if it were asked following the 2005 WSOP, when this quiz was created. Bracelet counts have changed since.)
(a) Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Doyle Brunson;
(b) Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth;
(c) Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth;
(d) Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan.
- How did the saying, “All you need is a chip and a chair” get started?
(a) It originated in a scene from a classic W. C. Fields movie
(b) In a 1982 tournament, Jack Straus bet what he thought were all the chips in front of him without declaring all in. It was discovered that he had a chip left, and recovered to win the tournament.
(c) It was quoted in the classing poker Herbert O. Yardley poker book, “The Education of a Poker Player.”
(d) It was a recurring line from the TV series Maverick, but was mysteriously left out of the movie.
- Modern poker is thought to have evolved from…
(a) Cribbage;
(b) A bridge convention in 1922, when the key players went on an informal strike and held the first poker-like tournament, featuring a game they then called bluff-and-run.
(c) Poque – a French game;
(d) An American Indian game played to win honorary beads supplied by the tribal chief.
- Which game has never appeared as a championship gold bracelet event at the World Series of Poker…
(a) five-card draw poker;
(b) three-card lowball;
(c)seven-card stud lowball (razz);
(d) deuce-to-seven (Kansas City) lowball.
- What is the name of the famous book by David Sklansky that defined the concepts that govern poker?
(a) Winning Theories of Poker;
(b) How to Beat Poker Using Analytical Science;
(c) Sklansky on Pro Poker Technique;
(d) The Theory of Poker.
- In what year was Doyle Brunson’s original Super/System – A Course in Power Poker published (first edition had a different title)?
(a) 1960;
(b) 1967;
(c)1978;
(d) 1984.
- The sequel to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System (Super/System II) wasn’t published until 2005.
(a) true;
(b) false.
- A pioneering book by John Fox appeared a year before work on Super/System began. What was it called?
(a) Quit Work, Play Poker, and Sleep Till Noon;
(b) Fox on Fierce Poker;
(c) Draw Poker Concepts Applied to Other Poker Games;
(d) Poker – Beyond Basic Theory.
- Before the Hustler Casino was built in Gardena California, there was a major card room at that location called the Eldorado. What was the name of the card casino that predated the Eldorado on the same site?
(a) Blue Velvet;
(b) The Gardena Club;
(c) The Embassy;
(d) The Horseshoe Club.
- There was a major poker tournament among 23 top players, called “The Gathering of Poker Professionals,” held at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino 12 years before the birth of the World Series of Poker, in 1958…
(a) True;
(b) False.
Answers and explanations (with questions repeated for convenience)
History (level: advanced)
- Which three players have won the most championship gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker? (Question should be answered as if it were asked following the 2005 WSOP, when this quiz was created. Bracelet counts have changed since.)
(a) Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and Doyle Brunson;
(b) Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, and Phil Hellmuth;
(c) Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth;
(d) Stu Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan.
Answer: (c) Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Phil Hellmuth have won the most gold bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Brunson and Chan have won 10 each; Hellmuth has won 9.
- How did the saying, “All you need is a chip and a chair” get started?
(a) It originated in a scene from a classic W. C. Fields movie
(b) In a 1982 tournament, Jack Straus bet what he thought were all the chips in front of him without declaring all in. It was discovered that he had a chip left, and recovered to win the tournament.
(c) It was quoted in the classing poker Herbert O. Yardley poker book, “The Education of a Poker Player.”
(d) It was a recurring line from the TV series Maverick, but was mysteriously left out of the movie.
Answer: (b) The often-heard quip, “All you need is a chip and a chair,” is thought to have been started when Jack Straus won a tournament in 1982. He bet what he thought were all his chips, without declaring “all-in,” and discovered — as he was leaving the table after losing the hand — that he had one chip remaining. He quickly won a pot with it and went on the win the tournament.
- Modern poker is thought to have evolved from…
(a) Cribbage;
(b) A bridge convention in 1922, when the key players went on an informal strike and held the first poker-like tournament, featuring a game they then called bluff-and-run.
(c) Poque – a French game;
(d) An American Indian game played to win honorary beads supplied by the tribal chief.
Answer: (c) Modern poker is thought to have evolved from a French game called Poque.
- Which game has never appeared as a championship gold bracelet event at the World Series of Poker…
(a) five-card draw poker;
(b) three-card lowball;
(c)seven-card stud lowball (razz);
(d) deuce-to-seven (Kansas City) lowball.
Answer: (b) Three-card lowball has never appeared as a championship gold bracelet event at the World Series of Poker. Five-card draw, seven-card stud lowball (razz), and deuce-to-seven lowball (Kansas City) have.
- What is the name of the famous book by David Sklansky that defined the concepts that govern poker?
(a) Winning Theories of Poker;
(b) How to Beat Poker Using Analytical Science;
(c) Sklansky on Pro Poker Technique;
(d) The Theory of Poker.
Answer: (d) The name of David Sklansky’s milestone book that defined the governing concepts of poker is The Theory of Poker.
- In what year was Doyle Brunson’s original Super/System – A Course in Power Poker published (first edition had a different title)?
(a) 1960;
(b) 1967;
(c)1978;
(d) 1984.
Answer (c) Doyle Brunson’s original Super/System – A Course in Power Poker was first published in 1978 under the title How I Made Over $1,000,000 Playing Poker.
- The sequel to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System (Super/System II) wasn’t published until 2005.
(a) true;
(b) false.
Answer: (a) It’s true that the sequel to Super/System (Super/System 2) wasn’t published until 2005 – 27 years after the original.
- A pioneering book by John Fox appeared a year before work on Super/System began. What was it called?
(a) Quit Work, Play Poker, and Sleep Till Noon;
(b) Fox on Fierce Poker;
(c) Draw Poker Concepts Applied to Other Poker Games;
(d) Poker – Beyond Basic Theory.
Answer: (a) The name of John Fox’s pioneering book on poker was Quit Work, Play Poker, and Sleep Till Noon.
- Before the Hustler Casino was built in Gardena California, there was a major card room at that location called the Eldorado. What was the name of the card casino that predated the Eldorado on the same site?
(a) Blue Velvet;
(b) The Gardena Club;
(c) The Embassy;
(d) The Horseshoe Club.
Answer: (c) The Embassy was the name of the Gardena card club that sat on the site where the Hustler Casino is today. It was replaced by the Eldorado Club, which stopped operating in the 1990s.
- There was a major poker tournament among 23 top players, called “The Gathering of Poker Professionals,” held at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino 12 years before the birth of the World Series of Poker, in 1958…
(a) True;
(b) False.
Answer: (b) False. History does not record a tournament of 23 top players, called “The Gathering of Poker Professionals,” held in 1958 – 12 years before the birth of the World Series of Poker.
Dear Mike;
Mr. Anthony who owner/GM or the El Dorado created the first lowball tournament in what year? I guess about 1979, but I’d appreciate your research. If you saw me, you’d remember me. Thanks.