The PokerNews Quiz: Counting Hand Combos in Hold'em

10-14-2017 17188 responses Top results

It's not uncommon to read poker strategy articles discussing the process of narrowing "ranges" of hands an opponent might have. We featured multiple examples this week here on PokerNews:

As a hand of no-limit hold'em proceeds from preflop to the flop, turn, and river, an opponent's actions viewed in combination with the board cards (and other factors) tends to reduce the likely hands that player might hold.

A preflop raise from early position might narrow the player's range to the strongest hands only, then continued bets on postflop streets can reduce it even further to just a few possible holdings.

When talking about ranges, those discussing poker strategy will sometimes refer to the number of possible hand combinations or "combos" a player can have when making a particular play. Knowing how many possible combos are available with which to make up a given hand helps you to assess the likelihood of an opponent holding that hand.

Here are eight multiple-choice questions testing your knowledge of hand combinations — of how many "combos" of certain hands there are in hold'em. Get six out of eight correct to pass the quiz, and when you finish see the "Top results" to find out how you did versus others.

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Question 1

How many combos of A-A (or of any pocket pair) are there?

Question 2

How many combos of A-K (total, including *both* suited and offsuit) are there?

Question 3

How many combos of A-K *suited* are there?

Question 4

If you got the last two correct, you should get this one... how many combos of A-K *offsuit* are there?

Question 5

You have Ad-Kd and the flop comes Kc-Qs-4d. How many combos of Q-Q is it possible for your opponent to have?

Question 6

Same situation: you have Ad-Kd and the flop comes Kc-Qs-4d. How many combos of K-K is it possible for your opponent to have?

Question 7

Again, you have Ad-Kd and the flop comes Kc-Qs-4d. How many combos of K-Q is it possible for your opponent to have?

Question 8

Finally, you have Ad-Kd and after the turn the board shows Kc-Qs-4d-8d. You have the nut-flush draw, but you wonder if your opponent might have a lesser flush draw with the Qd. How many combos of Qd-xd is it possible for your opponent to have?