The Weekly PokerNews Strategy Quiz: I’d Rather Be Lucky Than Good

03-26-2016 75811 responses Top results

We’ve all heard that one before — “I’d rather be lucky than good,” or some variation on the same. At the poker table it usually comes following a successful suckout, after a player gets his or her chips in badly then manages to spike a needed card to win the pot. The origin of the phrase is somewhat obscure, although many attribute it to Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez who pitched during the ’30s and ’40s.

Would you rather be lucky than good, though? Perhaps sometimes, such as that time you bluff-raised all in with nothing but a backdoor draw and needed runner-runner to avoid busting. But over the long haul we’d rather rely on skill than chance. That’s why we study poker strategy. That’s also why a variation on the quote popularized by the golfer Gary Player (though he didn’t originate it) perhaps appeals to us even more:

“The harder I practice, the luckier I get.”

Today’s installment of “The Weekly PokerNews Strategy Quiz” draws eight multiple-choice questions from articles appearing in the PokerNews strategy section over the last seven days. The questions are undoubtedly going to be easier to answer for those who read the articles, although even without having read them you might still be able to figure out the best response.

Depending on how good you are. Or lucky. Or both.

Getting six correct earns a passing grade, and should you miss any you’ll get an explanation of the better response. It’s fine as well to look back through the week’s articles for help along the way.

Nothing left to say but, well... good luck!

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Question 1

“How to Attack the WSOP, Part 2: Taking Advantage of Satellites, Live and Online” points out that when playing satellites being the chip leader is...

Question 2

“Six Kinds of Players Are Taking in the Flop: Which Are You?” describes “the classic tell of a player who liked the flop.” What is that tell?

Question 3

In “Tournament Hand Analysis: Protecting Your Stack vs. Maximizing Value,” Jonathan Little does some quick math to estimate what the average stack would be in a tournament that is nearing the bubble in which the starting stacks were 25,000. If the tournament pays the top 10% of finishers, what should be the average stack as the bubble nears?

Question 4

In “Want to Win More and Lose Less? Enter the Matrix,” Carlos Welch writes that when he holds a marginal hand and suspects his opponent has a “monster,” he tries to avoid paying him off, something that is easier to do against...

Question 5

In this week’s “Hold’em with Holloway,” Mark Kroon explains that when playing reentry tournaments one of the first items of information he seeks when engaging opponents in table talk is...

Question 6

Zachary Elwood’s “Reading Poker Tells Video” this week considers what it means when a player makes a “stretched-out lips expression” when betting. He suggests such an expression “will usually indicate relaxation and...”

Question 7

In “Shove or Fold? Looking for Spots When Very Short in a Tournament,” Mo Nuwwarah has nine big blinds left in the middle stage of a tournament, a situation he describes as...

Question 8

In “Strategy Vault: Floating vs. Bluff-Raising with Andrew Seidman,” Siedman says “if you don’t know whether to bluff-raise the flop or float, you should...”