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Bob Ciaffone's 20 Questions
March 19, 2001

In each of the following questions, select the one best answer. Assume you are playing in a typical game in a public cardroom against sane opponents. After you have answered all the questions, press "Submit," and you will see what I believe is the correct answer.

For the first ten questions, you are playing $20-40 limit hold'em with a bet and three raises allowed.

For problems 11-20, the poker form and other conditions are stated in the question.

1)	You are in middle position with the 6d-6c in a nine-handed game. No one has entered the pot yet. You should: Fold Call Raise
2)	There are nine players dealt in, and you are first to act. You have the Ac-5c and are debating what to do. The biggest factor in your decision is: The caliber of players in the game How you have been running How many pots are being raised
3)	You are on the button with pocket jacks. The pot is raised in early position and called by the player on the raiser's immediate left. You should: Reraise Call Fold
4)	You are in the big blind with pocket rockets. A player in early position raises and two players cold-call. You of course reraise, and all call. The flop comes 10h-8h-3c. You bet, the preflop raiser pops it, and the other two players call. You should: Just call; danger lurks Reraise, then bet the turn if no one caps it on the flop Reraise, then decide what to do on the turn
5)	You are stuck a grand after playing for only an hour, getting killed by drawouts. You should: Pack it in; tomorrow is another day Stay in the game and try to get even Make your decision based on how tough you are under adversity
6)	You hold the 9c-8c on the button. Five of you see the flop in an unraised pot. It comes Ad-7c 4c, giving you a flush-draw. The big blind checks, the next player bets, and the player on your right raises. You should: Fold Call Reraise
7)	You pick up 9-9 in the little blind. There are calls by an early-position player, a middle-position player, and the button. You should: Raise, because you probably have the best hand at the table Raise, because you expect four callers, counting the big blind as likely Call, because you want to see the flop cheaply on this hand with a large field
8)	You are playing your usual solid game and have been holding bad cards to boot. You finally pick up an A-K and raise the pot. A player says, "Alert, alert, the rock is in," and everyone laughs. You should: Say nothing; peace is important for a poker game Say something like, "I'd appreciate it if you would not make fun of me for holding a lot of bad hands." Call a floorperson and put an immediate stop to the comments.
9)	You are in the big blind holding Jc-10s with a four-handed unraised pot. The helpful flop comes 10h-6c-4d, giving you top pair. You should: Almost always bet Check, hoping the button bets so you can raise and knock people out Frequently mix up your play in this spot
10)	You have the Ac-Jc in late position. The loose player on your right calls, you decide to raise, and the big blind calls, so three of you see the flop. It comes nice for you; Jd-8c-5h, giving you top pair with an ace kicker. The two opponents check, you bet, and the big blind raises. The other player in the pot folds. You should, against most people: Fold Call Reraise
11)	In a no-limit hold'em ten-handed satellite, you get $300 worth of chips and are starting out with a $5-10 blind, which goes up every 15 minutes. Your play in the first time period should be: Solid Aggressive, because you have to get a hold of some chips for the next level Aggressive, because there are a lot of weak players in at the start
12)	In a no-limit hold'em tournament eight-handed last table, you pick up As-3s and are in middle position. It is folded to you. The blinds are $300-600 (no ante), and you have $4000 in chips, slightly below average. You should: Either call or fold Open for about $1500 Go all-in
13)	You are in the cutoff seat (first seat right of the button) in a $5-5-10 blind pot-limit hold'em money game, and pick up 7h-6h. Two people call and it is your turn. What do you do? Fold Call if deep in money Call if short on money
14)	In a pot-limit Omaha $10-25 blind money game, you pick up Ad-Ah-7d-3c in the big blind. You have $2000 in chips. Three players limp in and the little blind folds. The recommended play for you is to: Check Make a small raise Raise the max
15)	In an eight-handed no-limit ace-to-five lowball game with a $10 ante and $25 big blind, you pick up K-6-4-3-2. You open for $125 and get a caller. You each take one card. You catch a 7, making a 7-6-4-3-2 for low. You have at this point $1600 in chips. There is no requirement to bet a seven at no-limit, but you decide to bet $300. The opponent raises, making the total an even grand ($700 more). You should: Fold Call Reraise all-in
16)	In an eight-handed $15-30 seven-card stud game your starting hand is (Qc Qs) 6d. The lowcard brings it in for the obligatory $5 and the next player with a king showing raises to $15. The player on your left has an ace showing, but appears more interested in the Clipper basketball game on the tube than his hand. No other aces, kings, or queens are showing. Against most people, your best play is to: Fold Call Raise to $30
17)	In a $15-30 seven-card stud game you have a chance to start with rolled up trips of any rank. Which rank do you pick? Deuces, the most innocent looking Tens, because they prevent a lot of straights Aces; what kind of stupid question is this?
18)	High-low split eight-or-better seven-card stud, $30-60 limit. You have As (Ac-3h). The 2h lowcard bets, you of course raise, and the 6d and 4c both call. You catch the Js, the 6d catches the 4d, and the 4c catches an offsuit queen. What do you do on fourth street? Bet Check and call Check and raise
19)	The person who won the World Championship from the most desperate situation at some point in the event was: Johnny Chan Amarillo Slim Jack Straus
20)	You are a floorperson who gets called over to make a ruling in a pot-limit hold'em game. On fourth street, a player bets from the ten-seat, and thinks the field has folded. (In reality, the person in the one-seat still has a hand.) The bettor discards his hand and the dealer quickly mucks it. At this point, the one-seat says, "What happened; I still have my cards." The discarded hand is irretrievably mixed with the discards. What do you do? Rule that the player with cards had an obligation to call attention to the fact that he had a hand, and should not let two people plus the bettor act after him. Declare his hand dead and give the bettor the pot. Rule that the player with the live hand is the only one with cards, and give him the pot. Look at the hand of the player with cards, and base the ruling a lot on what the hand is.