90 Second Preflop Poker Quiz

It's almost impossible to be a long-term winning poker player without a solid preflop strategy. But even if you usually play preflop pretty well, the following spots trip up most poker players. Try out this five question preflop poker quiz, and you can find the answer key below it.

(Preflop Quiz Questions: All questions assume a 9-handed $2/5 game with $1000 stacks and typical $2/5 opponents).

1) You raise AQo from under the gun to $15. It folds to the hijack who 3-bets to $50. You should:

a) Call

b) Fold

c) 4-bet to $150

2) The button opens to $15, the small blind folds, and you look down at Js8s in the big blind. You should:

a) Call

b) Fold

c) 3-bet to $75

3) UTG raises to $15, and UTG+1 3-bets to $45. Everyone folds to you on the button, and you are holding JdJc. What's your play?

a) Call

b) Fold

c) Cold 4-bet to $115

4) UTG+1 raises to $15 and only the button calls. You have QhTs in the big blind. The best play is to:

a) Call

b) Fold

c) Squeeze to $90

5) The button raises to $15, the small blind 3-bets to $60, and you have Ad5d in the big blind. You should:

a) Call

b) Fold

c) Cold 4-bet to $180

For more information on preflop strategy, check out our free video in the PTO Poker 101 Course on how to play against limps, raises, and re-raises.

And the answers...

5

4

3

2

1

Preflop Poker Quiz Answers:

Question 1: b) Fold. When you have a very strong UTG range and face a 3-bet, the 3-bettor generally has an extremely strong hand. Calling an offsuit hand with poor playability like AQo from out of position is a recipe for disaster against a strong range that can easily cooler you on an ace-high or queen-high board. The nice thing about having a strong UTG range is that you have many better hands to defend with like pocket pairs, AK, and suited broadways that will play better than AQo.

Question 2: c) 3-bet to $75. A lot of players would just call with Js8s here, but consider the advantages of 3-betting: You can get hands that currently dominate you like J9o, JTo, QJo, KJo, K8o and A8o to all fold and spare yourself from potentially losing a big pot with top pair if the board comes J high or 8 high. It's also nice to take down pots preflop so you can win rake-free money. Note that because we 3-bet a more polar range from the big blind, a larger 3-bet size of 5x is recommended here to maximize fold equity (and maximize value when you actually have a good hand).

Question 3: b) Fold. UTG is opening the top 10% of hands, and then UTG+1 is 3-betting an even stronger range that JdJc performs poorly against. The most common thing that players do here is call, but that is the worst option because calling does not even guarantee you will see a flop with UTG still active behind you and able to 4-bet. Don't have a transparent cold-calling range in this spot: If you think UTG+1 is out of line you can consider a cold 4-bet here, but most of the time that won't be the case and folding will be best.

Question 4: b) Fold. The key here is that once the button calls, you will be out of position postflop against 2 players if you call, and QhTs will perform poorly in this spot. You could easily be dominated by the strong UTG+1 opening range, and the button has many hands that can cooler you as well. More often than not, you will just miss the flop and have to check and fold to a continuation bet. Especially in a raked game like $2/5 NLHE, avoiding "trouble hands" like QTo from out of position against multiple players will save you a lot of agony (and rake).

Question 5: c) Cold 4-bet to $180. This spot is completely different from the previous spot with JdJc because it is a much wider configuration here. The button is opening wide with around 40% of hands, and while the small blind's 3-bet shows some strength, it can still be a range with around 10-15% of hands because it is attacking such a wide button opening range. A cold 4-bet here puts tons of pressure on the button who has to worry about two uncapped ranges behind him. And many hands in the small-blinds range will be very hard to play now, like 77-JJ and any broadway hand worse than AK. There is a very high likelihood that this play nets you $75 rake-free dollars immediately, and even if the small blind calls, you'll still have decent playability with a suited ace postflop.

So how did you do? If you struggled on this quiz and would like to talk through any of the questions, book a free consultation here. We will discuss your poker goals, and I'll make sure you leave with valuable resources so preflop play becomes a solid foundation for the rest of your poker game.