The PokerNews Quiz: Counting Hand Combos in Hold'em

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:

• "Playing the Player: Going for Value in a NL Cash Game"
• "Overbetting the River Against Capped Ranges"
• "Big Mistakes When Playing Online Cash Deep-Stacked"

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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