Today's good news: I am not a complete donkey (non-grumpy content)

I just took the Donkey Test (http://www.donkeytest.com/). I was enough of a sucker that I even paid the $9.95 for the analysis that is pasted in below. It would be far more worthwhile, though, if they provided an explanation of what they considered the correct answers. In a lot of cases, they are close judgment calls, and I'd appreciate a detailed discussion of how they justify one answer being unambiguously the right one.

They also are sorely in need of a copy editor. One of the reasons I was so slow was the horrible spelling, grammar, and punctuation in the questions, even missing words, so that one has to figure out what the sentence is saying or asking by context. That's just inexcusable. Having been an editor in a former life, that sort of thing annoys and distracts me far more than it does most people. I found myself wasting a lot of time mentally proofreading. Fortunately, I don't do this too much during live poker games. (Except when other players say things like "I should have went all-in." It takes all my cognitive energy to suppress the urge to shout, "It's GONE, you pinhead, GONE! Should have GONE all in, not should have WENT all in! Did you fail fourth-grade English???")

Since speed was by far my worst scoring category, I guess you can see one of the big reasons I don't much like playing online! A man needs time to make good decisions.

It correctly pegs me as tight-aggressive, although it's puzzling how I can score what appears to be a perfect 20 on the "tight" and "aggressive" scales, but simultaneously 13/20 and 16/20 on the "loose" and "passive" scales. That seems inherently contradictory.

I think it's correct to single out general logic and ability to interpret betting patterns as among my strengths. I was happy to discover that it didn't identify any horrendously weak areas for me. I wonder how much my score would have improved if I had gone faster, since that's clearly what dragged me down the most.

Overall, I'd have to say that it was a better test than I expected when I started it. Many of the situations described are really, really tough. I hate poker sessions in which I'm repeatedly forced to make such difficult decisions, and being faced with several dozen of them in a row like this is agonizing! (I think this is secretly how the CIA tortures the Guantanamo Bay detainees--compels them to take a brain-twisting poker test, then refuses to tell them which questions they got right or wrong, or why.)



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Poker IQ Score
Your General Poker IQ Score is 124 and shows how skilled you are in general. Anyone with a score this high is considered to be a mid stakes pro. This score is better than 94.52% of all persons taking this test. You should expect to win in mid stakes NL hold'em games and in tournament games.

You scored higher than your average score in 10 individual ability categories. 3 of these better scores could be called statistically significant and may indicate special abilities, or that you were distracted on those parts of the IQ Test that counted more heavily in the other ability categories.

Position
Solving many of the IQ Test's problems required the ability to analyze your position at the table, considering blind levels and stack sizes, the tendencies of your opponents and the strength of your hand.. Many poker situations require analysis of position. The ability to play in and out of position strongly is required for skilled NL Hold"em players.

Your Positional Play score of 126 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 95.85% of all persons taking this test.

Blinds
Understanding what changes occur when out of position but required to put in half a bet are important. By far, the blinds will be any NL Hold"em player's least profitable seats. It is important to play out of the blinds correctly in order to minimize losses over time.

Your Blinds score of 125 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 95.22% of all persons taking this test.

Tournaments
This is the ability to change your strategy, hand strengths, calling and pushing ranges as blinds and antes rise. It is most useful during tournament play, but is useful in dealing with short stacks in deeper stacked cash game play. It is important to learn tournament skills even for cash game specialists. Strong tournament skills should translate to more tournament cashes and deeper finishes.

Your Tournament Play score of 122 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 92.88% of all persons taking this test.

Big Pairs
The ability to play big pairs correctly is important for any successful NL Hold"em player. Although over time big pairs will be the most profitable hands, playing them incorrectly can lead to disastrous results. Beginners get themselves into trouble by slow playing and/or overplaying big pairs, and often try to be excessively tricky with them. Although poor players sometimes play their big pairs correctly, it is rare. In general better players will win more and lose less with JJ+ as they gain skill and experience.

Your Big Pairs score of 109 is significantly lower than your average score. This score is better than 72.57% of all persons taking this test.

Small and Medium Pairs
The ability to play small and medium pairs is typically difficult for beginners. Typically beginners will call too much pre-flop with these hands and overplay overpairs on the flop. Folding a set is rarely correct but sometimes necessary.

Your Small and Medium Pairs score of 107 is significantly lower than your average score. This score is better than 67.96% of all persons taking this test.

Bluffing
Bluffing is big part of NL Hold"em. Bluffing and semi-bluffing at the right times is important. So is recognizing that an opponent is likely to be bluffing and acting accordingly. Balancing your own bluffs and adjusting opponent calling ranges is essential.

Your Bluffing score of 123 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 93.74% of all persons taking this test.

Flop Texture
Adjusting your play based on the "texture" of the flop is important. The flop cards should be analyzed in light of your opponent's tendencies, his suspected hand range, and the strength of your own hand. Failing to include the flop texture in your post flop decision making is a typical beginner mistake and is easily disastrous. As you gain experience in NL Hold"em and play against more experienced opponents, it will become second nature and of paramount importance.

Your Flop Texture score of 130 is exceptionally higher than your average score. This score is better than 97.72% of all persons taking this test.

Pot Odds
Sometimes you are required to call when you know you're losing because the price is right. Sometimes you must fold because you're facing a bet that is too big or because an opponent does not have enough money behind to justify an implied odds call. Failing to make the correct odds calls is a major error. Sometimes it is correct to call in some surprising situations.

Your Pot Odds score of 121 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 91.92% of all persons taking this test.

Logic
Logically analyzing the action during a hand is important. Players with strong logical ability are quicker to see where a given set of conditions is leading, better understand the technical aspects of the game, often move up quickly in stakes and have little trouble with bankroll management.

Your Logic score of 132 is exceptionally higher than your average score. This score is better than 98.36% of all persons taking this test.

Betting Patterns
An awareness of betting patterns serves a number of purposes. It is useful for analyzing the playing styles of opponents and for finding errors in your own game. Often beginning players have no awareness of common betting patterns. Experienced players are sometimes able to watch a hand, adjust for the skill, experience and tendencies of each player and determine almost exactly what each player holds.

Your Betting Patterns score of 136 is exceptionally higher than your average score. This score is better than 99.18% of all persons taking this test.

Hand Selection
It is important choose which hands to play by adjusting for position, stack sizes, and the tendencies of your opponents. Beginners often have no awareness of relative hand strength, often play weak hands out of position, or easily dominated hands against tight opponents.

Your Hand selection score of 120 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 90.88% of all persons taking this test.

Aggression
Aggression is important in poker. It increases your equity in most hands by giving you an extra way to win the pot. Your opponent may fold. Playing passively yields only one way to win -- with the best hand at showdown. Beginners typically play too loose and too passive. Excessively aggressive players will lose less than passive players. A balanced tight aggressive strategy is typically best for NL Hold"em depending on game conditions and stack sizes. Loose aggressive style is more difficult to master but can often be extremely profitable.

Your Aggression score of 128 is not significantly different from your average score. This score is better than 96.90% of all persons taking this test.

Computational Speed
Solving problems quickly indicates a combination of experience and card sense. Experienced players can often play most hands automatically, and only require significant thought for the most complex situations. Experienced players should easily answer a good amount of the questions on this test, leaving extra time to focus on the more complex situations.

Your Computational Speed score of 83 is significantly lower than your average score. This score is better than 12.85% of all persons taking this test.


Addendum, October 21, 2007

I am delighted to report that the owner/author of the Donkey Test read this entry (I doubt he's a regular reader; I assume he has some sort of automatic notification system in place for when people link to and/or comment on the test) and asked about the errors I noted. I dashed off a quick list of 30 or so of them, and he has already made nearly all of the edits I suggested. It's a rare pleasure these days to find somebody who cares about getting such things right, when they are pointed out. The Grump's hat is tipped to him.