Meet The Upswing Poker Pros
Darren Elias - Tournament Boss

Darren Elias brings a resume as one of poker’s most respected and accomplished tournament players to the Upswing Poker coaching team.

Elias holds a record four World Poker Tour Main Event titles, more than 30 six-figure tournament cashes, and over $11 million in career earnings. With a career spanning nearly two decades, Elias is still driven by the pursuit of major championships and precision execution at the final table.

“At this point in my career, I’m really motivated by the competition of playing poker, and just being a better player than I was last year, last month, last tournament,” Elias says. “Winning major titles is important to me. I’m trying to win World Series of Poker bracelets, World Poker Tour titles, PokerGO titles, events like that. Playing against top competition is important as well.

Elias added another major championship to his list of accomplishments in March 2023, taking down the U.S. Poker Open $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $313,200.

Darren Elias’ Poker Study Habits

Darren teamed up with fellow tournament crusher Nick Petrangelo for his first Upswing course, titled Road to Victory - The Ultimate Tournament Course. The course includes insights from Darren’s approach to studying tournament poker in the modern era.

“I spend a lot of time just in my own brain, thinking about how certain opponents would play certain hands,” Elias says. “And how I should be adapting my strategy versus different opponents.”

“I think a lot of players are a little misguided in their study. They spend too much time focusing on computer solutions and theory. And while that’s very important, I think time should also be spent thinking about how the actual opponent you played the hand against plays their hand, or their range of hands,”

Elias feels like it’s still possible to make substantial money in poker. His tournament record certainly reflects that, as he posted $1.7 million in tournament cashes in 2022 alone.

“It’s absolutely still possible to crush poker in 2023,” Elias says. “It’s a lot about game selection, obviously. Everything is relative; you can be crushing your game, and if you move up to a higher-stakes game or a different format you’re going to get crushed. So always be self-aware, be objective about your abilities and the game you’re in.”

Elias possesses a level of skill that’s allowed him to crush poker tournaments at the highest level for more than a decade. His resume of tournament accomplishments includes:

• • Four WPT Main Event Titles (most all time)

• • More than $11 million in live tournament earnings (as of 2023)

• • More than $4.5 million in recorded online tournament earnings (as of 2023)

• • More than 30 six-figure cashes in live tournaments

Darren Elias Joins The Upswing Team

Road to Victory is a standalone course that truly aims to offer the ultimate learning resource for multi-table tournaments.

That course is just the beginning for Elias and the Upswing team. Look for the four-time WPT champion to continue to produce instructional courses, as well as hand analyses from major tournaments.

“I really want to teach (Upswing students) that there’s more to winning at poker than understanding theory and studying a solver,” Elias says. “A lot of energy should be devoted elsewhere.”

“I think in my course, there’s really a lot of content about mindset, exploitative play, and understanding your opponent. I think things like that are overlooked and undervalued in today’s game.”

You can sign up for Darren and Nick's Road to Victory course here.