Upswing Header Logo 2020 - No Imagify
  • Merch
  • Manage Account
  • Member Home
  • TRAINING
      • Introductory Courses
      • Postflop Playbook For No Limit Hold’em
        • post-flop-1-ubermenu-imagified-452x246

          Make quick, high-quality, profitable poker decisions based on hand categories.

      • PLO Launch Pad By Dylan Weisman
        • PLO Launch Pad New

          Learn to feel comfortable and confident playing the great game of PLO.

      • Most Popular Course
      • Upswing Lab for No Limit Hold’em Players
        • upswing-lab-1-452x246

          This is what we would teach our younger selves, if we could send it back in time.

      • Advanced Courses
      • Road to Victory by Darren Elias & Nick Petrangelo
        • road-to-victory-uber

          The Ultimate Tournament Course.

      • Smash Live Cash by Nick Petrangelo
        • smash-live-cash-uber

          Win the MAX in live poker games.

      • Elite Cash Games Exploits by Uri Peleg
        • elite-cash-cash-exploits-uber

          Become An Exploitative Machine.

      • Advanced Cash Game Strategy by Kanu7
        • Cash Game Course By Kanu7

          An elite training course for serious cash game players.

      • Advanced PLO Mastery By Dylan Weisman & Chris Wehner
        • Advanced PLO Mastery

          Become an end boss with this comprehensive Pot Limit Omaha Training Course.

      • Heads-Up Course by Doug Polk
        • Advanced-Heads-Up-Mastery-CTA-imagified-Ubermenu-452x246

          Doug Polk is working on a new Heads-Up Master Class - Fall 2023

      • Mixed Games Course by Jake Abdalla
        • MixedGames-CTA-imagified-452x246

          Immediately improve your Mixed Game strategy and win more money.

      • Red Line Rocketship by Uri Peleg
        • short-deck-logo

          Increase your bottom line by winning more pots without having to show your cards.

      • PLO Matrix Preflop Tool
        • PLO-Matrix-Ubemenu-CTA-imagified-452x246

          A precise and easy to use visual representation of GTO preflop ranges.

      • Browse All Courses Here
        • quiz-ubermenu (1)

          Find the course that fits your poker-playing needs.

  • ARTICLES
  • QUIZZES
  • THE PROS
  • CONTACT
  • REVIEWS
  • FREE RESOURCES
      • Free Lessons & Tools
      • Preflop Charts Most Popular
        • Preflop Charts CTA Imagified

          The quickest & most efficient way to improve your poker game

      • Grudge Match Challenge Insights
        • Grudge Match insights

          Free Doug vs Daniel Video.

      • 10 Laws of Live Poker
        • 10-Laws-of-Live-Poker-Ubemenu-CTA-imagified-452x246

          Learn how your personality can alter your game and how aggressive to play.

      • Poker Hand Converter & Replayer
        • Hand-Replayer-CTA-imagified-452x246

          Convert & replay your hands to study what went wrong... or very right

      • The Level-Up Podcast
        • poker-podcast

          Improve your poker skills fast with short, hyper-focused podcast episodes covering crucial poker topics.

      • 20 Rules for Crushing 3-Bet Pots
        • 3-Bet-Pots-CTA-imagify-452x246

          20 Rules for 3-Bets that will make your win-rate skyrocket!

      • Advanced PLO Preflop Guide
        • PLO-Preflop-Guide

          This guide will help you understand which hands to raise first in in Pot Limit Omaha.

      • 6+ Hold’em Guide
        • Short Deck Holdem Guide

          Learn the fundamentals of profitable Short Deck hold'em

Home > Meet the Pros > Mike Finstein

Mike Finstein

mike finstein poker player

After graduating with a BM in Studio Music and Jazz from the University of Miami on a music scholarship, I was a full time musician and piano teacher for 5 years based out of Boston. I was a showband pianist on Princess, Norwegian, and Carnival Cruise lines during summers between college and played nl holdem for the first time in the ship’s crew bar.

I started casually playing sit n gos on Full Tilt Poker in Dec 2006 and began taking it more seriously in 2008 when I switched to 6max cash. By 2009-10 I was getting some real traction at 400nl and all I wanted to do was live and breathe poker. I’d play gigs at Foxwoods before playing marathon sessions of live 5/10nl downstairs in the poker room.

My transition from musician to poker professional just kind of….happened. I had this organic love of the game for its own sake, loved the competition and wanted to get better to be able to beat the next highest stake. This love was fueled with a burning passion and level of obsession comparable to my love of music. As a byproduct I was eventually making more money from my hobby than my career over a fairly robust sample of hands, and I was like, alright, I’m going to focus on this thing now.

So I moved to Vegas.

From mid 2010 through mid 2011 I was a hybrid online/live player, grinding mid stakes 6max online and live 5/10nl at the Wynn. Since Black Friday April 2011 though the present I’ve played almost exclusively live, and the vast majority of my play has been live nl cash.

And the live grind is where I found my groove. I played 5/10nl through the end of 2011, moved up to Bellagio 10/20nl in 2012, and before long I was crushing 25/50nl up to 100/200nl in Bobby’s Room whenever it would run. I’ve also played a ton of $39/78nl, 65/130nl and $130/260nl (usd) in Macau. I don’t play many tournaments but I made a deep run in the 2014 WSOP Main Event, finishing 42nd.

To be successful at live nl cash you have to combine theory based fundamentals and the discipline not to spew out of boredom or tilt while 1 tabling. You need to have the perceptiveness to pick up on population tendencies over large samples. And you need a refined process which properly calibrates adjustments based on being able to assign a proper degree of confidence to your reads to your already super solid theory based game.

Live poker is at heart a social game, retaining an intangible human experience which can’t be replicated online. Who knows what the future of online poker will hold with the rise of AI and bots, but live poker isn’t going anywhere.

Find my live poker training videos in the Upswing Lab.

Meet The Upswing Poker Pros

Founders

Doug Polk

Doug Polk
"WCGRider"

<strong>Upswing Poker featured pro Ryan Fee</strong>

Ryan Fee
"ryanfeepoker"

Matt Colletta

Matt Colletta
"Checkmate"

Staff

fabian adler aka frab

Fabian "Frabb" Adler
Poker Strategy Advisor

mike-brady-poker

Mike "mbradycf" Brady
Vice President

Advanced Course Pros

nick petrangelo tournament course

Nick Petrangelo
Lead Tournament Coach

darren-elias-pgt-win

Darren Elias
Tournament Boss

uri-coach-page-image

Uri Peleg
Exploitative Master

alex kanu7 millar

Alex Millar
Cash Game Legend

preview-image-chris

Chris Wehner
PLO Master

kane kalas

Kane Kalas
Short Deck Expert

Jake Abdalla

Jake Abdalla
Mixed Game Monster

dylan weisman plo challenge

Dylan Weisman
PLO Crusher

andres educa-poker artinano

Andres Artinano
Cash Game Legend

Upswing Lab Pros

gary blackwood gazzyb

Gary Blackwood
Cash Game Beast

david yan missoracle

David Yan
All-Around Crusher

tim jenkins poker

Tim Jenkins
MTT & Cash Game

ryan riske

Ryan Riske
Cash Game Expert

Hristivoje allinpav Pavlovic

Hristivoje Pavlovic
Tournaments

Daniel McCaulay aka dougiedan678

Daniel McAulay
Heads-Up

danmer

Daniel Merrilees
Cash Games

James McConnon

Jason McConnon
Cash Games

finstein2

Mike Finstein
Live Cash Games

Fried Meulders 2

Fried Meulders
Zoom Cash Games

moritz dietrich hiking

Moritz Dietrich
Tournaments

EZ Fat Footer #1

This is Dynamik Widget Area. You can add content to this area by going to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress Dashboard and adding new widgets to this area.

EZ Fat Footer #2

This is Dynamik Widget Area. You can add content to this area by going to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress Dashboard and adding new widgets to this area.

TRAINING

Beginner Free Resources
Preflop Charts
3-Bet Pots
10 Laws of Live Poker
Advanced PLO Preflop Guide
Short Deck Hold'Em Guide 

Introductory Courses
The $7 Postflop Game Plan
The PLO Launch Pad

Most Popular Courses
Upswing Lab No Limit Membership

Advanced Courses
Smash Live Cash by Nick Petranglo
Elite Cash Game Exploits by Uri Peleg
Road To Victory by Darren Elias & Nick Petrangelo
Advanced Cash Game Strategy by Kanu7
Advanced PLO Mastery by Dylan & Chris
Heads-Up Course by Doug Polk
Mixed Games Course by Jake Abdalla
Short Deck Course by Kane Kalas
High Stakes MTT Sessions by Nick Petranglo
PLO Matrix Preflop Tool

POKER TOOLS
& SOFTWARE

ARTICLES

QUIZZES

POKER RULES

POKER TERMS GLOSSARY

MEET THE PROS

MERCH

CONTACT

FAQ

MEMBERS ONLY

  • Log In
  • Members Home

© Copyright 2023 | Sitemap | Responsible Gambling | Terms of Service | Contact

Upswing-Poker-Footer-Logo
Take Poker Quizzes Now
  • Home
  • Member Login
  • Member Home
    • My Account
    • Back
  • Articles
  • Quizzes
  • Free Poker Resources
  • The $7 Postflop Playbook
  • The PLO Launch Pad
  • Upswing Lab for No Limit Hold’em Players
  • Advanced Training
    • Road to Victory by Darren Elias & Nick Petrangelo
    • Elite Cash Games Exploits by Uri Peleg
    • Winning Poker Tournaments by Nick Petranglo
    • Cash Game Course by Kanu7
    • PLO Mastery Course by Dylan & Chris
    • Heads-Up Course by Doug Polk
    • Mixed Games Course by Jake Abdalla
    • Red Line Rocketship by Uri Peleg
    • PLO Matrix Preflop Tool
    • Back
  • Meet the Pros
  • Upswing Poker Merchandise
  • Cart
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us
  • Reviews