Advanced Poker Strategy Articles

Popular Advanced Articles

Building Bluffing Ranges Like the Pros: A Guide to Smarter 3-Bets

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Today, solid preflop strategies are part of the tournament poker zeitgeist. (Don’t worry—set-mining doesn’t make you a fish.) That said,…

How to Play Flush Turns After Check-Raising (Advanced Strategy)

By Dan B.

As you probably know, having a well-balanced check-raising range makes you a really tough opponent to play against. The reason…

5 Advanced Poker Strategies & Tips To Supercharge Your Poker Wins

By Dan B.

Ready for some advanced nuggets of poker wisdom that will help your game? For today’s article, I dug through Upswing’s…

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3 Concepts That Should Shape Your Postflop Strategy

By Dan B.

Are you familiar with positional, range, and nut advantages in poker? These concepts will help you shape your postflop strategy…

From Satellite to Chip Leader: A Day 1 Among the Poker Elite in a $26,000 Event

By Leo Song-Carrillo

I am a mid-stakes MTT player. Frankly, I have no business going toe to toe with the poker elite. But…

3 Reasons Solvers Check Top Pair Out of Position in Tournaments

By Leo Song-Carrillo

You flopped a pair. In fact, the strongest kind. Even the highest ranking. Now it’s time to work out exactly…

Mastering Preflop 3-Bets: Value, Bluffs, and Exploits

By Dan B.

3-betting preflop is a fundamental strategy for winning at poker. Getting it right is also easier than ever, thanks to…

Slowplaying in MTTs: Three Spots Where It Prints Chips

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Slowplaying a big hand isn’t optimal… usually. When you have a big hand, you want to make the pot big.…

MTT Survival Guide: The Right Way to Defend Against Turn Probes

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Well, you checked back the flop like an intelligent, disciplined, strong poker player. But now they’re reaching for chips… They’re…

PR0DIGY vs Riggedeck: A $35,000 Hand Breakdown from the Cash Game World Championship

By Dan B.

As we steam ahead with the 2025 Cash Game World Championship (CGWC), I am going to break down a hand…

LLinusLLove vs Kevin Paqué in a CGWC High-Stakes Showdown

By Dan B.

We got a blast from the past in this article. Well, it’s not quite so far back in the past,…

Check-Raised the Flop? Here’s What to Do When the Turn Pairs

By Dan B.

In the previous part of this series, we looked at how to approach unpaired brick turns. Now it’s time to…

We’re Cutting Prices for Cyber Monday (25% Off Everything)

By Mike Brady

The 2025 Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale is over. We’ll see you 2026 with more sales and more killer…

5 Situations Where C-Betting Will Burn You

By Dan B.

C-betting is a fundamental part of playing good, solid, winning poker. There are many situations where c-betting frequently is the…

Unleash Your Potential with Lucid Poker

By Duncan Smith

This will change your poker game for the better. Lucid Poker Version 3.0 launches on November 10, offering a faster,…

5 Solver Strategies That Crush in Theory (and Crash in Real Life)

By Duncan Smith

If you’ve spent any time studying with solvers, you know how powerful they are. Tools like Upswing’s Lucid Poker can…

Outplaying the Reckless Player: Mastering Turn Probes After Missed C-Bets

By Dan B.

In the first part of the series, I covered the most common opponent type – the risk-averse player profile. In…

The Hidden Mechanics of C-Betting: Lessons from Phemo

By Leo Song-Carrillo

What Is a C-Bet? A continuation bet, or c-bet, is a follow-up bet made by the player who took the…

What to Do After You Check-Raise the Flop and the Turn Bricks Out

By Dan B.

In this part of the series, we’re going to cover how to play on blank turns. We’ll start with the…

MTT Preflop Strategy: Turning Flat-Calls from Leak to Weapon

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Most losing players aren’t bleeding money because of massive, obvious mistakes. It’s the small, repeated errors that make or break…

Your Opponent Checked Back—Here’s How to Capitalize (Part I)

By Dan B.

Over the years, I’ve mostly focused on how to play as the aggressor, particularly on the flop. That stage is…

Check or Bet? How to Build Strong Flop Check-Back Strategies in Tournaments

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Let’s face it. Checking back stinks, doesn’t it? It can feel even worse than folding — the most cowardly act…

Edge-Passing in Poker: When Folding Profitable Hands Is the Right Play

By Leo Song-Carrillo

“Gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” – Kenny Rogers Folding AKo to cold 4bet 5-handed…

Deep vs Shallow Study: The Key to Rapid Poker Improvement

By Uri Peleg

Uri Peleg is arguably the best poker coach in the world. He just released a game-changing course called Upswing Lab…

How To Play Overcard Turns After Check-Raising the Flop (Advanced Strategy)

By Dan B.

I’ve covered flush-closing and straight-closing turns so far in this series. Now it’s time to shift focus to overcards. While…

(Sneak Peek) Lab 2.0 is Your Path to Poker Mastery

By Duncan Smith

Ready to destroy weaker recreational players and come out on top against your fellow regulars? Upswing Lab 2.0 (coming September…

The Population Leak You Can’t Ignore: Overfolding vs Raises in 3-Bet Pots

By Dan B.

In-Position Raising In 3-Bet Pots as the Preflop Caller (Part II) Part II – Practical Applications As I mentioned in…

Building Bluffing Ranges Like the Pros: A Guide to Smarter 3-Bets

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Today, solid preflop strategies are part of the tournament poker zeitgeist. (Don’t worry—set-mining doesn’t make you a fish.) That said,…

LLinusLLove vs. AbsoluteTopUp: A Masterclass in Flush Draw Dynamics

By Dan B.

I’ve got a hand straight from the Cash Game World Championship hosted by CoinPoker. This one features Linus “LLinusLL0ve” Loeliger…

The Forgotten Line: How to Maximize Profit as the Preflop Caller in 3-Bet Pots

By Dan B.

In-Position Raising In 3-Bet Pots as the Preflop Caller Part I – Theory Primer: The Forgotten Line That sounded mysterious…

Top Pair, Bad Kicker? Here’s the Right Way to Play It

By Dan B.

This article shares strategic advice from Uri Peleg on how to play top pairs with a weak kicker. The insights…

Beyond the Flop Overbet: Elite-Level Turn Play Explained (Part 1)

By Dan B.

The flop overbet c-bet is a highly advanced strategy that only a small number of players have implemented, and even…

Beyond Raw Equity: Unlocking the True Value of Your Poker Hands

By Dan B.

If you’ve been reading my strategy articles for a while, you may have noticed that I often talk about realized…

(Sneak Peek) Road to Victory: The Ultimate Poker Tournament Course

By Mike Brady | May 9, 2023

If you’re a serious tournament poker player, read on. Two of the world’s best poker pros have combined forces to…

$10K Buy-In Super Millions Review (ft. Darren Elias & Nick Petrangelo)

By Mike Brady | May 5, 2023

Darren Elias Uses Bet Sizing Tell to Win $127,680 (Analysis)

By Geoffrey Fisk | April 28, 2023

Four-time World Poker Tour champion Darren Elias is a master of catching on to opponents’ tendencies and exploiting that information…

Poker Site Owner Double Check-Raises In $100,000 Buy-in Tournament (Analysis)

By Geoffrey Fisk | April 14, 2023

The text below is based on the video above. Sebastian Gaehl found himself in quite a juicy spot at the…

Should Tom Dwan Fold Pocket Queens In This $1 Million Buy-In Hand?

By Geoffrey Fisk | April 7, 2023

The text below is based on the video above. Imagine playing a €1 million buy-in tournament with 300 big blinds…

Upswing’s New Poker Strategy Advisor Won $1M+ Playing Cash Games

By Geoffrey Fisk | February 7, 2023

Doug Polk calls him “the greatest poker mind I’ve ever met.” And that’s why Upswing Poker has hired Fabian “Frabb”…

3 Spots to Use Tiny Bet Sizes in Cash Games

By Dan B. | November 11, 2022

The best poker players in the world have a seemingly unlimited amount of weapons in their arsenal. One of those…

How to Play Nut Flush Draws in Cash Games

By Dan B. | November 1, 2022

I freaking love flopping the nut flush draw. It’s such a strong draw and you can expect to win pretty…

Sneak Peek Inside Smash Live Cash with Nick Petrangelo (ft Brad Owen)

By Mike Brady | October 12, 2022

Want to maximize your winnings at the live cash game tables? Read on. Taught by elite poker pro Nick Petrangelo,…

Doug Polk Does The Thing He Said To Never Do (Analysis)

By Mike Brady | August 19, 2022

Doug once said “don’t fold sets” in No Limit Hold’em… …but apparently he was being hyperbolic because that’s exactly what…

Why You Should NOT Chop When Deep In A Tournament

By Patrick Harvey | July 22, 2022

If you have ever made a deep run in a tournament, you may have been asked “Do you want to…

Play Like a Pro When The Turn Pairs The Middle Card

By Dan B. | June 28, 2022

When the turn card pairs the board in a heads-up pot, the dynamic between the players changes greatly. This article…

How to Conquer Aggressive Poker Players (5 Exploit Tips)

By Jake Godshall | April 20, 2022

(Note: Video not loading? Click here to watch it on YouTube or read on for a written version.) Have you…

How You Should Play Four Flush Boards (But Probably Don’t)

By Jake Godshall | April 15, 2022

(Note: Video not loading? Click here to watch it on YouTube or read on for a written version.) Boards with…

How to Crush the Guy Who Always C-Bets

By Jake Godshall | April 8, 2022

Have you ever played against a player who seems to continuation bet (c-bet) every hand? This article will help you…

When to Turn Your Low Pocket Pairs into Bluffs

By Dan B. | February 11, 2022

When you hold a low pocket pair, you miss the flop most of the time… …but that doesn’t mean you…

What is Unblocking in Poker & Why Does it Matter?

By Dan B. | February 4, 2022

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of blockers, which have been all the rage in poker for a few years now……

The 5 Best Poker Strategy Articles of 2021

By Mike Brady | December 30, 2021

If you want to crush your poker games in 2022, read on. These 5 must-read articles published on the poker…

The 5 Best Poker Hand Reviews of 2021

By Mike Brady | December 25, 2021

If you like expert poker hand analysis, you’ve come to the right place. The Upswing Poker team is constantly on…

The Final Hand of the 2021 WSOP Main Event (Analysis)

By Mike Brady | November 24, 2021

High stakes poker pro versus fearless amateur… It’s a matchup that happens daily on poker tables around the world. But…

We’re Slashing Prices for Black Friday & Cyber Monday [25% Off]

By Patrick Harvey | November 18, 2021

Have you considered upgrading your poker skills with one of Upswing’s best-selling courses? It’s time to get off the fence…

What is the Poker Game Tree & Why Does It Matter?

By Dan B. | June 2, 2021

Learning poker is a gradual process. You start by learning about your hand strength and play poker without factoring in…

3 Micro Stakes Players Pick Up Premium Hands in 3-Bet Pots (Analysis)

By Dan B. | May 7, 2021

Improving at poker is easier when you’re surrounded by like-minded people. That’s why those of us at Upswing Poker take…

Bizarre Multiway Pot Between 3 High Stakes Regs ($28,350 Pot Analysis)

By Dan B. | April 16, 2021

Nosebleed online poker has been active in 2021. We’ve been tracking some of the craziest hands, as you can see…

3 River Bluffing Tips That Will Help You Smash Cash Games

By Dan B. | April 6, 2021

Bluffing is the most fun part of poker for some people. For others, it’s the most terrifying part. On the…

How to Print Money on Paired Flops as the Preflop Raiser

By Jake Godshall | March 19, 2021

Playing well on paired boards is crucial in order to maximize your win-rate. To help with this, cash game pro…

What Is Equity Distribution & Why Does It Matter?

By Dan B. | February 23, 2021

There’s no doubt about it: Poker has gotten tougher over the years. There are many concepts that shape modern strategy…

The 100 Most Valuable Poker Strategy Articles for 2021

By Patrick Harvey | January 27, 2021

Hopefully you’ve taken advantage of all the great strategy content that’s available here at Upswing. But in case you’ve missed…

How To Play Ace-King On A Middling Flop After 3-Betting

By Tomas Molcan | September 11, 2020

Raise your hand if you feel like every time you 3-bet with AK, the flop brings three undercards. 3-bet pots…

[QUIZ] Can You Ace 10 Super Tough Poker Questions?

By Mike Brady | August 28, 2020

There are dozens of poker quizzes here on Upswing Poker. Over the past few days, my team and I sifted…

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Poker Training Course: Upswing Lab 2.0

Enjoying the free strategy articles, but want to take your game to the next level? Upswing has a poker training path for you in the new Lab 2.0, the Mastery Path has advanced curriculum from some of the world's best coaches including Uri Peleg and Qing Yang. Lab 2.0 gives you a clear path to sharper and more profitable play.

Enjoying the free strategy articles, but want to take your game to the next level? Upswing has a poker training path for you in the new Lab 2.0, the Mastery Path has advanced curriculum from some of the world's best coaches including Uri Peleg and Qing Yang. Lab 2.0 gives you a clear path to sharper and more profitable play.