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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Lose Less, Win More: The Fundamentals of Big Blind Defense

By Leo Song-Carrillo

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. And in tournament poker, there are a lot of lemons. Being card…

Stop Playing GTO Against Blinds That Fold Too Much

By Dan B.

Contrary to popular belief, preflop No-Limit Hold’em is not “solved”. Not in the sense that we don’t have GTO sims…

Single Board Bomb Pots – The Complete NLH Strategy Guide

By Chad Burgess

On this page What Is a Single-Board Bomb Pot? Where You’ll Find Them Why Bomb Pots Play Differently Flop Strategy:…

3 Common Spots Where Poker Players Aren’t Aggressive Enough

By Dan B.

Passivity gets a bad connotation in general, and it’s for a good reason. Passivity means accepting what happens without active…

3 Hidden River Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

By Dan B.

The river is the street where the gap between what you see in GTO models and what happens in reality…

Garrett Adelstein’s 5 Live Poker Tips To Boost Your Win Rate

By Chad Burgess

Do you play live poker? Then this one’s for you. Garrett Adelstein is the most feared livestream player of all…

Sneak Peek Inside Destroy Live Cash by Garrett Adelstein

By Chad Burgess

Most live pros wait for the fish to make a mistake. Garrett Adelstein attacks the whole table. Here’s how he…

3 Flop Mistakes You’re Making Without Knowing It

By Dan B.

The flop is the second most common node you will play (after preflop), and decisions here have big ramifications for…

Why Garrett Adelstein’s “I’ve Got It” Speech Play Backfired

By Duncan Smith

This hand comes from Garrett Adelstein’s book, Beneath the Cards, which was released today, September 1st! The memoir goes beyond…

Garrett Adelstein Had the Perfect Bluff-Catcher. He Folded Anyway.

By Duncan Smith

Garrett Adelstein had reached the river with Ks Jc on Jd 2d 2s 9h Kc and bet $25,000 for value…

Aces vs Kings, 500 Big Blinds Deep: Can Garrett Get Away?

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein has Kh Kc in a 4-bet pot; the flop comes…

Too Weak to Call, Strong Enough to Raise: Garrett Adelstein’s $60K Bluff

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had already become one of the biggest winners on Hustler…

Garrett Adelstein Was Sure His Opponent Couldn’t Bluff. He Was Wrong.

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had already become one of the biggest winners on Live…

How Garrett Adelstein Used a Weak Player to Bluff Patrik Antonius

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had not played poker in more than a year when…

Garrett vs Dwan: 4 Lessons From a High-Stakes Cash Game Hand

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein recently broke down a fascinating hand against Tom Dwan from…

Why Milestone Satellites Require a Different Poker Strategy

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Moneymaker. The Poker Boom. Do you know what they have in common? Satellite tournaments. Moneymaker’s historic run began in an…

3 Times You Should Bet Big on the Turn (And 3 Times You Shouldn’t)

By Dan B.

Sizing your bets optimally on the turn can help you win more money when you are ahead and lose less…

3 Cash Game Exploits That Print Against Today’s Regs (Backed By Data)

By Dan B.

I shouldn’t be giving this away for free, but you’re getting lucky today. If you want to make money playing…

Mystery Bounty Strategy: How to Attack Once the Bubble Bursts

By Leo Song-Carrillo

A sigh of relief. A thrill of hope. Could this be the day? That’s how surviving a money bubble can…

Garrett Adelstein Breaks Down His $390K Payback Hand Against Dylan Gang

By Duncan Smith

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Some poker hands become memorable because of the money. Others stick around…

Unlocking the Mystery: Early Stage Mystery Bounty Tournament Strategy

By Leo Song-Carrillo

Over the last five years or so, Mystery Bounty tournaments (MBs) were introduced to the live poker ecosystem. They continue…

Daniel Dvoress Wins Three Triton Titles as Modern Tournament Mastery Launches

By Duncan Smith

Daniel Dvoress picked a pretty good time to have one of the best tournament runs of his career. With Modern…

How to Defend Against Large Flop C-Bets in Poker Tournaments

By Leo Song-Carrillo

By Leo Song-Carrillo · MTT Pro Being on the receiving end of a large flop c-bet can feel intimidating in…

Sneak Peek: Modern Tournament Mastery w/ Tim Adams & Dan Dvoress ft. Stephen Chidwick

By Duncan Smith

Tournament poker has a way of making every serious player feel behind at some point. You can study for months,…

Timothy Adams Breaks Down ChatGPT’s Poker Logic

By Duncan Smith

Timothy Adams and Mike Brady recently sat down to review a handful of hands played by Mike’s friend Stu, and…

How Timothy Adams Attacks from the Big Blind (And Why Most Players Don’t)

By Duncan Smith

One thing that becomes very clear early in Upswing’s Modern Tournament Mastery is that while the course is built by…

How Timothy Adams Approaches Deep Stack Tournament Poker

By Duncan Smith

Timothy Adams has spent years playing the toughest tournament fields in the world, and one thing comes through very clearly…

Four Doug Polk MTT Hands Reviewed by Two of The Best Tournament Players Ever

By Duncan Smith

Doug Polk built Upswing Poker, but he’s still best known as a heads-up cash game specialist. That’s what makes his…

Garrett Adelstein Analyzes a Massive Bluff Gone Wrong

By Duncan Smith

In today’s article, we’re going to get Garrett’s perspective on a hand he played on High Stakes Poker against and…

Sneak Peek Inside Crushing PLO Tournaments with Dylan Weisman

By Duncan Smith

PLO tournaments are still one of the softest formats in poker. The fields are weak, the prize pools are huge,…

Firing a Triple Barrel Bluff with 6♣️ 5♣️ on K-7-4 (Analysis)

By Dan B. | November 8, 2019

All of the world’s top poker players have something in common: they play extremely aggressively. Playing aggressively allows you to put tremendous pressure on your opponents, which oftentimes forces them to […]

How to Win Your Blind vs Blind Battles (as the Preflop Raiser)

By Dan B. | October 11, 2019

As I said in part 1 and part 2 of the series, blind vs blind battles are happening way more often than they used to. This means there is more money to be won in these increasingly common spots. The focus of this article is playing […]

How to React to a Check-Raise on the Turn: Theory vs Practice

By Dan B. | August 9, 2019

If facing a turn check-raise has ever made you hate life, this is the article for you. We are about…

Bluff-Raising the River with $38,381 on the Line (Analysis)

By Mike Brady | July 5, 2019

You’re about to improve your final table skills with Nick Petrangelo’s third and final free strategy video before the release of his new course High Stakes MTT Sessions. Nick starts the video with a short walkthrough of the course, then moves on to a […]

Super High Rollers BATTLE on the Money Bubble (Analysis)

By Mike Brady | June 28, 2019

As promised, Nick Petrangelo is back to help you improve your tournament skills. The focus of this hand review video is blind versus blind strategy, but some money bubble-related concepts come up as well. Enjoy! Ready for video #3 covering a big final […]

Advance Your Multiway Skills with Nick Petrangelo (Free Video)

By Mike Brady | June 21, 2019

High stakes tournament BOSS Nick Petrangelo is here to bolster your multiway pot game. He’s also got a special announcement about a new project he’s been working on. Watch below! […]

When a WSOP Champ Called All-in with Ten-High (Analysis)

By Mike Brady | May 10, 2019

With 5 players left in the 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, Ryan Riess and Manig Loeser played a hand that shocked poker fans around the world. Here’s what the stacks looked like before the hand was dealt: Riess started the hand as by far the shortest […]

When to Avoid a Solver’s “GTO” Plays

By Dan B. | April 19, 2019

I was just listening to a podcast with Doug Polk and Andres “Educa-p0ker” Artinano. This quote from Andres stood out…

The Only Two Valid Reasons to Bet in Poker (Every Other Reason is Wrong)

By Dan B. | March 29, 2019

Why do we bet? This question has fascinated the best poker players for decades now. The legendary David Sklansky probably…

How to Win More Chips When Out of Position in 3-Bet Pots

By Dan B. | March 15, 2019

Like I said in part 1 of this series, a quick way to increase your win-rate is to improve your…

When Should You Bet on the Flop After 3-Betting?

By Dan B. | March 8, 2019

A quick way to increase your win-rate is to improve your c-betting strategy in 3-bet pots. This article series will…

This Poker “Cheat Code” Will Help You Win More Hands

By Mike Brady | February 8, 2019

You’re about to learn about a powerful play that was kept secret for years by elite poker pros. It’s called…

[QUIZ] Which Upswing Poker Training Course is Made for You?

By Mike Brady | December 24, 2018

Have you considered upgrading your skills with an Upswing Poker training course? Read on! Take this quick quiz to find out which course is best for your poker playing needs, or keep scrolling for a breakdown of each course. […]

3 Spots You Should Actually Consider Minimum Defense Frequency (And 3 Spots You Shouldn’t)

By Dan B. | November 30, 2018

Poker theory can baffle new players, partly because they have preconceived notions about the game — they’ll say things like,…

Pros and Cons of 66% & 100% Pot-Sized C-Bets (The Ultimate Guide, Part 2)

By Nico Schwarz | November 9, 2018

Ready to bolster your flop c-betting skills? Today you’re going to learn the advantages and disadvantages of two common flop…

What Flop C-Bet Size Should You Use in Cash Games? (The Ultimate Guide, Part 1)

By Nico Schwarz | November 2, 2018

Here’s a situation you’ve probably faced many times. You are playing a $0.50/$1.00 cash game. The action folds to you…

Stop Letting Your Poker Ego Cost You Money & Happiness

By Konstantinos "Duncan" Palamourdas | October 9, 2018

What’s going on, Upswing fam? Today we’re mixing things up with a guest post that aims to help you with…

10 Must-See Strategy Chats from the Upswing Community

By Dan B. | September 14, 2018

Join the Upswing Community YOUR NEW POKER STRATEGY GROUP Connect with thousands of players, share hands, get coached, and level…

5 Can’t-Miss Insights from an Online Cash Game Juggernaut

By Dan B. | September 4, 2018

We Lab members are truly fortunate. We get to watch a top online cash game player, Fried “mynameiskarl” Meulders, play…

3 Strategic Mistakes to Avoid in Tournaments with Nick Petrangelo

By Mike Brady | August 27, 2018

Meet the latest elite player to join the Upswing team: Nick Petrangelo. Nick is a tournament crusher who you’ve probably…

Stop Tanking: 5 Reasons Why Playing Faster Will Make You Richer & Happier

By Jimmy Fricke | August 21, 2018

Trends in live poker seem to come and go overnight. One that hasn’t gone away yet, unfortunately, is slow play…

How to Make Profitable Decisions Against Any Bet Size (Minimum Defense Frequency vs Pot Odds)

By Dan B. | August 3, 2018

Faced with a bet, you can react in one of three ways: call, fold, or raise. It’s usually pretty apparent…

Can You 10/10 OtB_RedBaron’s Strategy? — Advanced Poker Quiz

By Dan B. | July 31, 2018

‘Otb_Redbaron’ is considered one of, if not the best 6-max player right now, and Upswing’s own Andres Artinano (‘Educa-p0ker’) has been battling him for years. In fact, Andres built his strategy by studying the Baron’s strategy, and he […]

How to Analyze Your Poker Hands Effectively in 5 Minutes

By Dan B. | July 27, 2018

(If Google sent you here to find out what beats what in poker, check out our guide to poker hands.)…

How to Beat the Guy Who Is Always Betting — Countering an Aggressive Poker Strategy

By Dan B. | July 24, 2018

Geez, this guy just won’t stop betting. I just need to be patient, wait for a strong hand, and then…

When Should You Continue Barreling on a Brick Turn Card?

By Dan B. | June 29, 2018

If you’ve ever been confused on the turn after c-bet-bluffing on the flop, then this article is for you. Knowing…

Stop Fearing Triple Barrels with this Professional Approach

By Dan B. | April 27, 2018

Let’s be honest: we all sigh when an opponent fires that dreadful triple barrel, putting us to the test both…

How to Check-Raise on the River Like a Pro

By Dan B. | April 17, 2018

It’s difficult to play out-of-position as the preflop caller. In this scenario our opponent, the preflop raiser, has both a…

4 GTO Myths That Way Too Many Poker Players Believe

By George Mathias | February 27, 2018

GTO? More like GT-NO! Today we’ll be debunking 4 big myths about game theory optimal poker strategy, or “GTO,” as…

3 Can’t-Miss Insights from a Cash Game Millionaire

By George Mathias | February 20, 2018

One of the best players to ever grace the 6-max cash game format, Andres “Educa-p0ker” Artinano, is here to drop…

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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.