Poker Strategy
MTT Preflop Strategy: Turning Flat-Calls from Leak to Weapon
Most losing players aren’t bleeding money because of massive, obvious mistakes. It’s the small, repeated errors that make or break a career. Slow leaks chip away at your profits little by little. One of the biggest? Flatting too wide, and in the wrong spots. In today’s article, I’ll show you how to build solid, theory-driven,…
Read MoreYour Opponent Checked Back—Here’s How to Capitalize (Part I)
Over the years, I’ve mostly focused on how to play as the aggressor, particularly on the flop. That stage is critical because it sets the foundation for everything that follows. In this article, however, we’ll shift focus to situations where your opponent has passed on the chance to bet. These spots are rich with opportunity…
Read MoreCheck or Bet? How to Build Strong Flop Check-Back Strategies in Tournaments
Let’s face it. Checking back stinks, doesn’t it? It can feel even worse than folding — the most cowardly act in poker. At least when you check-fold, you never had the betting lead to begin with. Here, though? You talked a big game with your open-raise, only to start backpedaling once the flop hits. You…
Read MoreEdge-Passing in Poker: When Folding Profitable Hands Is the Right Play
“Gotta know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” – Kenny Rogers Folding AKo to cold 4bet 5-handed in WSOP Main Event. – Kenny Hallaert In today’s article, you’re going to learn what the two great Kennys know is one of the most important skills in tournament poker. While building big stacks is…
Read MoreDeep vs Shallow Study: The Key to Rapid Poker Improvement
Uri Peleg is arguably the best poker coach in the world. He just released a game-changing course called Upswing Lab 2.0 here (and today is your last chance to get the launch week 25% forever discount). To help you understand the insightful way Uri approaches poker, he wrote this article about a critical topic for…
Read MoreHow To Play Overcard Turns After Check-Raising the Flop (Advanced Strategy)
I’ve covered flush-closing and straight-closing turns so far in this series. Now it’s time to shift focus to overcards. While there’s some overlap between these three runout types, here I’ll be talking specifically about pure overcards. The dynamics are quite different from the earlier spots, as you’ll see in the sections ahead. As usual, I’ll…
Read More(Sneak Peek) Lab 2.0 is Your Path to Poker Mastery
Ready to destroy weaker recreational players and come out on top against your fellow regulars? Upswing Lab 2.0 will teach you how to do both while providing you with a clear path to poker mastery. Taught by high-stakes crusher and world-class poker coach Uri Peleg, this course takes you from wherever you are today and…
Read MoreThe Population Leak You Can’t Ignore: Overfolding vs Raises in 3-Bet Pots
In-Position Raising In 3-Bet Pots as the Preflop Caller (Part II) Part II – Practical Applications As I mentioned in the first part of this series, raising in position in 3-bet pots as the preflop caller is the most underplayed and misplayed high-frequency line in the entire game tree. In Part I, I focused on…
Read MoreBuilding Bluffing Ranges Like the Pros: A Guide to Smarter 3-Bets
Today, solid preflop strategies are part of the tournament poker zeitgeist. (Don’t worry—set-mining doesn’t make you a fish.) That said, the games are tougher. Even the best make mistakes—yes, even you, God’s gift to poker. If players are slipping up preflop in single-raised pots, you can bet (pun intended) they’re doing the same when a…
Read MoreLLinusLLove vs. AbsoluteTopUp: A Masterclass in Flush Draw Dynamics
I’ve got a hand straight from the Cash Game World Championship hosted by CoinPoker. This one features Linus “LLinusLL0ve” Loeliger and Armin “AbsoluteTopUp”—two of the top No-Limit Hold’em players in the world. The blinds are $50/$100 and—spoiler alert—the stacks are about to swap places. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it! Preflop Action AbsoluteTopUp…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Line: How to Maximize Profit as the Preflop Caller in 3-Bet Pots
In-Position Raising In 3-Bet Pots as the Preflop Caller Part I – Theory Primer: The Forgotten Line That sounded mysterious for a second, didn’t it? But this is an important line, one that’s greatly underutilized. And even when players do take it, they rarely execute it efficiently. In this article, I’ll break down why I’m…
Read MoreClubWPT Gold Acquires Upswing Poker
Redwood City, CA, August 1, 2025 – ClubWPT Gold today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Upswing Poker, a leading brand in the poker education space known for launching game-changing training products, including the Upswing Lab. The acquisition will integrate Upswing Poker’s suite of poker training resources with ClubWPT Gold, a top online poker site…
Read MoreTop Pair, Bad Kicker? Here’s the Right Way to Play It
This article shares strategic advice from Uri Peleg on how to play top pairs with a weak kicker. The insights come from an upcoming video in which Uri breaks down this common but tricky hand class. Top pairs with weak kickers often lead players into tough spots. If you’ve found yourself unsure in these situations,…
Read MoreBeyond the Flop Overbet: Elite-Level Turn Play Explained (Part 1)
The flop overbet c-bet is a highly advanced strategy that only a small number of players have implemented, and even fewer are executing it optimally (meaning they’re using the correct range composition and applying the overbet on the right boards). However, for the purposes of this article, I’ll assume you’re already familiar with that and…
Read MoreBeyond Raw Equity: Unlocking the True Value of Your Poker Hands
If you’ve been reading my strategy articles for a while, you may have noticed that I often talk about realized equity. That adjective is used intentionally, and it makes a world of difference. In this article, I’m going to give you a comprehensive breakdown of what realized equity is, how it differs from raw equity,…
Read MoreWhere does the EV come from in poker?
Continuing on the idea from the article I wrote recently (Should You Play Like a Nit Preflop?), in this article, I am going to shift focus and give you a really quick, bird’s-eye view of where the expected value (EV) is coming from postflop. This article is also going to be based on an unreleased…
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