Intermediate Poker Strategy Articles
Popular Intermediate Articles
5 Situations Where C-Betting Will Burn You
C-betting is a fundamental part of playing good, solid, winning poker. There are many situations where c-betting frequently is the…
Top 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…
Where 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,…
All Intermediate Poker Articles
Play More Hands, Win More Pots: 5 Tips for PLO MTT Success
Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) tournaments are a completely different animal from No-Limit Hold’em. If you try to carry over your standard…
Push Fold Charts for Poker Tournaments, Plus More Advanced Strategies
Note: Updated February 2026. For the original article and charts scroll to the bottom. In the mid-2010s, the emergence of…
How to Play the Turn After Range Checking the Flop (Part 1)
Some time ago, I wrote about a few spots where checking your entire range on the flop is the right…
3-Bet Preflop Strategy with Updated Range Charts
3-betting preflop is a fundamental strategy for winning at poker. Getting it right is also easier than ever, thanks to…
PR0DIGY vs Riggedeck: A $35,000 Hand Breakdown from the Cash Game World Championship
As we steam ahead with the 2025 Cash Game World Championship (CGWC), I am going to break down a hand…
We’re Cutting Prices for Cyber Monday (25% Off Everything)
The 2025 Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale is over. We’ll see you 2026 with more sales and more killer…
Unleash Your Potential with Lucid Poker
This will change your poker game for the better. Lucid Poker Version 3.0 launches on November 10, offering a faster,…
Deep 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…
(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…
LLinusLLove 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…
Top 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…
Where 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,…
3 Preflop Exploits That Work in Live Championship Events
The biggest live tournament of the year is underway. Whether you’re in the mix or just railing the action, there’s…
Should You Play Like a Nit Preflop?
A player recently asked: “If only a minority of preflop hands make the majority of the money, why should I…
How Elite Poker Pros Play Pocket Kings Postflop
Everyone gets a nice hit of dopamine and adrenaline when they’re dealt pocket Kings. Your unconscious mind expects a big…
5 Tips for Improving Your Skills with PokerTracker
In this article, I’m going to share five ways you can use PokerTracker to improve your game. I’ve been a…
Limps in Poker: The Ultimate Guide to Crushing Open Limpers
Think of limpers as your most valuable customers. Every time you see someone limp into the pot, you’re being handed…
5 Preflop Tips to Help You Crush on ClubWPT Gold
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new poker site available to most residents of the USA. It’s called ClubWPT…
3 Tips to Make Your Opponents Regret Raising Your Big Blind
Playing well out of the Big Blind (BB) is essential. The pots you play after defending your BB might be…
3 Money-Making Exploits That Work in 99% of Poker Games
Whether to attempt to play a game theory optimal (GTO) strategy has been a hot topic in the poker world…
3 Pro Tips for Playing Overpairs (via Lucid Poker)
Are you maximizing your winnings with overpairs? Playing them correctly can mean the difference between extracting max expected value (EV)…
5 Tips For Check-Raising The Flop (via Lucid Poker)
Check-raising is an essential skill to master. In this article, I’ll share 5 key tips for check-raising on the flop…
How to Exploit Maniac Poker Players
Note: The new Lucid Poker channel will be posting helpful videos like this regularly. Click here to subscribe! Once again,…
What Top Poker Pros Already Know About 4-Betting
You’re about to learn how professional poker players approach 4-betting. You’ll find the answers to these key questions in this…
Quads vs Full House in High Stakes Poker Game
Even the best poker players in the world deal with brutal bad beats. This hand features two powerhouse players going…
How To Play Underpairs in Cash Games
It sucks when your pocket pair misses the flop, especially when you’re looking at three overcards. But you shouldn’t always…
Top Poker Pro Borrows Common Low Stakes Tactic ($99,136 Pot)
Let’s visit the top of the poker food chain! The following hand took place in an online nosebleed $500/$1,000 ($200…
Nightmare for Pocket Aces! Huge Hands Collide in Massive Pot
Sometimes losing a massive pot is avoidable; sometimes it isn’t. Let’s take a look at a huge pot from a…
When Should You Set Mine with a Pocket Pair? These 5 Tips Will Clear Things Up.
You call a raise with pocket sevens and stare anxiously as the dealer reveals the flop… Queen… Jack… SEVEN! As…
What Is Showdown Value & Why Does It Matter?
Understanding showdown value is one key to becoming a winning poker player. It is a fundamental concept that shapes postflop…
ICM vs Chip Leader: How Dylan Weisman Navigates a Tough PLO Final Table Spot
In this preview from his upcoming Crushing PLO Tournaments course on Upswing, Dylan Weisman walks through a hand from a…
Play More Hands, Win More Pots: 5 Tips for PLO MTT Success
Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) tournaments are a completely different animal from No-Limit Hold’em. If you try to carry over your standard…
How Double Board Bomb Pots Actually Work (And Why Most Players Get Them Wrong)
Bomb pots have become a staple in modern poker. Whether you’re playing in private games, apps, or live settings, you’re…
Inside a $30K CGWC Pot: TaxHere vs Jasamgale Hand Analysis
The 2025 Cash Game World Championship (CGWC) has provided us with many jaw-dropping hands, with players taking lines with hands…
5 Things You Should Be Doing BvB (But Probably Aren’t)
In poker, particularly online, where blind-versus-blind (BVB) situations arise frequently, developing a strong BVB strategy is essential to maintaining a…
When Betting Bigger Is the Solver-Approved Play In Tournaments
Big hand. Big bet. Usually. In the pre-solver era, continuation betting for half pot was fairly common, if not the…
Inside a Championship Hero Call: A Street-by-Street Analysis from the 2025 CGWC
In this article, I am going to break down a big hero call that went down in the 2025 Cash…
The River Block Bet: Why Small Bets Can Be Your Biggest Edge
The river block bet is a solver-derived discovery that revolutionized poker strategy. I will break down why that is and…
5 Situations Where C-Betting Is a Big Mistake in Poker Tournaments
C-betting is super effective in MTTs, so it’s no surprise that it happens so frequently. On average, after you open-raise,…
The Next Step After Range Checking: Turn Strategy (Part 2)
In the previous article in this series, you learned that low, connected boards are best played by checking your entire…
How to Play the Turn After Range Checking the Flop (Part 1)
Some time ago, I wrote about a few spots where checking your entire range on the flop is the right…
3 Concepts That Should Shape Your Postflop Strategy
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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)
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
Let’s face it. Checking back stinks, doesn’t it? It can feel even worse than folding — the most cowardly act…
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 to move from intermediate to advanced as you work beyond the Launch Pad and into the Mastery Path. Lessons are from some of the world's best coaches including Uri Peleg, Gary Blackwood, 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 to move from intermediate to advanced as you work beyond the Launch Pad and into the Mastery Path. Lessons are from some of the world's best coaches including Uri Peleg, Gary Blackwood, and Qing Yang. Lab 2.0 gives you a clear path to sharper and more profitable play.