Tournament Poker Strategy Articles
Popular Tournament Poker Articles
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…
8 Quick MTT Tips to Help You Top the Leaderboard
The tournament grind is tough. You can go months without a solid score, all the while watching other players succeed…
All Intermediate Poker Articles
River Bets: How to Decide Which Hands to Call Down Vs Triple Barrel
It’s rarely fun to face a triple barrel — bets on the flop, turn and river. Small mistakes are magnified when the pot gets big, and pots are on average the biggest on the river. The results of one river decision can make or break a session. Against good players with relatively balanced […]
This Is Why You Should Use Small Bet Sizes
When I finished writing Applications of No Limit Hold’ em a bit over 4 years ago, my favorite concept to talk about was overbetting. In many ways, it’s still is my favorite topic. That’s because once the theory behind overbetting is laid out, the situations where overbetting is correct are usually […]
How To Open-Raise In MTTs So The Big Blind Doesn’t Crush Your Soul
MTTs are constantly evolving. New trends emerge, old tricks stop working as the fields learn to adjust, and so on.…
4 Tournament Poker Mistakes To Avoid (Infographic)
“Poker is a hard way to make an easy living” sums up the life of a poker pro perfectly. So…
Run Deep in More Live Tournaments by Preparing Like These Pros
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” -Seneca When we think about how to gain an edge at the…
Does Your Poker Journey Feel Stuck? So Did Doug Polk’s
Does your poker career feel stuck? Have you been playing in the same low- and mid-stakes games for what seems…
5 Poker Tournament Myths Way Too Many Players Believe
Everyone seems to have a strong opinion nowadays, and many people present their views as absolute truth. This is particularly…
Exclusive Preview: Tournament Master Class Training Course
Does being the best tournament player every time you sit at the table interest you? With assistance from Doug Polk,…
Print Money with Your Flop C-Bets In and Out of Position
Every poker player knows how much easier it is to play hands in position. In position players get to play…
The Top 4 Must-Visit Tournament Destinations in the US
One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of being a professional poker player is the opportunity to travel the…
How to Bluff Your Straight Draws Like a High Stakes Pro
Straight draws tend to make the best bluffs. And not just because of their chances of actually hitting a straight.…
Hand Combinations – The Secret Weapon Pros Use to Win More Money
High stakes poker players have a secret weapon. If used properly, this secret weapon will: Force more folds when you…
How to Play a Tight-Aggressive Style That Wins in Modern Games
What is a Tag in Poker? The concept of a tight-aggressive poker strategy is simple: play very few hands, but…
3 Tips for Crushing Rebuy Tournaments (Infographic)
More like WEEEEE!-buy tournaments, right guys?!?! Rebuy tournaments are fast, exciting and (usually) fun, but a lot of players bleed…
The 4 Dumbest Career-Ending Mistakes Tournament Players Make
Poker is a hard way to make an easy living. This perfectly sums up life as a professional poker player. On paper, though, making a living playing poker shouldn’t be so difficult. Granted, the games are tougher now than they have ever been, but I personally still see […]
How to Understand and Crush HUSNGs [2nd Edition]
Heads-up poker is sheer one-on-one competition. Every time you sit at the table you’re essentially telling a single opponent: “I’m…
What Really Makes a Tournament Structure “Good” and Profitable?
You’ve probably seen a tournament with a name like this… Super MEGA-Stack Tournament of Champions Poker Event “Wow,” you may…
How to Make Big Money on the Final Table Bubble
You’ve spent several hours (or possibly even days) playing in a tournament, and the finish line is finally within sight.…
Doug Polk Answers Your 6 Best Questions About Pre-Flop Play
Pre-flop, where all of the mayhem that is no-limit hold’em begins. With the tough poker climate of 2017, a good…
3 Tips for Crushing Jackpot Sit & Gos
Want to experience the excitement (and heartbreak) of poker tournaments without the huge time commitment? Then you should try some…
How to Crush Live Tournaments as an Online Player
Most online grinders find very little success when they take their first shot at a live tournament. We always talk about how TERRIBLE every live player seems to be, and then blame variance when we can’t beat them (or maybe that’s just me). The rules are […]
3 Poker Concepts Every Aspiring Pro Needs to Know
Poker used to be easy. It almost makes me sick to think about how much money was up for grabs…
Make More Money in Big Blind vs Small Blind Battles
Modern Short-Stack Play (Part 4) This is the fourth and final part of this article series about modern shallow-stack play…
How to Master Short-Stacked Small Blind Play in Blind vs Blind Battles
Modern Short-Stack Play (Part 3) I used to be pretty bad at shallow blind vs. blind play. I didn’t really know how to approach it – according to simulation tools, you could just open shove a ton of hands from the small blind, even with 20 big blinds, and make a profit. But then I’d […]
How To Combat Steals with a Tiny Stack
Modern Short-Stack Play (Part 2) For years, poker books, articles and training videos taught us that we can’t flat a…
5 Goals You Must Set to Succeed in Poker
Goal setting works. On the endless road to strengthen your poker game, giving yourself targets will help you become a…
The Ultimate Guide to Big Blind Defense
Modern Short Stack Play (Part 1) Over a decade of playing MTTs for a living, I’ve seen the game change…
Why Multi-Tabling Is Costing You Money
Multi-tabling is extremely common in the world of online poker. Many players will choose to sit at multiple tables at…
The Ugly Truth About Staking in Poker
You’ve heard of staking. Or at least you probably have if you’ve spent any time with poker players. Over the…
Daniel Negreanu is Stunned by Insanely Tiny Bet From Doug Polk (Hand Analysis)
“Who does this guy think he is!?” “Why do you get to criticize the great [INSERT OLD SCHOOL PLAYER HERE]?!…
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.
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