Cash Games Archives - Upswing Poker

Single Board Bomb Pots – The Complete NLH Strategy Guide

On this page What Is a Single-Board Bomb Pot? Where You’ll Find Them Why Bomb Pots Play Differently Flop Strategy: Small, Tight, and Linear Turn and River Strategy Shallow Stacks Change the Math Four Common Leaks The Takeaway What Is a Single-Board Bomb Pot? Quick definition A single-board bomb pot is a No-Limit Hold’em hand…

3 Common Spots Where Poker Players Aren’t Aggressive Enough

Passivity gets a bad connotation in general, and it’s for a good reason. Passivity means accepting what happens without active response, initiative or resistance. Do you think we would’ve gotten where we are as a civilization if we had passively accepted our ancient state of living? Absolutely not. We were aggressive about improving our individual…

3 Hidden River Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

The river is the street where the gap between what you see in GTO models and what happens in reality is the largest. GTO strategy is risk-neutral. You’re not. This is the core issue that drives most of your mistakes. In this article, I am going to break down 3 river mistakes you’re making and…

3 Flop Mistakes You’re Making Without Knowing It

The flop is the second most common node you will play (after preflop), and decisions here have big ramifications for how the rest of the hand plays out. Betting or checking, calling or raising with a certain hand means that you’re going to face an entirely different range on the following streets. Not only does…

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

This hand comes from Garrett Adelstein’s book, Beneath the Cards, which was released today, September 1st! The memoir goes beyond the action to explore the triumphs, setbacks, missteps, and lessons that shaped his poker career. In the hand, Garrett’s reputation as one of poker’s most honorable players becomes a liability in a way he never…

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

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein has Kh Kc in a 4-bet pot; the flop comes 9-high, and there are no real draws to speak of. For most players, that’s all that needs to be said. The money is going in, and a cooler in a 1,000bb pot is inevitable. But…

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

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had already become one of the biggest winners on Hustler Casino Live when he played this epic hand in September 2022. He knew his pocket queens were no good on this river. Aaron Zhang had just overbet $15,000 on the river, and the board had run out…

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

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had already become one of the biggest winners on Live at the Bike when he played one of the most consequential hands of his career in March 2018. The game was $100/$200 with a $200 ante, and Garrett and regular opponent Art Papazyan were roughly…

How Garrett Adelstein Used a Weak Player to Bluff Patrik Antonius

Garrett vs Antonius River Bluff Article Header

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein had not played poker in more than a year when he sat down in a $100/$200/$400 game with a $200 ante in December 2023. Rather than ease back in, he immediately found himself in a massive pot against Patrik Antonius, a player he admired growing…

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

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Garrett Adelstein recently broke down a fascinating hand against Tom Dwan from a $200/$200/$400 ($200 big blind ante) cash game in 2021. Watch Garrett’s video on YouTube. The hand has all the ingredients you’d expect from these two creative and aggressive players. Garrett takes an unusual preflop…

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

Sizing your bets optimally on the turn can help you win more money when you are ahead and lose less when you are behind. Knowing when to choose one size over the other is thus important for maximizing your win-rate. There are many ways to reach the turn (in position vs out of position, single…

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

I shouldn’t be giving this away for free, but you’re getting lucky today. If you want to make money playing poker, you have to craft your strategy in a way that takes advantage of certain deficiencies in your opponents’ way of playing. In this article, I’m not going to go down the rabbit hole of…

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

By Duncan Smith · Online Cash Game Pro Some poker hands become memorable because of the money. Others stick around because of the players involved, the table dynamic, and whatever history happens to be sitting underneath the surface. This one has all of that. In February 2022, Garrett Adelstein and Dylan Gang played one of…

Garrett Adelstein Analyzes a Massive Bluff Gone Wrong

In today’s article, we’re going to get Garrett’s perspective on a hand he played on High Stakes Poker against and Daniel Negreanu. If you’d like more poker insights and want to delve further into Garrett’s mindset, you can preorder his book, Beneath the Cards. They’re playing $500/$1,000 with a $1,000 big blind ante, beginning the hand…

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 going to encounter them all over the place, often in double board formats. In these games, every player contributes to the pot preflop, and instead of a single board, two separate boards are dealt—each of…

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 that you just never see in everyday games. The hand we’ll talk about today is no different. Our featured players are TaxHere and Jasamgale, two of the very best in the world for many years.…