There’s Big Money in 4-Bet & 5-Bet Pots

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Most NLHE players have a pretty good idea of how and when to 3-bet their opponents preflop. If you can believe it, there was a time where most players would 3-bet only if they had Aces or Kings, and rarely any other times. As the game evolved players quickly realized that employing 3-bets preflop more…

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Should I Play Cash Games or Tournaments?

jamie gold illusory superiority

One of the most frequently asked questions you’ll hear from aspiring poker pros is whether to focus on tournament poker strategy or cash game poker strategy. Which one should you choose? Well, both are good and viable in today’s poker world. You can pick either one and be profitable with enough work and commitment.  They…

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3 Poker Tips and Strategies from Upswing Coaches

bracelet photo of upswing coaches poker tips and strategies

(Photo copyright: Antonio Abrego) Pro poker tips and strategies have never been as plentiful as they are today. You can’t spend more than an hour in the poker corner of the internet without getting information that would be considered advanced poker training back in the 90’s. From poker blogs to poker training websites, we live in…

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How to 3-Bet (Like a Boss) in Heads Up No Limit

3-bet HUNL featured

A 3-Bet is the act of reraising a pot preflop that has already been raised by another player. The objective of 3-Betting is to extract value when your opponent calls and deny them their equity when they fold. Constructing proper 3-Betting ranges is especially crucial in heads up games given the positional disadvantage of the 3-Bettor. Since you must…

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REVEALED: Pot Odds vs Implied Odds

Pot Odds and Implied Odds When Facing a Bet To many tournament players’ chagrin, pot odds in poker do not refer to how likely you are to score some weed on dinner break. To be a consistently winning poker player it is crucial to have a complete understanding of how to calculate and take advantage of pot…

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Why You Are On A Downswing

Variance is very good at tricking the human brain. Things that seem unlikely, highly improbable, or impossible happen all the time, whether in poker, in the weather report, or even in a professional basketball game. The highly improbable occurred recently in the National Basketball Association. The Golden State Warriors lost to the Los Angeles Lakers…

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How To Play Winning Poker

It doesn’t matter if you’re a recreational card player who enjoys a game once a month, or an aspiring pro spending hours grinding out profits every day… But I’m guessing you always knew truly successful players do something different than the rest. Some say it’s ‘natural instinct’… Others put it down to years of practice… practice……

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How To Use Your Opponent’s Ego Against Them

Check your ego at the card room door. Language is a powerful tool, and it can be used for or against you. Do you ever let ego affect the way to speak to others at the table? Your words often reveal truths about yourself, for better or worse. Consider Jordan, who suffers greatly from his ego…

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Pro Tip: Don’t Always Continuation Bet

Many players new to poker learn that if they raise preflop and continuation bet the flop, they can often times win the pot right there. This is a very straightforward and simplistic approach to how to play the game. The problem is that when players do this as they are still learning the game, they…

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Pro Tip: Never “Raise For Information”

When I sit down at a poker table there are some mistakes I’m guaranteed to see. Raising for information is one of the most common one, especially among amateur players.  Let’s take a look together at a very common situation: Middle Position raises. Cut off calls. We call on the button with [KQ]. Blinds fold. Flop [Ks-5s-4h] Middle Position bets. Cut…

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The Top 7 Reasons to Defend Your Big Blind

big blind

(Art by Ben Wooten) Sometimes I feel like my big blind is under attack from a fire breathing dragon… How many times have you looked down in the big blind at yet another weak hand? You just wanted to get some good hands and try to win a big pot. Now you are in the big…

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5 Reasons to SHUT Your Big Mouth

“Wow you got your money in great there, nice suck out fish!” Ever hear this or similar tirades from a player who looks like his head is going to explode? Me too! Don’t be that guy; it will hurt your image and your wallet. Here are some ways in which the comment above can have…

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Good Bankroll Management is Critical to Poker Success

bankroll management

“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”  – Mark Twain I would go as far as to say that the Poker version of this, is that bad bankroll management decision making is the root of a lack of money. Maybe that’s a stretch, but the importance of good bankroll management cannot be…

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How to Listen for Keywords That Reveal Your Opponent’s Leaks

Stereotypes can be effective for guessing a player’s tendencies, but keywords are far more accurate. One thing all players should try to do at the table is listen for “trigger” words that reveal how someone approaches the game. The type of trigger I’ll focus on in this article is absolute statements. Then, I’ll go over…

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How To Think About Poker Ranges Like a Pro

Do you know how to think about poker ranges? In this article, I will take you step-by-step through the very same process responsible for my poker success. First things first, let’s start by defining a poker range: A range is a combination of hands a player might have at a given time. Thinking about what…

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