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 […]

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How To Open-Raise In MTTs So The Big Blind Doesn’t Crush Your Soul

Parker Talbot aka tonkaaaap live on the felt.

MTTs are constantly evolving. New trends emerge, old tricks stop working as the fields learn to adjust, and so on. But while cash games and sit-and-goes are getting closer and closer to being solved by software and the like, MTTs remain the only format where exploitative play is where the money is. Sure, MTTs have…

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Does Your Poker Journey Feel Stuck? So Did Doug Polk’s

poker strategy articles 2017 doug polk stuck

Does your poker career feel stuck? Have you been playing in the same low- and mid-stakes games for what seems like forever, but now feel that your once-achievable poker goals are just pipe dreams? Do you feel like your love for the game keeps you playing, but that it’s ultimately pointless? You are not the…

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How to Check-Raise Like a High Stakes Poker Pro

poker terminology check call bet raise fold

Players that don’t check-raise are easy to beat. If you won’t check-raise me, there are only two possible outcomes when I bet: You fold and I win the pot You call and take a turn card out of position You therefore fold away all of your equity, or allow me to realize all of mine.…

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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 looser, bet more frequently and ultimately win more pots than an out of position player can. This article is about flop continuation bets(aka c-bets) in single raised pots– how to most effectively beat down your…

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When Should You Bet the Flop in Multi-Way Pots?

starting hands multiway

A unique approach is required to avoid spewing away your chips in multi-way pots. This is simply because as more players are in the hand, the raw equity of your range decreases. Just look at how much Ace-king’s equity suffers as more random players are added to the pot: That’s nearly a 26 percentage point…

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How to Bluff Your Straight Draws Like a High Stakes Pro

8d 7d on Js 9d 5c

Straight draws tend to make the best bluffs. And not just because of their chances of actually hitting a straight. Unlike flush draws, straight draws typically boast great implied odds because of their disguised nature. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, straight draws often block some of our opponent’s strongest hands on many board…

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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 are bluffing. Induce more calls when you are value betting. Make your hero calls correct more often. So, what is the secret weapon that high stakes pros take advantage of nearly every hand? It’s hand…

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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 play them aggressively. TAG poker worked like magic 10 years ago, when fishy players with loose pre-flop tendencies were a dime a dozen. Heck, even Mike McDermott recommended it to the professor in Rounders (1998).…

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How to Make Winning Adjustments in Low Stakes Games

Low and micro stakes poker is different… …but not as much as a lot of you guys seem to think. I saw countless comments during Doug Polk’s Bankroll Challenge like this: “How could Doug bluff there?! They NEVER fold at the micros.” This assumption may seem right to some of you, but assumptions have limits,…

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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. Just ten players left. One bust-out away from the final table. And you really, really don’t want to be that final table bubble boy walking away with 10th place money… …but could this be a…

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Overbetting All-In On the River Revealed

overbet doug polk river all-in

Hey guys! In this article we’re going to talk about a fun and highly exploitative strategy – going all-in on the river as an overbet. This is a powerful and effective play in the following scenarios: You have a range advantage over your opponent, and can therefore exploitatively bluff with a wide range. You have…

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The Beginner’s Guide to Opening the Button in Heads-Up No Limit

Doug Polk Message Las Vegas Tragedy

Heads-up poker is a whole new ball game. As there are only two players, ranges are dramatically wider in every situation. Quickly and efficiently adjusting your strategy to counter your opponent is crucial in heads-up no limit, moreso than any other game. If you use easily exploitable strategies at the wrong time, you will often…

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Doug Polk Answers Your 6 Best Questions About Pre-Flop Play

Doug Bluff Preflop

Pre-flop, where all of the mayhem that is no-limit hold’em begins. With the tough poker climate of 2017, a good pre-flop strategy is mandatory for long term success. In this article, I’ll be reviewing Doug Polk’s answers to 6 pre-flop related questions sent in by you, the Upswing readers. The questions cover the following topics:…

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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 Spin & Gos (generally known as Jackpot Sit & Gos). This relatively new game type has a lot in common, both good and bad, with multi-table tournaments: Opportunity for big wins Relatively easy competition High…

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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 […]

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