12 Preflop Mistakes You Must Avoid to Move Up in Stakes [2nd Edition]

preflop poker mistakes you must avoid in no limit holdem

Poker is easy to learn but difficult to master, which I love! Players with well-thought-out and in-depth strategies are rewarded with easier decisions and a better bottom line. However, the complexity of poker also leads to many opportunities for potential mistakes. Preflop is the most played and important street in poker, so today we are going to…

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Make More Money in Big Blind vs Small Blind Battles

big blind vs small blind short stack

Modern Short-Stack Play (Part 4) This is the fourth and final part of this article series about modern shallow-stack play from the blinds. This time we’re focusing on playing blind vs blind situations in the big blind with a stack of 20 big blinds or less. I strongly recommend you to read the previous article…

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These 5 Common Mistakes Are Costing You Money

Poker chip values

Poker is a complex game. There’s more than one way to win, and the depth and variety of available strategies are what make the game so interesting. But with the variety comes the increased opportunity for potential mistakes. Let’s take a look at 5 of the most common mistakes made by poker players. If you…

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How To Combat Steals with a Tiny Stack

short stack 3-betting tournament strategy

Modern Short-Stack Play (Part 2) For years, poker books, articles and training videos taught us that we can’t flat a whole lot with shallow stacks because we don’t get to realize our equity that often. We still miss the flop around two thirds of the time, and when we don’t hit, we can’t really do…

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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 better player. However, to benefit as much as possible, it is important to set goals which are both useful and achievable. To give you an idea of some effective poker goals, here’s the top five…

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The Ultimate Guide to Big Blind Defense

cash game big blind

Modern Short Stack Play (Part 1) Over a decade of playing MTTs for a living, I’ve seen the game change in many ways. For example, back in 2010, open-raising to three times the big blind was considered standard. You could sometimes make it just 2.5x on the button, but 3x was the norm. Defending the…

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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 same time, and will see and play considerably more hands per hour than those who do not. Of course, there is justification for this: if you are proven to be a winning player at…

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My Unexploitable Preflop Opening Strategy Explained

preflop opening rfi raise first in strategy 2.25

Preflop is the most common and important street to get right. Having a solid preflop strategy that is well-considered and difficult to exploit is the foundation of any great player. If your preflop game is strong, it will set you up for profitable scenarios postflop and make your future decisions less difficult.  This article will…

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3 Bulletproof Poker Concepts Demonstrated by Ryan Fee

ryan fee ignition zone upswing lab

Want a sneak peek inside the Lab? You’ve come to the right place. Welcome to my new series Dissecting The Lab where I’ll be looking at specific videos from the Upswing Poker Lab and highlighting some of their interesting moments. Today we kick things off with the first half of Ryan Fee’s 2-part live action…

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The Ugly Truth About Staking in Poker

makeup poker staking

You’ve heard of staking. Or at least you probably have if you’ve spent any time with poker players. Over the last decade or so, poker staking has blown up, mostly in tournaments, but cash games as well. Done right, a poker staking deal can be beneficial for both parties, yet staking deals gone wrong have…

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

poker terminology check call bet raise fold

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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Why You Should Play More Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs)

mtt tournaments

When Multi Table Tournaments Brought the Fun Back Having recently given up poker as my full-time profession to focus on writing, coaching and growing my own poker strategy site, I have felt my love for MTTs – which had faded over the years due to the extreme time-commitment required – return in a way I…

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Stop Bleeding Money in Re Entry & Rebuy Tournaments

rebuy re entry tournament strategy

Not Your Grandma’s Freezeout Re entry and rebuy tournaments, also occasionally referred to as WEEEE!buy and WEEEE!Entry tournaments, are two poker tournament variants that have grown immensely in popularity as of late (especially Re Entrys). They occasionally garner the WEEEE! tags in homage to the lovely sound you make on a roller coaster ride thanks…

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How to Negotiate Final Table Deals Like a Pro

negotiating poker final table deals

Tournament poker deals aren’t something that come up often, but when they do their effect on your bottom line is massive. The high variance of poker tournaments understandably causes some players to seek insurance once it’s down to about four players. Nowadays, with the proliferation of events like the MicroMillions, inexperienced tournament players find themselves making…

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How To Adjust Against Any Player Type At Heads Up Hyper Turbos

player types adjustment poker

Let’s examine the different player types we’ll meet at the tables, as well as look at some basic heads-up strategy that we can employ against each one. But before we do that, it’s important to note that the strategies we discuss below will make big inferences and generalities in order to highlight certain concepts or…

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