Posts Tagged ‘Live Poker’
How to Thin Value Bet Like a Veteran Pro (3 Tips for Thin Value Betting in Poker)
Value betting is how you’ll make most of your money at the tables. This is especially true against recreational players, who tend to be on the over-calling side of the spectrum. Today I am going to share 3 tips for thin value bets that will help you squeeze every last drop of cash from your opponents.…
Read More5 Tips for Staying Focused at the Poker Table
Being able to focus for extended periods of time is one of the most important skills a poker player can have. Better focus during sessions will increase your win-rate substantially, and it separates okay-to-good poker players from the great players. Giving the game your undivided attention might even be more important than figuring out your…
Read More3 Strategic Mistakes to Avoid in Tournaments with Nick Petrangelo
Meet the latest elite player to join the Upswing team: Nick Petrangelo. Nick is a tournament crusher who you’ve probably seen playing the world’s biggest buy-in tournaments. He’s 30th on the all-time money list, with cashes totaling about $16,000,000. In the past 4 months alone, he’s cashed for ~$5,700,000 and won his second WSOP bracelet.…
Read MoreStop Tanking: 5 Reasons Why Playing Faster Will Make You Richer & Happier
Trends in live poker seem to come and go overnight. One that hasn’t gone away yet, unfortunately, is slow play and excessive tanking. The following updated article, originally published in 2016, is a good reminder to slow players why they need play faster. — I’m angry. There was a time when No Limit Hold’em tournaments…
Read MoreHow to Crush Nits (10 Tactics That Win Against Tight Players)
What is a Nit? A “nit” is a player who doesn’t take any risks and only plays premium hands, and they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. With so many nits out there, learning how to exploit them is very important for your long term win-rate. And beyond that, it’s actually pretty darn fun to…
Read More6 Game-Changing Tactics from 500NL Zoom Destroyer Fried Meulders (mynameiskarl)
Upswing Lab cash game coach Fried “mynameiskarl” Meulders continues to crush 500NL Zoom ($2.5/$5) on PokerStars, the toughest game consistently running online. His win-rate since the beginning of the year, across 250k hands, is an impressive 4.16 big blinds per 100 hands. And over the past 100k hands he’s won a staggering 8.08 big blinds…
Read MoreHow to Make Profitable Decisions Against Any Bet Size (Minimum Defense Frequency vs Pot Odds)
Faced with a bet, you can react in one of three ways: call, fold, or raise. It’s usually pretty apparent when raising is the correct decision–with super strong hands that want to extract value and with bluffs that want to steal the pot. Whether to call or fold, on the other hand, is often not…
Read MoreHow to Beat the Guy Who Is Always Betting — Countering an Aggressive Poker Strategy
Geez, this guy just won’t stop betting. I just need to be patient, wait for a strong hand, and then I’ll win a fat pot from him! You’ve probably thought something similar to this while facing an ultra-aggressive player. But while this line of thinking seems to make sense, a patient approach is not always…
Read More[QUIZ] Are Your Check-Raising Skills Razor Sharp?
Do you have sweet check-raising skills? Do your opponents shake with fear before firing a c-bet? Let’s find out! For each question, assume you have no solid reads on your opponent. And make sure you share your score at the end! […]
Read MorePlaying Blind vs Blind — 5 Tips to Help You Stack More Chips
Sub-optimal blind versus blind play is a common leak among amateurs and professionals alike. Players often neglect this part of their game because blind versus blind situations seem infrequent. But they probably happen a more often than you think. In this article, we’ll discuss 5 tips for improving your blind versus blind strategy. We’ll look…
Read MoreRounders Analyzed: 3 Hands Played By Mike McDermott & Teddy KGB
What’s your favorite poker movie? And why is it Rounders? Today we’re going to analyze 3 hands played in this iconic movie. If you haven’t seen Rounders, don’t worry: you’ll still learn from the strategy talk. That said, you should stop reading if you want to avoid spoilers! The 3 hands we’ll discuss are played…
Read MoreHow Equity Denial Influences (Almost) Every Decision & Your Results
Equity denial underlies almost all of your decisions at the poker table, even if you don’t realize it. When understood and considered correctly, it can increase your edge in every spot and thus improve your win-rate. In this article, I will explain exactly what equity denial is and how it ought to shape your strategy.…
Read More3 Hand Histories That Highlight a Sneakily Crucial Poker Concept (Stack-to-Pot Ratio)
With so much postflop play, it might seem like cash games are more difficult than tournaments. The best tournament players, however, are adept at playing every street across a range of different stack depths. In this article, we’re going to learn about stack-to-pot ratio (SPR) and how it affects postflop play. We’ll be looking at…
Read More3 Aggressive Tactics Winning Regulars Already Use
Hoping to gain insight into where good aggressive players take advantage of their opponents, I recently watched Fried “mynameiskarl” Meulders play $5/$10 Zoom in the Upswing Lab. Fried is an absolute cash game beast who crushes Zoom on PokerStars–some of the toughest poker games in the world. Here’s his results from a 100k hand sample…
Read More3 Can’t-Miss Lessons from a $12,895 Tournament Score
A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool. It takes a certain kind of wisdom to gain and maintain success at the poker table. Since poker isn’t a solved game, there’s always room to improve. The most successful players understand and respect this fact, but to…
Read MoreIf You Get 8/10 On This 3-Bet Pot Quiz, You’re a Shark
How competent are you at playing 3-bet pots as the defender? Take your time and think carefully, because these 10 questions are tough. For each question, assume that you have no information about your opponent. And be sure to share your results at the end. […]
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