Upswing Lab 2.0 Digest (Jan 22, 2026)

Welcome to the first Upswing Lab 2.0 Digest of 2026. Hope the year is off to a good start.

We're approaching 4,000 people on the Upswing Discord overall, and the Lab 2.0 group is a good chunk of that. Lab 2.0 members get access to private groups where coaches and members discuss hands, lessons, and strategy. If you are already there, thank you.

Access the Lab 2.0 private strategy groups ›

Upcoming:

Keep an eye out for another Q&A session with Uri in February. We'll announce the date in the coming weeks.

Did You Know About Uri's Blog on the Discord?

Uri's blog is in the member blogs section, start your own to chronicle your journey and stay accountable.

Key Tip: Uri posts new strategy videos here so you can get early access to raw videos. Some of these will make it into the Lab edited, some will not, but they are all gold.

Videos from Uri's Discord Blog

• [WATCH] Bluff-Catching with Examples (Private Discord Link)
• [WATCH] 100NL Big Hands Review (Google Drive link)

Check out Uri's blog here ›

Get Feedback from Lab 2.0 Coaches

I've loved seeing all the great discussions, let's keep it going. Below are some threads you might have missed.

Featured Discord Strategy Discussions

Lab 2.0 lesson discussion (Launch Pad - Tournament Track - Middle Stages)

Phemo responds to a question about a lesson in Lab 2.0 and discusses key hand properties when shoving 30bb

Range Betting Question featuring Gary Blackwood, Uri, and the friendliest of gamers
Gary and Uri and others discuss why larger range bets are generally -EV

Preflop sizing in straddle +ante (e.g. ClubWPT Gold) featuring Uri

Uri calculates a good raise size for these games in a video response

Adjusting to opponents who 3-bet too much
4betting more often is "fighting fire with fire". But there is also a more subtle way, "fighting fire with water", which is to just open-raise a tighter range to begin with. - Bart

Counter adjusting to bluff catching pro
Uri looks at a spot where we might have gone a little too thin in a 3-bet pot

Correct ICM play or suicide?
Aaron Barone confirms our fellow Lab 2.0 member did not commit tournament suicide, are you shoving pocket fours in this spot?

Too nitty folding a set in tourney
Firaldo drops what Aaron referred to as an "epic novel"

Questions About a Hand You Played?

Discord is a great place to get feedback on your hands from Lab 2.0 coaches, Upswing Pros, and members.

Online cash hands: Post on Discord ›
Live cash hands: Post on Discord ›
Tournament hands: Post on Discord ›

New Lessons in Lab 2.0

We have a new "Strategy Special" for you. What makes them special from regular lessons? These are longer lessons, an hour or more on one topic and this topic is often directly related to member requests (e.g. Double Board Bomb Pots is upcoming). These have more formal Q&A threads in Discord as we are hoping they will serve as discussion prompts and a space for members to ask coaches more questions.

In case you missed it, these are replacing the live webinars we were doing at launch. Same amount of content, but with tighter focus and better production. Most will be broken up into smaller parts for easier viewing and added to the core curriculum of the Lab.

These will drop weekly in this format at least for the next couple of months, and we'll continue to assess the best way to deliver different types of content as we listen to feedback.

Additionally we have new classic lessons and Play and Explains. Enjoy!

• 3-Bet Pot Turn Strategy (Strategy Special) - Gary Blackwood
• Finding Bluff Raises IP vs River Bets - PlayItSmart
• Red Line Warrior - PlayItSmart
• When to Give Up - PlayItSmart
• Play & Explains - PlayItSmart
• Exploitative Play - Uri

Stay tuned for a really cool final table play through with Aaron Barone, bomb pot content from Lewis Spencer, Max Exploit Academy tomorrow, and much more.

Thanks for being a part of the Upswing Lab 2.0 community. For more frequent updates, check the #lab-updates channel in Discord. Have content or feature requests? Post them here.

Good luck at the tables