Emily and I did some extensive grocery shopping in the morning, returning in just enough time for me to squeeze in a quick workout before the start of the $1050 Progressive Knock-Out. I late registered the $215 PLO around the same time. I’m barely competent at PLO, but I do … Read full post
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Nipun Java made history when, along with Aditya Sushant, he won India’s first ever WSOP bracelet, in the $1500 NLHE Tag Team event. He capped off his summer with a second bracelet in the $1000 Online event. Nipun and Andrew talk … Read full post
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KL Cleeton was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, but that hasn’t kept him from playing poker both live and online. In 2017, he won a contest sponsored by Daniel Negreanu and lived his dream of playing in the WSOP Main Event, ultimately … Read full post
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Esther Taylor, better known as E-Tay, is a mixed game player who also knows how to kick ass in no-limit hold ’em tournaments. Andrew talks to her about learning new games, being a poker-playing mom, and more. Plus Carlos Welch and … Read full post
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Andrew tackles the mailbox alone this week, reviewing three no-limit hands played in small stakes games.
Strategy
Hand 1
I’m in MP with 9c9d, a stack of $5.56 and raise to 15c, it folds around to the SB with a stack of … Read full post
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Benny Glaser is a mixed games specialist from the United Kingdom. With three WSOP bracelets to his name, he is finally getting some recognition as a world-class mixed games expert. We talk to him about why he chose to focus on games … Read full post
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Andrew and Dara O’Kearney are roommates for the WSOP this summer. They talk with Nate about the start of their series, their plans for the summer, and Andrew’s hopes for Day 2 of the Colossus and the Tag Team event with Carlos … Read full post
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Daniel Wolf AKA Clarence AKA Baby Dick is a professional poker player. Originally from Pittsburgh, he now lives and plays in Maryland. We talk to him about having fun at the table, jumping back and forth between 2/5 and 25/50 no limit, … Read full post
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Don’t bet the under! Nate and Andrew manage to review three hand histories in barely an hour. There’s a four-barrel bluff from a NLHE tournament, a turn donk bet from a NLHE cash game, and even a spread-limit Omaha 8-or-better hand!
Timestamps… Read full post
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Tommy Angelo returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, Painless Poker, as well as his writing process, his daily meditation practice, his new goals, and his sordid past.
In our strategy segment, we discuss why it matters how the … Read full post
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The Computer Poker Research Group’s Michael Johanson and Dustin Morrill discuss Andrew and Nate’s recent battle with their heads-up no-limit hold ’em AI, DeepStack.
Johanson has previously been our guest on Episode 79 and Episode 110. Before the match, we discussed … Read full post
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Patrick McKenzie, known as “patio11” on Hacker News and elsewhere, is a blogger, consultant, and all-around public intellectual on subjects related to software and business. He’s also, as it happens, an avid if occasional poker player. We talk to him about … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, A Thin Shove, is now appearing in Two Plus Two Magazine. It covers in great detail a large pot that I briefly mentioned on Twitter, in which I won a big pot by three-betting TT and then going bet-bet-shove with an overpair after the … Read full post
Nate and I had the great privilege of participating in the premiere broadcast of a series of matches between DeepStack, a state-of-the-art heads up no-limit hold ’em Artificial Intelligence, and human professionals. We found DeepStack to be a really tough competitor that left us questioning our play in both large … Read full post
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Michael Bowling of the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group, who has previously appeared on Episode 79 and on Episode 110 after “essentially” solving Heads Up Limit Hold ‘Em, returns to discuss the group’s latest work creating an AI that … Read full post
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Nikolai Yakovenko, poker player and computer scientist, returns to the podcast (he first appeared on Episode 155) to talk about recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, particularly with regard to poker.
Links
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It’s all strategy this week, as Nate and Andrew review two hands in which the Hero flops a strong pair plus the nut flush draw.
Links
NYC Live Event with Just Hands Poker
Timestamps
0:30 hello
12:36 strat
Hand … Read full post
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Ronnie Bardah has been a poker pro since before “The Boom”, and though he’s perhaps most famous for his five consecutive cashes in the WSOP Main Event, he’s a Fixed Limit Hold ‘Em player first and foremost. He shares his story growing … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Evaluating Three-Bet Opportunities, is now appearing in the March 2017 issue of Two Plus Two Magazine. It builds on last month’s article, What Are the Best Hands to Three-Bet?, demonstrating how to apply the theory that I laid out there to actual decisions … Read full post
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Angela Bassa is the director of data science at iRobot and an occasional poker player with more than a passing interest in Libratus and its implications for artificial intelligence. In this interview, we talk about poker’s intersections with data science and artificial … Read full post
I never just post hands any more! I am curious in your feedback, but I don’t have a lot more to say about the hand myself, so I’m not going to construct it as a What’s Your Play? But here’s the situation:
Playing $2/$5 NL. Effective stack $600. Villain is … Read full post
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Carlos Welch is no longer homeless! At least for the moment, he’s living with Alexander Fitzgerald in Bullhead City, AZ, and Andrew is paying him a visit! We catch on Andrew’s travels, Carlos’ new digs, and strategy!
Timestamps
0:30 = hello
23:05 … Read full post
Thanks for all the comments on What’s Your Play? Facing an Overbet on River.
Time for Some Game Theory
It’s probably impossible to find a game theoretically optimal betting strategy for me on the flop, and likewise a calling strategy for Villain, as there are more than two players … Read full post
In December of 2016, the Thinking Poker community raised over $8000 for the Bay Area Urban Debate League, and I’m so grateful to everyone who contributed! I promised a free half-hour of strategy video for every $500 we raised, and after releasing videos with Carlos Welch, Jamie Kerstetter… Read full post
Playing a 9-handed 5/10 game last week at Bellagio, effective stacks $1500. Decent recreational player opens to $40 UTG+2, mediocre pro calls MP, good pro calls HJ, I call with 9s 8d (Edit: added suited to clarify that I don’t have a heart) on Button (a little questionable, but can’t … Read full post
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Kyle Loman plays $1/$3 no-limit for a living, but it hasn’t always been that way. Years ago, he was grinding high-stakes with a six-figure bankroll. In this revealing interview, he talks about shot-taking, staking, bad loans, and coming to terms with his … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, “What Are the Best Hands to Three-Bet?”, is now appearing in the February 2017 edition of Two Plus Two Magazine. If you know anything about me, you know that that’s not a question I’m going to answer in just a few words! In … Read full post
This is the second and final part of the published as part of the free strategy video that Carlos and I created as part of a year-end fundraising campaign for the Bay Area Urban Debate League. If you enjoy him here, be sure to check Carlos out on Twitch… Read full post
Here’s the first video published as part of my year-end fundraising campaign for the Bay Area Urban Debate League. I’m joined by the incomparable Carlos Welch, be sure to check him out on Twitch. To unlock more videos like this one and get a shot at some great prizes, … Read full post
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Jamie Kerstetter, who first joined us on Episode 136, is back to talk about the latest poker Twitter drama, her new role as ambassador for the Borgata poker room, her dog Crouton, and the Humane Society of Atlantic County.
You can … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in What’s Your Play? Flush With Redraw.
I folded, and I don’t think it’s close. The short explanation is #TheyAlwaysHaveIt. Here’s a longer one:
Is This a Bluff-Catcher?
The first question to ask is whether Villain could be raising worse for value. If yes, … Read full post
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Political scientist and Congressional Research Service analyst Matt Glassman helped us put the 2016 Presidential Campaign into context a few weeks ago. Now that the election is over, we need him more than ever!
We’ve got a great strategy segment, but … Read full post
Edit: Fixed pot size on turn.
Playing $5/$10 No-Limit at Maryland Live, a game that does not participate in the Bad Beat Jackpot and other promotions. I don’t have a lot of experience with either Villain, but there’s a good chance they know who I am (a lot of people … Read full post
Sorry to say there’s no new podcast this week. However, we recorded a great interview (is there any other kind?) with Tommy Angelo this morning that we’re excited to share with you soon, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, here’s my latest strategy article for 2+2 Magazine, entitled “Why … Read full post
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Matt Glassman is a Congressional Research Service analyst, Political Science PhD, and perhaps most importantly, one of Nate’s college buddies. We talk about how poker can help us to understand politics (including the 2016 presidential election, of course!), how horse racing can … Read full post
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Is Carlos Welch settling down? Not quite. He’s still got the van, but he’s also got himself a new routine in Las Vegas that involves more live poker than ever before! Join us as we catch up with all-time favorite guest Carlos … Read full post
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William Kassouf will be familiar to you if you’ve been watching the World Series of Poker on ESPN. His constant chatter attracted plenty of attention and controversy during the final days of the Main Event. In this interview, we discuss his background … Read full post
Somehow it took me 12 years to get around to playing a World Poker Tour event, but I played my first one over the weekend at Maryland Live. Overall it was a well-run and well-attended event and I’m glad I played.
My Day 1A table draw was quite tough, I … Read full post
Here’s an interesting pot from the $200 Rebuy 6-Max WCOOP event. You probably know that in theory, multi-street bluffing tends to involve building two ranges for each street, a “keep bluffing” range and a “give up” range, such that your bluffing frequency gets lower on each street.
In practice, though, … Read full post
Sorry but we don’t have a new podcast episode this week. That’s mostly due to my being busy with WCOOP stuff, so we should be able to get a show ready for next week.
I wanted to share a hand with you from the third event that I played, which … Read full post
I was hoping to post more hands during WCOOP, but detailed write-ups just aren’t what I’m in the mood for after a long day of playing. So, I’m going to start posting some hands without a lot of commentary.
I already posted one from the $200 Warm-Up, so here’s … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in Rate Our Play: Blind Battle. I hope you benefited from thinking about this spot. Blind battles and other spots where players have very wide ranges are tricky because, if you just try to apply heuristics and experience from other situations, you’re going to … Read full post
It’s called Rate Our Play. I’m going to post a hand featuring multiple decisions points for both myself and my opponent(s). Your job will be to comment on any mistakes (or choices that surprised you in a good way) that you think either of us made. I’ll participate in the … Read full post
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Billy Sharkey’s poker career has been a roller coaster that led him to mindfulness meditation, and that helps… except when it doesn’t. In this revealing interview, Billy discusses dealing with losses, the complex politics of high stakes home games, his struggle with … Read full post
I knew that my small turn bet in the recent Rate Our Play post would be controversial, and although I had reasons for doing it, they weren’t particularly exploitive, and I hadn’t actually used GTORB to look at the EV of betting larger. It turns out that even if you … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in the inaugural Rate Our Play. I’ll take the blame for the low attendance, as I haven’t been actively blogging lately. That should change once WCOOP gets underway.
DP1: Uncontroversial.
DP2: Uncontroversial at this stack depth. With deeper stacks, this is a reasonable BB … Read full post
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Chris Moorman, with over $10 million in cashes, is widely regarded as the winningest player in online tournament poker. This wide-ranging interview covers his beginnings as a competitive bridge and pool player, his struggles with staking, his role as 888Poker Ambassador, and … Read full post
In an effort to blog a bit more often (about topics other than new podcasts), I’m going to try out a new sort of post that hopefully will be similar to but less time-consuming (for me) than a multi-street What’s Your Play?.
It’s called Rate Our Play. I’m going … Read full post
The Backstory
I’m currently in Maryland visiting family and have been to Maryland Live a few times. It’s been quite busy; even when I arrived around 4 yesterday there was already a long list for 5/10 and 10/25 and no open tables to start a new game. So, I ended … Read full post
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Aaron Brown is a professional-poker-player-turned-Wall-Street-trader. You may know him as the author of The Poker Face of Wall Street, but he’s got a lot to say about gambling, economics, and our favorite, the “old days” of poker in private games and … Read full post
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Andrew, Nate, and THE Carlos Welch gather in a hotel room at the Gold Coast to discuss their first day in the WSOP Main Event. There’s loads of strategy talk, as Nate bet-folds the river, Carlos gets full value from a set, … Read full post
This was a fun tournament and a great value. My starting table was amazing, and I managed to nearly double up with a set in the first few orbits. I was particularly proud of myself for not making a mistake I’ve been guilty of in the past, which is getting … Read full post
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The WSOP is obviously a busy time, so we just recorded a quick conversation this week, covering some general stuff about the World Series of Poker and a few of the first events/hands Andrew played. Please note that this was recorded before … Read full post
My plan for Sunday was to play the $1500 NLHE and, if I busted early, to register the $1500 PLO8. I ended up busting the no-limit shortly after the dinner break around 8PM, and I wasn’t in the mood to play another 8 hours or whatever of poker, so I … Read full post
I got off to a good start in this tournament, doubling through (but not quite stacking, and therefore not winning a bounty from, a tough player on my right). I tanked a bit on the river decision, even though I was pretty sure I was calling, and that seemed to … Read full post
My second event of the 2016 World Series of Poker was the $1000 No-Limit Hold ‘Em. With just 100 big blinds to start, this tournament goes quick, which makes it great for the hourly rate but not particularly interesting, poker-wise anyway (the people watching can be extraordinary).
Still, I got … Read full post
I’m in Las Vegas! I arrived Thursday night and played my first event, the Monster Stack, on Friday morning. It was great starting with 300BBs and the value was clear to see, but unfortunately I took a big hit early that really hindered my ability to take advantage of the … Read full post
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Alex Sutherland is a professional poker player and software designer, responsible for inflicting Table Ninja and GTO Range Builder on the poker world. We talk to him about transitioning back and forth between these worlds, common misunderstandings about the application of game … Read full post
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Lukasz Grabowski has had a fair bit of success playing Spin-and-Gos as “grasiu”, but he’s very clear that poker is only a means to an end for him. In this interview, we talked about his lapsed Catholicism, his interest in Buddhism and … Read full post
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Christian Soto is a professional poker player and a video producer at Red Chip Poker. He is the co-author, with Doug Hull and James Sweeney, of Late Position. Learn how, with the help of Matt Berkey, the “Big Papi … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Poker is a Gambling Game, is now appearing in 2+2 Magazine. I suspect the title will seem like an obvious statement to some and a controversial (heretical?) one to others, but I don’t think there’s any arguing with the content:
… Read full postWinning at poker isn’t
This question first appeared on the Tournament Poker Edge forums, under the title “Looking for some insight in to effective stack sizes and 3-bet/4-bet decisions.”
Q: I’ve often wondered how best to consider stack size when confronted by 3 or 4 bets. I have a vague sense it … Read full post
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Isn’t that what all of our shows about? Kind of, but this time around we’re more explicit than usual. It’s just Nate and Andrew, talking about some specific, concrete, active (not just reading books or watching videos) ways to study poker. Plus … Read full post
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Elena Stover has a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, and her studies focused on risk and decision-making, so when she decided not to pursue a career in academia, poker was a natural fit for her. We talk to Elena about her research, how … Read full post
The eighth installment in my Thinking Poker Diaries series, which tells the story of my summers at the World Series of Poker, is now available. Unlike past volumes, this one covers many preliminary events as well as the 2013 Main Event. In particular, includes a report from the $1500 PLO8 … Read full post
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Andrew Moreno is a professional poker player who is also married to a professional poker player. His wife, Kristy Arnett, has mentioned him enough times on the show (including Episode 170!) that we figured it was about time he came on … Read full post