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Andrew and Nate share some book and podcast recommendations and, inspired by Dara O’Kearney, discuss the value of taking days off. In the strategy segment, Andrew takes an unconventional line vs Phil Galfond in a Progressive Knock-Out.
Timestamps
0:30 hello… Read full post
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Brad Willis is the head of blogging for PokerStars and the author of the excellent Rapid Eye Reality blog. We talk to him about politics at the poker table, raising sons, and living as a progressive in the American South. Plus we … Read full post
Although I didn’t play any poker on Thursday either, Saturday actually felt more like a proper birthday celebration. I’ve got this friend Luis who lives in Montreal, with whom I’ve always met up once or twice whenever I was in town. Not getting to see him was one of the … Read full post
My birthday always falls during WCOOP, so it’s been a long time since I took it as a vacation day. But this year’s events felt more skippable than usual (the only thing I was really tempted to play was the $2100 PKO, and even then, the mid-week $2K events just … Read full post
I know it’s been a while, but I’m so close to finishing this review I figure I might as well go the distance. The only WCOOP event I played on this particular Wednesday was the $500 6-Max Progressive Knock-Out. I scored some early bounties, including with flush over flush and … Read full post
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Christian Soto and Andrew meet in-person in Baltimore, hours after playing together in the World Poker Tour main event at Maryland Live!, to commiserate and talk about some key hands. This interview was tremendous fun to record and hopefully will be tremendous … Read full post
There was a $2100 Super Tuesday WCOOP, but I ended up not playing because I began my session at 7AM with the $215 6-Max Rebuy, and because other things were going well, I’d been playing straight through from then until the start of the $2100 and didn’t think I would … Read full post
Monday was going to be a day off, but since I was going to be playing Day 2 of the $109 anyway, I decided to reg a few other tournaments, including the $530 NLHE WCOOP. That one got off to a good start, but I soon ended up in a … Read full post
I planned my schedule around the $2K (naturally), so I registered the warm-up quite late. That gave me time to go for a bike ride and a pastry in town before starting work for the day.
I got off to a good start in it but then lost AK to … Read full post
I slept poorly on Thursday night, probably a combination of adrenaline from making a significant final table with drinking caffeine later than usual (because of the final table) and replaying (ok, beating myself up over) some key hands in my head. I hadn’t planned to take Friday off, but the … Read full post
I was excited for the $215 6-max that started at 10AM. Most of the short-handed events so far in the series had been higher buy-ins, and I was looking forward to the opportunity to play short with some weaker players. I lasted all of 15 minutes:
PokerStars – 100/200 Ante … Read full post
I took Tuesday as a proper vacation day. Emily and I drove to Mont Tremblant, a ski resort about 45 minutes north of where we’re staying, to hike and get dinner. It was a nice drive deeper into the mountains, with the leaves already beginning to turn. Resorts aren’t really … Read full post
I’d considered taking Monday off, but I was in the mood to play and I planned to take Tuesday off, so I went ahead and played. Nothing too eventful – this was probably the most interesting pot. Don’t think I could have won more than I did. Villain probably ought … Read full post
This was the second Sunday of WCOOP. There was actually a $1050 6-max that I ended up skipping. It started several hours earlier than everything else I wanted to play, and it didn’t seem quite good enough to build my entire schedule around. Sundays are (hopefully) long days already, and … Read full post
Yes, I’m behind. And there’s no Day 4 because I took Wednesday off. So here we are.
The day off (it wasn’t a proper day off, as I did do some studying, but no playing) was nice. Emily and I had brunch at a cafe in the nearby town of … Read full post
The $215 rebuy started with a bang, as I got all in on the flop on the very first hand holding KJ vs QJ on JJT, only to get rivered for a stack. Not really a big deal, it was a $215 bad beat, but it set that “every damn … Read full post
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Talal Shakerchi just might be the best amateur poker player in the world. Playing as “raidalot” on PokerStars, he’s won, among other things, the $10,000 Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event. The hedge fund manager discusses what may be driving PokerStars’ … Read full post
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Matt Bodnar is an investor, the host of The Science of Success podcast, and an avid poker player. We talk to him about his experiences in poker inform his work in investing and vice versa, and how what he’s learned from “The … 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! This hour of free poker strategy, with very special guest Matt Berkey, is part of my thanks to everyone who contributed. If you … Read full post
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Eileen Sutton discovered poker later in her life, but that only heightened her passion for the game. In this interview, Eileen beautifully describes her love affair with poker and the strange set of coincidences that resulted in her learning from the likes … 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
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Andrew’s busy with WCOOP, so he and Nate get straight to strategy, with a discussion of several hands from the No-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better event.
Timestamps
0:30 Hello & Welcome
10:42 NLO8 Strategy
Hand 1
PokerStars – $300+$20|400/800 Ante 100 NL Hi/Lo (6 … 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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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
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Carlos Welch reports on his trip to the PCA and ponders moving west. Andrew rants about what it means to give your opponent a decision. You can watch Carlos advise newly-minted professional Mike Sneideman in “Poker Pro: Year 1”.
Timestamps
0:30 … Read full post
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Jonathan Gill is a rising star in the online MTT world. Like TJ Jurkiewicz, he found success by tapping reserves of hard work, discipline, and perseverance that he never knew he had, and like TJ, he’s documenting his journey in a … Read full post
As you’ve probably figured out right now, there was no new podcast this week. We’ve got one coming tomorrow (Monday February 1) though! In the meantime, here’s another free strategy video from last month’s fundraising campaign. I realized all the videos so far have been from MTTs, so this … Read full post
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Michael “Gags30” Gagliano is a teacher turned poker pro with a long-standing record of success as both a player and a coach. He even worked with world champion Joe McKeehen years ago! In this interview, he talks about his former life as … Read full post
We raised so much money last month that I’m still rolling out all the free videos you all unlocked. Here’s the conclusion of my PLO8 WCOOP event review with Nate. If you haven’t seen them yet, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2.
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Danny Noseworthy may not be the first Tournament Poker Edge instructor we’ve had on the show, but he is the first Newfoundlander. We discuss his career, his coaching philosophy, and how practicing cash game poker can help you become a better tournament … Read full post
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Your hosts talk about Nate’s new book as well as strategy from a limit hold ’em game and a heads up no-limit game.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello and welcome
15:08 – strategy
Strategy
Hand 1
30/60 Limit Hold ‘Em.
Hero opens K9o … Read full post
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Jorge “Baalshin” Limon is a member of Team PokerStars Online, a regular in some of the biggest no-limit games on the site, a rally car driver, and one of the most prominent players on Mexico’s poker scene. In this interview he talks … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Hand of the Week so far.
The comments from the pre-flop discussion that I found most interesting were from dullgeek and others who struggled with the problem of how to put money in good once there’s an Ace or King on the … Read full post
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Andrew is in Montreal for the second half of the WCOOP, and he and Nate discuss some hands.
Strategy
Hand 1
2-4 PLO8 on Bovada. 4-handed.
I open to $12 with (AT)J7–I’m using Bill Chen’s notation where suited cards go in parentheses.… Read full post
Thanks to everyone who’s participated in the Hand of the Week so far. Today’s post deals with the turn play.
This is from the $700 NLHE 1R1A WCOOP event. Blinds are 350/700/85. It’s well after the rebuy period but not particularly close to the bubble. Table is on the tough … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Hand of the Week so far.
It seems like everyone recognizes that this hand is too strong to fold. Several commenters assigned ranges to Villain that gave Hero 41% – 47% equity. Even recognizing that Villain may check some hands like AQ … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who’s participated in the Hand of the Week so far. Today’s post deals with the flop play.
This is from the $700 NLHE 1R1A WCOOP event. Blinds are 350/700/85. It’s well after the rebuy period but not particularly close to the bubble. Table is on the tough … Read full post
Technology permitting (I’m a very inexperienced Twitch user) I’m going to be guest streaming on Carlos’ Twitch stream tomorrow (Wednesday September 30). The stream will start at 4PM eastern, and I’ll be playing the Big $162 on PokerStars plus something fun like a PLO8 cash game. You really should be … Read full post
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Gareth Chantler joins us from the Dominican Republic to talk about his new life as a writer (a discussion that began during his last appearance on the show) and his WCOOP so far (as of the time of this recording, that … Read full post
This is from the $700 NLHE 1R1A WCOOP event. Blinds are 350/700/85. It’s well after the rebuy period but not particularly close to the bubble. Table is on the tough side, featuring many regs/pros, most notably Eugene Katchalov on my immediate left.
UTG is a regular tournament player. I have … Read full post
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Carlos sits down in-person with Nate and Andrew to talk about putting happiness, rather than profit, front and center in his poker career (though of course winning tends to make one happier than losing!). Then the three discuss a hand from a … Read full post
The first High event I played was the $2K 8-max. I once again found myself bet-folding a strong hand on the river to a strange raise that represented only an improbable value hand or even more improbable bluff:
PokerStars – $2000+$100|200/400 Ante 50 NL (8 max) – Holdem – 8 … Read full post
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The SCOOP is underway, and so Andrew and Nate grab time to record when they can, with Andrew playing a $200 PLO8 event during the show! The two discuss the various ways to run bad, some hands that arise as Andrew plays, … Read full post
As much as I like Zoom tournaments, I needed a day off, and Friday was it. I spent a good chunk of the day at the Chun-Yet Sen Classical Garden. It proved not only interesting and beautiful but also the perfect place to unwind from the stresses of poker:
The High event I planned to play on Wednesday was the $2K re-entry. As with several of the other mid-week $2Ks, though, it was shaping up to be a small and tough field. The re-entries really compound that, because the best players are far more likely to re-enter than the … Read full post
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Andrew and Nate talk about Andrew’s recent friction entering Canada to play online poker, then review two hands from early Spring Championship of Online Poker events.
Strategy
Hand 1
PokerStars – $1000+$50|30/60 Ante 5 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted … Read full post
The Day 2 restart for the $2000 Sunday Million (you can find Day 1 hands here) started at 11:30, so my plan was to sleep in, make breakfast, take a walk, pick up something for lunch, and then late register the morning tournaments when I was ready to … Read full post
The day started off not much differently from the last. I busted the $2K Warm-Up with Queens on the big blind versus Aces on the button, though with 100 BBs there was once again some question as to whether I could have gotten away from it. The Villain was Randal … Read full post
Today was the most frustrating day I’ve had so far, though I suppose that’s in part because it comes on the backs of several other frustrating days. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, because I know I’ve said this here before, but I can swallow my share … Read full post
I intended to play the $1K Big Antes event as well, but I didn’t realize (or more precisely, had forgotten) that it was a rebuy. Initially I thought that I hadn’t presented it as such to my investors, and consequently didn’t register for it, but then one of them pointed … Read full post
I’ve made a few attempts to study this game and talked it over with some intelligent people (most notably on Episode 58 of the podcast), but I’ll admit that I’m still not as certain as I’d like to be about the correct adaptations for this game. I mean, … Read full post
I didn’t post yesterday because nothing much of interest happened in the Super Tuesday, and I didn’t want to bump the new podcast off of the top slot on the blog. Speaking of which, if you skipped it because you didn’t recognize the guest, do yourself a favor and go … Read full post
I decided to unregister the Low buy-in heads up event, because heads up really isn’t a game I can autopilot in the corner of my screen the way I’ve generally been doing with the Low events, and I didn’t want to be distracted from a $700 heads up match by … Read full post
Q: My question is about a hand from a sunday 109rb tournament. I am already in the money and find 44 on my big Blind (with a 24bb stack). Villain opens in middle position for 2.28 bb with a 38bb stack (I only have 30 hands of the player (vpip17/pfr13)) … Read full post
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Edoardo Riario Sforza has moved up through the ranks to become a contender in some of the biggest MTTs on the Italian sites. The same ambition that helped him succeed at poker is now taking him on a 10-month backpacking trip around … Read full post
Nate and I are grateful to those of you who have listened to The Thinking Poker Podcast this year, whether you’re a regular follower, a sporadic listener, or just now discovering the show. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite episodes of the year, in case you missed … Read full post
Now appearing on Tournament Poker Edge is a series of videos I recorded live while playing the World Championship of Online Poker. This is the first live recording I’ve done in years and my first ever for TPE. The bulk of the footage is me playing in various Knockout events, … Read full post
The second e-book in the Thinking Poker Diaries series is now available at www.nitcast.com or in the Amazon Kindle Store! It follows the same format as the first book, combining a trip report from the 2007 WSOP Main Event with present-day essays considering strategy topics that come up in … Read full post
I’m excited to announce, to those who missed the news on Twitter and the podcast, that I’ve finally published a book! It’s based on my 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event, and it’s actually the first in a series of e-books compiling updated and revised versions of my most … Read full post
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For a guy who’s played $500/$1000 no-limit, Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky is a surprisingly nitcast-appropriate guest. He talks about his background in philosophy, his low-rolling lifestyle, how he arrived at the heavily game theoretic style he plays today, and how he thinks artificial … Read full post
After a great series, the Main Event was a real disappointment. I cashed in 14 of the 40 preliminary WCOOP events that I played, and although I didn’t have any especially deep runs, I felt good about putting myself in position to go deep so many times.
The Main got … Read full post
Disclaimer: Just a reminder that I am a decidedly non-expert Razz player, so take this post as my attempting to muddle through a somewhat unfamiliar game with my general poker knowledge rather than a confident statement of sound Razz strategy.
Villain is a well-known Australian pro, a very successful tournament … Read full post
Andrew is still grinding the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker in Montreal, so he and Nate break down a few hands he played in a PLO eight-or-better event and a 2-7 triple draw event.