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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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… 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
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
Below you’ll find nearly a full hour of high-quality tournament poker strategy, a combination of hand review and general strategy talk. Best of all, one of the participants is the always-delightful Jamie Kerstetter, so you’re bound to get a few laughs as you learn. If you enjoy listening to her, … Read full post
Nate Meyvis is my guest for the latest free strategy video, and in his honor, I found a PLO8 tournament for us to review. It’s fun and informative!
We created this video as part of a year-end fundraising campaign for the Bay Area Urban Debate League. To unlock more … Read full post
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Chase Bianchi’s career as a professional poker player came in fits and starts, as we went back and forth between playing for a living and working as a dealer and supervisor. That all changed when he won a bracelet in a $1000 … 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
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
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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
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With WCOOP still going on (at the time of recording), Nate and Andrew get together to answer some strategy questions from the mailbag.
0:30 – hello
11:06 – strategy
Strategy
Blinds 300/600/75. Hero opens to 1500 UTG+1 with AA. Folds around to … 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
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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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Alan Boston has long been known as a sports better, but now he’s back on the east coast, making a living in the Foxwoods Poker Room. Alan tells his stories with characteristic bluntness and candor, from Stu Ungar and 1980s Las Vegas … 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
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
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
Sorry for the recent, worse-than-usual silence. Immediately after the WSOP, Emily and I moved out of our apartment (big job!) and then took a two-week vacation. There were also some technical difficulties with the latest podcast, though we hope to have resolved them and to be able to bring you … 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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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
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
Nate Meyvis’s latest book, Thinking Tournament Poker Volume Two, which covers his second day of play in the 2014 WSOP Main Event, has just hit the virtual shelves! It features Nate’s own analysis of virtually every pot he entered that day, plus additional commentary from myself, Leo Wolpert, and … Read full post
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Matt Berkey shares his remarkable story of growing up in a small steel town with a drug addicted mother, pouring himself first into baseball and then into poker, and ultimately rising through the ranks to play as big as $300/$600/$1200 no-limit in … Read full post
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Benjamin Reason began playing the violin at the age of 4. It wasn’t so long after that that he discovered poker, and although the latter eventually subsumed the former, he remains a music aficionado (“a recovering music snob”, as he puts it). … Read full post
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Christopher George is a long-time poker professional, but his focus on Stud and other non-hold ’em games sets him apart from your average twenty- or thirty-something online grinder. You wouldn’t think it from his demeanor, but the swings he’s experienced set him … Read full post
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Collin Moshman is a widely respected sit-and-go player and coach and author, but he’s no one-trick pony. We talk to him about his background in Theoretical Mathematics, why he initially focused on sit-and-goes, how and why he branched out into other games, … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in the second and final part of the Hand of the Week. You can find discussion of the flop play here. I was really impressed with the quality of the comments. It didn’t seem like anyone was confused about a check was worth … Read full post
This is a continuation of Hand of the Week: 666 (Flop). For a discussion of the flop decision, see this post.
We’re playing 10/25 NLHE with effective stacks of about $8K. The main Villain, in the SB, is a capable and experienced player, not 100% sure whether he’s … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who participated in the first part of our Hand of the Week.
Assessing Range Advantage
The only information I gave about the SB was that he’s “capable and experienced” and probably has “a similar opinion of me”. This really isn’t enough to make aggressively exploitive assumptions … Read full post
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In this pure strategy episode, Nate and Andrew talk about home game strategy and meta-strategy (e.g. how to get invited back), as well what you can learn from “silly” games like Baseball and Follow the Queen. Plus a microstakes strategy hand!
Strategy… Read full post
My latest poker strategy article for Two Plus Two Magazine, Poker is Not a Chest Beating Contest, addresses one of my favorite subjects, which is language and how it shapes the way we think:
“Poker lingo is full of bluster and bravado. For some, the colorful language and the … Read full post
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Cate Hall, a former classmate of Vanessa Selbst’s at Yale Law School, walked away from a promising legal career to seek her fortune – and more importantly her happiness – in the poker world. With two final tables and five cashes on … 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
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Andrew and Nate discuss a live cash game hand submitted by a listener, and then fundraising contest winner Jason Simon joins them to discuss a hand he played in a live MTT.
Timestamps
0:30 Hello & Welcome
4:45 Strategy Part 1
43:28 … 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
This week’s free strategy video comes to you courtesy of the lucky donor who was randomly selected to receive a free review of one of his tournament hand histories. He graciously gave me permission to post it online so that everyone could see and learn from it.
I primarily review … Read full post
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T.J. Jurkiewicz may have come from humble buildings, but it took the former security guard less than a year (and the help of Chad Power) to break into some of the biggest no-limit games on the east coast. Find out how … 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.
Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to the Bay Area Urban Debate League during our year-end fundraising campaign! I’ll announce prize winners shortly, but want to be sure I’ve got a complete list of contributors first, as some people chose to mail checks. So I’m sorting out the list … Read full post
Of course donations are always welcome, but the Bay Area Urban Debate League‘s end-of-the-year fundraising campaign ends at, well, the end of the year. Which means that you’ve got a little more than 24 hours to make your contribution, if you haven’t already. Remember, any donation of $10 or … Read full post
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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
Just in time for Christmas, the latest volume in The Thinking Poker Diaries is here. Whether you’re looking for a last-minute gift or an escape from the family, this mix of trip reports and strategy essays from the 2012 WSOP Main Event is just the ticket! It’s an honest and … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who commented on the turn situation. Here’s a recap of the action so far:
Blinds are 50/100, Villain has about 20K (starting stack), and I have about 25K. Only six players (including both blinds) have claimed their seats so far. I have black Aces first to … Read full post
Dara Kearney and I yesterday released a joint review of a hyper turbo tournament that he won on PokerStars. Most of you probably know, by now, that I’m raising money for the Bay Area Urban Debate League and will release a free hour of poker strategy video for every $500 … Read full post
This is a continuation of the Hand of the Week. Discussion of the flop action, which I imagine will surprise some of you, can be found here.
Blinds are 50/100, Villain has about 20K (starting stack), and I have about 25K. Only six players (including both blinds) have … Read full post
Thanks to everyone who’s participated so far in the Hand of the Week. To recap the action so far:
Blinds are 50/100, Villain has about 20K (starting stack), and I have about 25K. Only six players (including both blinds) have claimed their seats so far. I have black Aces … Read full post
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Andrew wins a live MTT and faces a tough decision with the third nuts. You can read trip reports from Day 1 and Day 2 (including the final table).
Contribute to the Bay Area Urban Debate League and get entered in a … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, now appearing in Two Plus Two Magazine, is called Weighing Your Options. It’s about a rule I try to play by, that helps me to recognize the right times for unconventional plays and avoid timing tells all at once!
… Read full postWeighing your options, even if
As reported on last week’s podcast, I’m part of an end-of-the-year fundraising drive for the Bay Area Urban Debate League, a non-profit organization I’m deeply involved with here in the Bay Area. Debating in high school and college changed my life, and in the 15 years that I’ve been … Read full post
Based on how risk-averse everyone seemed to be during the latter half of Day 1, I expected the start of Day 2, with 43 people competing for 40 prizes, to go quite slowly. In fact, we saw four eliminations in three hands, and just like that, the bubble was over.… Read full post
We’re taking this week off from podcasting. Please use this opportunity to catch up on some recent greats. Several listeners have told us our interview with Brian Koppelman is their favorite of all the shows we’ve done. Jorge Limon is another recent standout you may have missed.
Gamble Gamble
It … 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
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Assani Fisher is a poker pro turned Daily Fantasy Sports player. He talks about his career in poker, his transition to DFS, and some of the recent news and controversies surrounding that industry. He also discusses his unique comedic contributions to the … Read full post
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Clayton Fletcher, who first appeared on Episode 74, is back to discuss his 96th place finish in the 2015 WSOP Main Event. Hear how he celebrated, how he dealt with a sudden reversal of fortune, and how his other career in stand-up … Read full post