Lessons From the Felt

My latest Two Plus Two article, Lessons From the Felt, is a deviation from the norm. Instead of explaining something to do with poker strategy, I talk about some things I learned from poker that helped me in the difficult task of finding an apartment in San Francisco:

When

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The Thinking Poker Diaries, Volume 1

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

Coming Attraction: Ben Sulsky

As you’ve probably noticed, Episode 99 of the Thinking Poker Podcast has not yet been released. After recording a great interview with Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky, we discovered some noise on the file that our once-again editor Sean Lango is working hard to fix. His tentative prognosis is that Nate and … Read full post

Mailbag: Friends Don’t Bluff Friends

Sorry for the delay on this week’s podcast. We do still have an episode in the works. In the meanwhile, here’s a hand submitted by listener favorite Carlos Welch in which he bluffs frequent commenter Pie Farmer. My comments at the end:

Q: This is a hand from our regular Read full post

Reg Wars

If you’ve been mourning the lack of brag posts here since the end of WCOOP, your prayers have been answered. My latest poker strategy article, Reg Wars, is an extended brag about a big bluff from a $10/$25 game:

It’s often correct to fold a weak flush draw to

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WCOOP Main Event

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

Stealing Dynamics in Razz

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

Bummer

I made Day 2 of the $200 Sunday Warm-Up WCOOP, which, with only 109 of 8000+ entrants making it even that far, was an achievement in its own right. My hopes weren’t especially up, as I was one of the shorter stacks with about 16 big blinds to start the … Read full post

Taking the Initiative

I’m often asked about donk betting or when to take the initiative away from an opponent who’s been betting or raising. My usual answer is that you should bet when you have reason to think your opponent is unlikely to bet the next street and you don’t want to give … Read full post

Bottom of My Range + Blockers = Bomb It

This was from the $215 rebuy WCOOP. Villain is a Zoom regular, we’ve played a few hundred hands together there and I think he’s pretty good. I imagine he has some respect for me as well.

PokerStars – $200+$15|60/120 Ante 15 NL – Holdem – 9 players
Hand converted by … Read full post

Finding New Ways to Run Bad

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve called with a bluff-catcher and lost to a hand my opponent thought he was bluffing with. I’ve been on the good end of such situations a bit more often, including at the final table of the FTOPS that I … Read full post

Poking the Bear

This is from the $215 4-max WCOOP event. Villain is Chris Moorman. In my experience, this sort of “blatant” continuation betting tends to provoke LAGs, because they want to be the ones picking up all of the pots where no one has anything, and of course that’s going to happen … Read full post

Episode 95: Ryan Laplante

Andrew gives us an update from Montreal, where he is grinding theWorld Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars. He is then joined by Nate and guest Ryan Laplante to talk about backing, turbo variance, grinding at a high volume, and more.

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I’ve Made a Huge Mistake

This is probably the dumbest thing I’ve done all WCOOP. Villain is Pascal Lefrancois. I don’t know much about him except that he’s very good. This is just a classic example of what not to do when you have a big stack in a very soft tournament. Just flatting his … Read full post

PLO8 WCOOP Bustout Hand

I’m too tired to try to pick out the most interesting hand of the tournament, so here’s the one I busted on. I’d be curious to hear from those who know more about this game whether I might be better off just calling flop. FWIW Villain is Caio Pimento, who’s … Read full post

An Interesting Stud/8 Hand

The Stud/8 situations I find most interesting are often those where you have what looks like a low hand but is actually a high hand or vice versa. I’ll post the hand first then say a few things about it:

Poker Stars $300+$20 Limit Stud Hi/Lo Tournament – t100/t200 Limit … Read full post

Checking the Nut Flush Draw

This is something I do sometimes. There are often exploitive reasons for it, but I do also think it’s good to be capable of making a flush on the turn when you check back the flop. This hand from the $300 Ante Up WCOOP illustrates why:

PokerStars – $300+$20|5/5 Ante … Read full post

Crucial WCOOP Double-Up

This was from the first table of the $300 6-handed NLHE shoot-out. Villain is a very successful tournament player but in my opinion not fundamentally solid. Basically he’s learned how to take advantage of a lot of common weaknesses found in MTT players but is slow to adapt and back … Read full post

Heroic WCOOP Fold

I got the WCOOP off to a decent start today, ultimately busting Event 1 ($109 full ring NLHE) and Event 3 ($215 Sunday Million replacement) on coin flips and min-cashing Event 2 ($215 6-handed). Early in Event 2 I made a pretty nitty river fold that I think is interesting … Read full post

Poker and Politics, Part 2

In my previous post, I argued that there are a number of political issues (construing the term somewhat broadly) that I don’t think anyone would argue shouldn’t be, and in any event were and are, discussed at thousands of poker tables around the world. This includes government actions such … Read full post

Episode 92: Olivier Busquet

Andrew and Nate skip the strategy this week to get right to a special hour-long interview with Olivier Busquet. Busquet discusses his win in the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller, the economical and personal value of playing in big buy-in tournaments, and, of course, the political t-shirt drama.

 … Read full post

Episode 91: Brian Rast

Brian Rast may not have the knack for self-promotion that some of the biggest names in the industry do, but he’s been quietly winning at the highest stakes, in a variety of formats, for years. In this interview, he talks about discovering Macau, the social dynamic of nosebleed live games, … Read full post

Podcast Preview

Here’s a little preview of the show that should be coming out later today. Before you get excited, it’s not a video interview, we just took this screen grab before the guest turned off his webcam (we don’t usually use them) because it was cute.

 … Read full post

What’s Your Play? TPTK Facing Strange Line

This one comes from a $10-$25 game against a very tough and creative opponent. We’ve played together a few times in Maryland, Las Vegas, and Pittsburgh, and if I recall correctly he once told me that he learned a lot from my Poker Savvy Plus videos, though he’s now a … Read full post

Where to WCOOP?

Hello dear readers! I’m writing today to ask for thoughts and advice. I want to go abroad next month to play the WCOOP, and I’m thinking of going somewhere other than Canada. Nico and his flatmate Soeren have actually invited me to stay with them in London, and as much … Read full post

What’s Your Plan? Good Draw, Lots of Interest

What's Your Play?

Edit: Sorry, typo in the original post. The SB completed pre-flop, he did not fold, which is how he was able to bet the flop.

This is from a $5/$10 NLHE live game. Opponents are some combination of intimidated by and annoyed with Hero, who has won a lot of … Read full post

Kings Pre-Flop

I played two big pre-flop pots with KK in Las Vegas cash games, one where I ended up folding and one where I got all in against QQ. A lot of people expressed curiosity about these hands when I first tweeted them, so I figured I’d post the details here.… Read full post

WSOP Road Trip 2014 Day 7

This is a conclusion of a series of posts that starts here with an introduction to who these people are and why I’m driving to Las Vegas with them.

Objective: Drop me off in Las Vegas. Optional: Continue on to Tahoe.

The drive from Zion to Las Vegas is … Read full post

Episode 88: Andrew vs Nate

On Episode #88 of the Thinking Poker Podcast Andrew Brokos andNate Meyvis break down two hands that were submitted from the audience. One is a cash game hand from an underground joint in New York with a favorable preflop rake, and the other comes from a tournament.

Nate and … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip 2014 Day 6

Objectives: Spend the day in Zion National Park! Complete an appropriately challenging family-friendly hike, swim in the Virgin River, and get back to the campground before the gate closes at 9PM.

The Emerald Pools

After five days of heavy driving, we’d covered enough ground that we could afford a full … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip 2014 Day 5

Objective: Drive approximately 8 hours from our campground near Golden, CO to the vicinity of Zion National Park. Find a place to camp on near the park.

Optional: Find a place to swim.

I woke around 3:30AM. Despite the fact that I was burrowed inside of my sleeping bag with … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip 2014 Day 4

This is a continuation of a series of posts that starts here with an introduction to who these people are and why I’m driving to Las Vegas with them.

Objective: Drive approximately five hours from Hays, Kansas to a campground just west of Denver, Colorado.

Rigging and Hustling

Because we’d … Read full post

Main Event Bustout Hand

I’ve obviously been running this over in my head a lot, so I might as well post it here. It’s the last hand before break, blinds are 250/500/25. I have a little shy of 20K, Villain has 30 or 35K. He seems to be the only other pro at the … Read full post

Episode 85: Finally in Las Vegas!

After a cross-country drive, Andrew has finally reunited with Nate in Las Vegas for the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event! The two are joined by Carlos to talk about a few hands Nate played in a preliminary 10-game event, low-stakes tournaments in Vegas, and much, much more.

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My 2014 WSOP Main Event Begins Today

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it. Nate ended up switching from Day 1C to 1B, and I was tempted to do the same, but last-minute changes tend to throw me off, as I’d already mentally planned some things I wanted to do yesterday. The only downside to this … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip Day 3

Objective: Drive about seven hours and camp at Kanopolis State Park in Western Kansas.

I woke around 6AM to find Jerica and Henry freshly showered and packing their things. A quick count confirmed that everyone was still alive and well, and I couldn’t find any itchy bed bug bites on … Read full post

Nitcast Meetup Reminder

If you’re in Las Vegas, please don’t forget to come meet Nate, Andrew, Carlos, and other Thinking Poker Podcast listeners and guests between 10AM – 1PM at the Gold Coast bowling alley tomorrow, July 5. Hope to see you there!… Read full post

WSOP Road Trip Day 2

Objectives: Drive approximately seven hours from Pittsburgh to Hoosier National Forest, where we’d camp for the night.

An Early Morning

Upon telling people about this trip, Jerica and I were both bombarded with advice about long drives with kids. Much of it would have required more planning than we were … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip Day 1

Objectives: Finish Packing. Retrieve Rental Car. Drive to Pittsburgh. Keep kids out of apartment during my walkthrough with landlord. “Camp” in my empty apartment.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about or who these people are, see this post.

At my landlord’s insistence, I’d agreed to doing … Read full post

WSOP Road Trip Day 0

It’s been a hectic few days. I wish I had more time to share some of the craziness with you, but the truth is that I’m not at all prepared for the Vegas road trip on which I’m about to embark. I think the kids’ mother is even less prepared … Read full post

Road to the WSOP 2014

I’ve driven from the east coast to Las Vegas several times, including in 2007 and 2013, but this year is going to be different. In the past, my girlfriend was my only companion. This year, I’ll have three children under the age of ten in toe.

I’ve mentioned several … Read full post

Episode 82: Ari Engel

On this episode of the Thinking Poker Podcast, Nate and Andrew set the location for the meet up in Las Vegas, break down a cash game hand that listener Jason played at Maryland Live! Casino, and talk withAri Engel about how to travel the circuit profitably, the … Read full post

Big Pots, Same Villain

Act One: They Meet

One of the first hands I saw when I sat down at the 5/10 game was this guy (“Villain”, hereafter) 4-bet-jamming 54 (no draw) on a 9h 7h 4s flop. He actually won a “flip” against 8h 5h, and his opponent was pissed. Other than that … Read full post

Episode 82 Update

The latest Thinking Poker Podcast hasn’t been released yet. When it is, I’ll post an announcement here, but it will be available only from PokerNews.

We’d had trouble finding a guest, it was a busy week for me, and we were thinking we might just take the week off. … Read full post