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Joe LaPinta is a professional poker player who won the recent WSOP circuit event at Harrah’s Atlantic City. Of course it takes more than just a tournament victory to score an appearance on the Thinking Poker Podcast, but Joe is also an … Read full post
Game is $5/$10/$20 no-limit hold ’em, effective stacks are at least $10,000. Villain is extremely nitty, but it’s paying off for him because he keeps coolering people who can’t bring themselves to fold when they’re obviously crushed. He doesn’t seem intimidated by the stakes exactly – he bought in for … Read full post
I’m really impressed by the comments on What’s Your Play? Bad Runout for an Overpair. I was actually reluctant to post it so soon after begging for more comments, because it seems like the biggest reason people have for not commenting is a concern that they don’t have … Read full post
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Andrew, Carlos, and Sean share stories from their recent trip to Atlantic City. There’s plenty of strategy, from small-stakes cash game hands to big decisions in a six-handed bounty tournament and the $2700 Fall Poker Open Main Event. Plus the Nitcast … Read full post
The game is $5/$10/$20 no-limit hold ’em, and it’s playing pretty deep. Villain 1 has $8K, Villain 2 has $5K, and I cover both.
Villain 1 is a professional and the toughest of my opponents in this game. He’s far more situationally aware than most and reads hands pretty well. … Read full post
Thanks for the many, many responses to this week’s What’s Your Play? It occurs to me, in retrospect, that I was fishing pretty hard for compliments with the way I worded my post. Well, I’m glad that I got them, and that so many people enjoy the WYP posts! I’ll … Read full post
I haven’t posted one of these in a while because participation in the last few was kind of lackluster. If you enjoy these sorts of posts, please comment on this one, even if you don’t have anything to say about the hand, just so that I can gauge the level … Read full post
Sorry I’ve been so long in getting this up. A lot of people expressed interest in it after I posted about Day 1, which I appreciate.
My Day 2 starting table was probably above average. It featured Harrison Gimbel (youngest ever winner of the PCA main event, now 23) … Read full post
Nate and I were flattered to be nominated for Best Podcast in the 2014 Bluff Reader’s Choice Awards. Hopefully this will prompt some new listeners to come check out the show, and with nearly 100 hours of content out there, it might be hard to know where to start.
In … Read full post
My latest poker strategy, Analyzing Heads-Up Play From the 2013 WSOP Main Event Final Table, is now appearing in the December edition of 2+2 Magazine. It specifically focuses on the perils of what I call a “weak pot control” strategy where the pre-flop raiser attempts to check back all … Read full post
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Andrew’s friend Miklos is on the show this week to talk about the Hungarian poker scene, his recent deep run in a Super Knock Out tournament, and strategy adjustments more generally for tournaments with large bounties. This episode is extra-heavy on strategy, … Read full post
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Jonathan Bredin is an Australian aspiring professional poker player who won the recent ANZPT Queenstown event. He also has cerebral palsy, which made recording an audio interview with him somewhat complicated. We ended up having a text-chat conversation with him about his … Read full post
I’m skipping ahead a bit in time here in my chronicling of Carlos’ and my trip to AC, but there are a few of you with a financial interest in this, so I figured you’d want to know how it’s going right away. Also, Carlos and I recorded a … Read full post
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Nate’s away this week, but Leo Wolpert and Andrew take advantage of the opportunity to answer some listener questions that have been lingering for too long in the mailbag queue.
0:30 – Hello and welcome; impressions of WSOP final table
18:23 – … Read full post
Well, after posting two instances of getting away very cheap from second-best hands, I finally outdid myself this week. In my defense, I’d been outflopped or turned by unlikely hands more than a few times this session, and worse I’d paid off when I should have known I was beat … Read full post
I just published a review of the first volume of Jonathan Little’s Secrets of Tournament Poker:
… Read full postSecrets of Professional Tournament Poker Volume 1Â is a dangerous book because it has the potential to lull inexperienced readers into a false sense of understanding. Only the simplest of concepts are explained in
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Roy Bhasin is a professional poker player and a member of PokerStars Team Online who specializes in pot-limit omaha cash games. He talks to us about how he got into poker, how he got into PLO, and how he got into self-improvement … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article is now appearing on Cardplayer.com. Entitled “Own Your Bad Play“, it’s about how to make the most of your mistakes at the table:
… Read full postWhen you make an uncharacteristically bad play, you’ve given your opponents misleading information about what to expect from you in
I folded a hand this week that was reminiscent of one I posted last week. The villain in this hand is literally the tightest and most straightforward player I’ve ever encountered. His first, second, and third objectives at the table are simply to win the pot when he believes … Read full post
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Johannes Levemann is the head of Research and Development for the Snowie Group one of the creators of PokerSnowie, a neural net that has over the course of several years supposedly learned to play a nearly unexploitable no-limit hold ’em game. We … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, He Has to Have Something, is now appearing in the November 2013 edition of Two Plus Two Magazine. It deals with a bit of sloppiness to which even otherwise good hand readers often fall prey:
… Read full post” The bottom line is that you need to
We were playing a $2/$5 game with a mandatory $10 straddle. A couple people limped, and then a tight and straightforward player raised to $60 with about $1000 behind. I had a pretty maniacal reputation and so was pleased to find a pair of Kings. I raised to $160, everyone … Read full post
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It’s time again to catch up with our old friend Gareth Chantler. From Trondheim, Norway, he tells us about his new job as a Full Tilt Poker blogger and gets Triple Draw advice from Nate Meyvis. Plus Zoom/Rush Poker strategy, Ricky Gervais … Read full post
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Dave Thornton is one of the principals at SkillInGames and OneBillionHands, a recently-launched site with access to, well, roughly one billion hands’ worth of anonymized hole card data from real money online poker games. We talk about where these hands came … Read full post
Notice that I begin this hand with about 21 BBs. I’d often 3-bet larger than this from out of position, but here I’m not that worried about pricing something in. There aren’t many hands that can take advantage of those odds to play perfectly against me. At least as often, … Read full post
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Shane “Shaniac” Schleger was our very first guest, and he’s had quite a year since he last talked with us. From getting married to getting turned away at the Canadian border to final tabling the WCOOP Main Event, he shares the … Read full post
I’m reviewing my play in the WCOOP and figured I’d bring you all into the conversation for a few of these spots. This one was from a $200 6-max, I’d been at the table less than an orbit so no reads or history with anyone.
PokerStars – $200+$15|250/500 Ante 60 … Read full post
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Keone Young is a character actor whose decades-long career has spanned television, movies, theater, and even video games. He’s also a serious poker player and a regular contributor to the comments section of the Thinking Poker Blog. He joins us to talk … Read full post
Just wanted to let you know about some recently published stuff you might be interested in:
WSOP 2013 Trip Report, Part 4: The Main Event – Unfortunately this is a lot shorter than it’s been in past years, but I did get to play a pretty famous player: “Usually, tough … Read full post
In retrospect, I think that What’s Your Play? Turned an Underfull was a poor choice for this feature. The things I have to say about it are much too specific to a certain type of player, and to make matters worse I didn’t establish very well in the original … Read full post
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Sean Lango is the editor of the Thinking Poker Podcast and a member of Palmyra, the band you’ve been hearing on the show for the last few weeks. He’s also a professional musician who supplements his income with poker. We talk … Read full post
This is another $1/$2 Zoom hand. Villain has TAGgish stats over a small sample, 21/18 with a 3-bet of 11, with all of his 3-bets so far have come from the button or the blinds. Hero’s own stats are actually even tighter than that, though I don’t have any insight … Read full post
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After some brief reminiscences, Nate and Andrew dive into a strategy-rich show. Even if you’ve never heard of Courchevel before, you’ll want to hear what it can teach you about poker in general. If it piques your interest, you can read more … Read full post
Only six comments on this week’s What’s Your Plan? – did I confuse everyone by posting it on Tuesday? That said, they were all very high-quality comments, so thanks to those who participated.
Pre-Flop Planning
“Which” makes the very good point that we ought to have a good idea of … Read full post
One of the biggest leaks I see, especially but certainly not exclusively among tournament players, is a failure to build big pots with big hands. I made a series about this called Getting Paid for Tournament Poker Edge that I think is worth watching even if you aren’t a tournament … Read full post
I had a note that Villain will fight back in position in a 3-bet pot, which explains at least some of this hand. And if his range on the river is all combos of AK, 77, 99, 86s, and T8s, then this is actually a good call. In practice, I … Read full post
This is from the Sunday $500 on PokerStars, a tournament that tends to draw a field of MTT specialists of varying skill. In the first hour, Villain 1, in middle position, has played 16% of his hands, 12% of them as the pre-flop raiser, and mostly in late position. Villain … Read full post
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Carlos Welch was one of our most popular guests, and he’s back to talk about his new life as a professional poker player. Find out why he didn’t move to Jamaica, what he’s doing instead, and how he’s dealing with a downswing. … Read full post
The situation in What’s Your Play? Weak Overpair, Four-Bet Pot demonstrates the importance of starting your hand reading early. If you aren’t already thinking about your opponents’ ranges pre-flop, it’s easy to misjudge once you see the flop and the action. The question to ask is not, “What hands will … Read full post
Get a leg-up in this year’s WCOOP by watching me face off against four very different opponent’s in last year’s $700 heads-up no-limit hold ’em tournament. Part 1 of the new series is up now at Tournament Poker Edge, and Part 2 will go up tomorrow, with the rest … Read full post
I’ve been playing some small-stakes ZOOM alongside my tournaments whenever I’ve got spare screen space, and this is the most interesting spot I’ve encountered in any of my games in my first two days playing. I had to reformat my database, so I didn’t have a HUD running while I … Read full post
Thanks for all the comments on What’s Your Strategy? Overbetting Fiend. This is an extreme example of how important it is to adapt to your opponents. Although your “normal” game will surely have a positive expectation against this player, there is potential to do much much better if you … Read full post
Part 3 of my trip report from the 2013 WSOP is now appearing in the Two Plus Two Magazine. It deals with the only two preliminary events in which I made Day 2: the $3000 Mixed Max and the $1500 PLO8:
… Read full post“By the end of Day 1, I was playing
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Jennifer Newell, @WriterJen on Twitter, is a freelance writer who frequently covers the world of poker for Poker Scout, PokerStars Women, and others. Â Though she doesn’t play much herself, she loves the many colorful personalities and fascinating stories of the … Read full post
It’s level one of a small-field, $555 MTT at the local card room. The field will be extremely soft, re-entries are allowed for the first two hours, and including re-entries there will likely be fewer than 75 total entries.
Hero’s table is currently four handed with six stacks getting blinded … Read full post
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Mike Stein, author of the excellent Quantitative Poker blog, joins us to talk about skill vs luck in poker, how tax implications and the declining utility of money should affect your game selection, and game theoretically optimal bluffing strategy across … Read full post
I’ve been toying around with this situation for a while, and although I want to retain some measure of caution simply because I have a history of making mistakes with this sort of thing, I’m pretty sure I’ve determined that the optimal bluffing frequency for Hero doesn’t change even if … Read full post
I know I promised earlier this week that I’d follow-up with more on optimal multi-street bluffing frequency. It proved to be a more thorny problem than I anticipated, and while I still don’t have a definitive answer, you’ll get a chance to hear me discuss the problem with two very … Read full post
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Leo Wolpert, who’s been both an interviewee and guest host on the show before, returns in the latter capacity. We talk cold war politics, getting value from maniacs, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? strategy, and the difference between good and great … Read full post
Thanks for all the comments on What’s Your Play? Worst Card to Bluff, and sorry that I’ve been slow in getting this results post up. It’s possibly a result of the fact that I’ve been driving back across the country this week and not online much, and possibly a matter … Read full post
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It’s our first Pot Limit Omaha-centric episode, with guest John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez. John is a professional poker player who specialized in PLO and the author of the PLO QuickPro Manual. He won his first WSOP bracelet in the 2013 $1500 six-handed … Read full post
This one comes from a $5/$10 no-limit hold ’em game at the Venetian. I’m new to the table, initially bought in for $1000 but relatively quickly decided to load up enough to cover the table. I don’t think I’ve done anything else of note since I’ve been here, but that … Read full post
Pardon the spammy title, but I’ve got some seriously good material to share with you. First and foremost is the second installment in a series of free coaching videos I’m making with Andre Coimbra. Together we review his deep run in a Big $16.50 on PokerStars. This video, nearly … Read full post
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Faraz Jaka is one of the most consistent tournament players in the game. He was the 2009 – 2010 World Poker Tour Player of the Year and continues to appear at major final tables around the world.
He’s also one of the … Read full post
Thanks for all the comments on this week’s What’s Your Play?, and sorry that I’m late in getting results up. My weekend turned out to be a lot busier – in a good way – than I’d anticipated.
Preflop
I’ll start with a quick note on the raise vs … Read full post
The second installment of my WSOP trip report is now appearing in Two Plus Two Magazine. After a disappointing start to the series, my next few tournaments offer me some opportunities to regain confidence:
… Read full post“Phil probably forgot about this hand seconds after it happened, but although it was in some
Edit: Thanks to ThereYouGoAgain and others who pointed out the errors in my original post. Sorry for the confusion – Villain 1 (the open limper) did overcall the raise, and three of us saw the flop and turn (where pot size was wrong).
This hand comes from a $2/$5 no-limit … Read full post
I’ve got a new video series going up on Tournament Poker Edge which deals with strategy for playing the final table bubble. It will be a three-part series, with one part dedicated to each of big-, medium-, and short-stacked play. Check it out, and if you’re not already a … Read full post
Thanks for all the great comments on this week’s What’s Your Play? As I’d hoped, your suggestions have helped me to think more about both the river decision and my play on earlier streets.
One point I want to emphasize up front about playing against tough/tricky opponents is that I’m … Read full post
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Gareth Chantler talks about Norwegian family politics and covering tournaments for the PokerStars Blog. He also joins in discussions of the ethics of accepting an unsolicited chip dump, playing second pair in a limped pot, and playing Kings when an Ace flops, … Read full post
I’ve got a tough one for you this week. This is one of the trickier spots I’ve been in of late, and I’ll tell you up front that I’m not 100% sure about my play or my plan at multiple points in the hand. So with that said, we’ll zero … Read full post
I was very happy with the comments on What’s Your Play? Underrepresented Top Pair. Some of you thought it was an “easy call”, some an easy fold, and a few even wanted to raise, though I don’t recall anyone considering that an obvious or easy choice. So what’s my … Read full post
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Bill Ordine is the editor of PhillyGambles.com, an editor and writer for PressBox, and a former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Baltimore Sun. In his capacity as a sports writer, Bill pushed for greater poker coverage in the … Read full post
My main event run came to an end early on Day 3 in unspectacular fashion. I do, however, currently have an above average stack going into the $5000 Venetian Deep Stacks main event. I don’t think any hands from those tournaments are as instructive as this one, though.
This is … Read full post
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Carlos “loxxii” Welch is a grinder if ever there were one. The former math teacher was happily learning the game playing small-stakes online tournaments until Black Friday complicated that plan. Undeterred, he now travels to casinos, sleeping in his truck or on … Read full post
Hopefully a lot of you follow me on Twitter, because I know I’ve been bad about keeping the blog up-to-date. The short version is that I’m still in the Main Event going into day 3. I’ve got about 20K chips, and blinds are 800/1600/200 when we return, so if I’m … Read full post