A friend who is a statistics consultant once told me “You are the only person who talks about game theory that I think actually understands it.” While that may have been true when he said it 10 years ago, more and more poker players these days understand and utilize game theory in their play. With that said, most players are only familiar with the term GTO or perhaps have a vague understanding that it means an attempt to play perfect poker. But many of you out there might be wondering what the hell poker players actually mean when they talk about GTO?

I am GTO

Game Theory is the study of competitive situations (games in this case) and how to maximize wins or minimize losses in specific situations. Until recently it was most commonly used by military planners, computer scientists, and academics. Game Theory Optimal (GTO) is simply a way to describe the best possible play.

But sometimes there are multiple meanings for this word when poker players use it.

A play can be GTO against other perfect play, making it “unexploitable”. Or it can be GTO against (your assumption of) an opponent’s range. It can also be GTO against the weaknesses in their game, which we often call “exploitative”. That last bit can be pretty fuzzy because it depends on how accurate our estimates are of their skills and tendencies. Let’s look at a quick game I made up years ago to explain Game Theory to my students called “Poker War”.

An Introduction to Poker War

Poker War helps us to see the difference between a Nash Solution, which is unexploitable, a better Nash solution (sometimes there are more than one), and the best play against a weak opponent.

In Poker War, we play the old card game war. Each player starts with a shuffled deck of cards and flips them one at a time. The highest card wins during each flip. The game is played heads up. So far there is no skill involved. But then we can add the poker element to it, which involves betting.

Each player takes a marker before the game starts and writes a number from 1 to 5 on each card. This is how many dollars they are willing to wager that their card will win its heads up confrontation. The card with the lowest number is the number that is paid to the winner, regardless of whether that number is on the winning or losing card. Think of it like table stakes in poker, where the effective stack is the smallest stack in a heads up pot.

So if you flip over an ace with a 5 written on it, but your opponent flips over a deuce with a 1 written on it; they only pay you one dollar. If your opponent is on drugs, drinking heavily, or hates money, and they wrote a 3 on the deuce, they would pay you three dollars instead.

Now, before you read on, do some thinking about this game. What numbers would you write on your cards? Can you come up with the GTO solution? Remember to consider what your opponent will write on their cards. I am going to give you the solution to this game. My deck will be perfect. This means that the best you can do is to break even against my deck in the long run. What could you write on your deck to ensure that I don’t win your money?

I’ll wait…

The first solution to this game is to write a 1 on each card. This removes the betting and just reverts into a regular game of war. No matter what I wrote on my cards, I can’t take advantage of you and we will always break even. This is a Nash Solution to this game, but it isn’t the best one because it doesn’t exploit bad play. It is a Minimum Nash Solution.

The only other Nash solution is to write a 5 on your aces and a 1 on every other card. This will still ensure that you break even against the perfect deck, but if I am wrong about having solved the game and have made a mistake, you can win money from me. If I wrote a 4 on all my kings, you would win four dollars every time your ace comes up against my king, while I would only win one dollar when my ace comes up against your king.

This will win you three extra dollars every time it happens, and it will happen 4/13 times that we go through a deck, so you will win almost a dollar extra each time we play. This is the Maximum Nash Solution.

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The above solutions are both unexploitable, but there are solutions that will attack an opponent’s weakness as well. If you know your opponent is writing a 4 on each king, and a 3 on each queen and jack, you could change your deck to make even more money from them. If you now put a 3 on each of your kings, you will lose two extra dollars when you run your king into your opponent’s ace, but you will win two extra dollars when you take your king up against their queens and jacks.

Against an opponent who is making this mistake, your change from unexploitable to exploitative will make you a lot more money. However, if your next opponent has the Maximum Nash deck with 5 on the aces and 1 on everything else, you will lose a lot of money to them.

Going to Battle at the Felt: Be Prepared!

Since poker is a battle, I like to see it in terms of a gladiator fight. The first solution, 1 on every card, is perfect armor. The Maximum Nash solution finds a way to add a sword without losing any armor. And the exploitative solution goes with a bigger sword and gives up some armor. When a poker player talks about GTO, they could be talking about any of these things. Alternatively, they might not know what they are talking about at all and just be using “GTO” as a way to describe what they think the best play is.

Tournament players have been using GTO solvers for a few years now. The popular options include Pio Solver, which is commonly used by the highest stakes pros but is quite expensive, Monker Solver, which is also very strong and not quite as pricey, and GTO+, which is less powerful but very inexpensive and even offers a free version.

These solvers are not easy to use. There is a learning curve when you get started with them, but they can be quite valuable especially if you are playing higher buy-ins against strong competition. Don’t forget, making the right plays also involves reading your opponents physically, knowing your own table image, correctly estimating their range, and factoring in the tournament equity based on the payout structure. Don’t have any fear that poker is “solved” at this point; no one is playing anywhere close to perfect yet.

I recommend learning some GTO solutions, even for lower stakes players who shouldn’t be playing an unexploitable style, for two reasons.

  1. Knowing where the correct equilibrium is will help you spot the mistakes you are hoping to exploit. If you don’t know what hands are correct pre-flop in a very tough game, you won’t be able to spot all the weaknesses in a soft game. If you can’t spot them, you can’t exploit them. GTO gives you a baseline and you can deviate from it to attack the times when your opponents deviate from it.
  2. You may move up to higher stakes or end up heads up against a world-class player at the end of a tournament. Knowing how to play closer to GTO against them will limit their advantage over you.

The advent of GTO has changed the tournament game significantly at the higher levels. Continuation bets are no longer automatic. Many players have dropped their c-Bet frequency from “almost always” to somewhere in the low 70% range. Checking back the flop or turn with the best hand has become more common as well. Aggression is still very important, but it’s more controlled now, and happens at different spots in the hand. Even in the smaller WSOP Circuit events I played recently, it was obvious that the better players are learning to play closer to optimal.

5th place for peanuts and no ring.

— Chris Wallace (@foxpokerfox) November 20, 2019

Learning GTO play isn’t simple. Working with a solver is the obvious way to do it, but most players won’t do the tedious work of inputting hands and analyzing the decision tree in a solver. Many coaches have already done this work and can help you add a sprinkle of GTO flavor to your game much faster, though coaching isn’t always cheap. I charge $100 an hour, and I’m one of the cheapest reputable coaches on the market. Some very famous players charge as much as $1,000 an hour!

Some of the best poker training sites are also working on GTO programs, and while they will not be as fast or as personalized as a coach, they represent the cheapest option. I know that Run It Once has a ton of GTO content. Red Chip Poker has a brand new crash course on it as well that is quite good. Moreover, Ryan LaPlante’s new site Learn Pro Poker is primarily based around teaching GTO play in ways that are easy to understand.

I’m certain that GTO play will continue to work its way into poker tournaments, with more players at the lower levels learning about it or simply imitating what they see the top players do. A combination of people reading skills, range estimates, and an understanding of GTO will be what wins poker tournaments for years to come. At the lower buy-in levels, the people-reading skills will be more important, while high-stakes crushers will continue to study GTO as a huge part of their game.

A sports team often enjoys a long winning streak – a sequence of games won, one after the other. The longest win streak in college football history is held by the University of Oklahoma Sooners, who won 47 consecutive games between 1953 and 1957. Streaks – runs of good or bad luck – are quite common in poker, but one doesn’t necessarily have to win or lose a large number of consecutive hands for it to be considered a good or bad streak.

If you play much poker, undoubtedly you too have been delighted when in the midst of a winning streak, and going home session after session with more money than you brought to the casino. This is something you can also feel online if gambling at sites like PayPal casinos, but eventually, whether at poker or any other form of casino gambling, you’ll suffer a losing streak. Such is the nature of a game in which skill notwithstanding, luck will always play a part.

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Likewise, during a single session, you may encounter several winning and losing streaks. It’s inevitable. Go figure! There will be times when you decide to stay in and see the flop with marginal starting hands (for whatever reason) and manage to connect with the nuts on the flop. That type of good luck (sometimes referred to as momentum) lasts for a period of time, helping to build you stacks of poker chips. Your confidence surges to no end. Perhaps this is even a factor in your continuing good luck?

But, unfortunately, the opposite is also true: You can start with the best possible hole cards, like pocket Aces, and end up second-best. Catch a set of Kings on the flop but you’ll lose when an opponent catches a full house on the river –a bad beat, no less, and it’s demoralizing to say the least! Of course, it’s also quite costly. How many such losers can you handle before having to dip into your wallet for more money. Don’t go on tilt! Of course, these streaks also happen to your opponents.

My Experience with Winning and Losing Streaks

I don’t know about you, but good and bad streaks happen to me almost every time I play poker. Recently, while playing $4-$8 limit hold’em at the Hustler Casino in Gardena, California, I started off just great. I won the vast majority of the pots I entered. I was on a streak! The cards seemed to just fall into place, and my self-confidence soared.

I was well ahead when I took a break from the game to enjoy my dinner. As usual, the food at the Hustler was excellent, as is the food service – adding to my ecstasy and euphoria.

But all good things must come to an end – unfortunately. That’s life! A bit later, after I got back to the table, things changed dramatically. Most of the same players were there, but my good luck turned sour. Oh, so sour. Hand after hand, I took a beating. My profits dwindled.

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Take a Break

I took a break from the table and went outside to refresh my mind and to THINK. I wanted to avoid going on tilt. What’s more, I decided it was a good time to quit for the session while I was still ahead. It was an hour before my scheduled Access van ride home; so, I decided to sit down at an empty table and draft my notes for this column.

How do you avoid losing back all your winnings?

The reader submitting the best comments to me via email ([email protected]) during the next two weeks will be awarded with a copy of my book, The Art of Bluffing (see below).

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Short Deck Poker (a.k.a., Six Plus Hold’em) has garnered a lot of popularity lately, primarily thanks to ultra-high stakes games broadcast from the Triton Poker Series stops in Europe and Asia.

These games are being streamed with increasing regularity, so it is no surprise that many poker fans are warming up to this new poker variant. Seeing huge six-figure pots constantly exchange hands will never fail to excite.

Short Deck Hold’em looks a lot like the traditional, full deck format. However, it is a different game with different dynamics and specific strategies. To be able to play well, you need to learn short deck poker rules and understand main differences and how they influence your game-plan.

In this short article, I will share my top 3 tips, which should help you have better results. If you never played this game before, this could be a great time to begin.

short deck poker

Image credit: pennsportsbooks.com

1. Feel free to limp with many more hands

Unlike in classic Hold’em, there is absolutely nothing wrong with open-limping with a variety of hands in Six Plus. In fact, from early positions, you could limp with your entire range and be very profitable. It may seem counter intuitive, but there are a couple of reasons for this.

First of all, there aren’t as many real preflop premiums in Short Deck. Only Aces, Kings, and AKs are considered premium hands (and AQs to some extent). So, the task of balancing your best hands with some weaker ones becomes increasingly difficult. Thus, open-limping becomes a viable strategy.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

Secondly, you’re getting much better odds on your money because of the ante structure. Since you already have one ante invested in every pot and there are seven antes in the middle, you’ll want to see as many flops as possible.

This also creates a scenario where the game is effectively played much shorter. Often, raising will commit you to the pot if you have a shorter stack. Thus, if you’re raising from early position with non-premiums, you’ll very often run into a better hand behind. If you’re only raising premiums, you risk becoming too predictable.

So, I recommend just limping your entire range from early positions (up until Hijack or Cutoff) and going from there.

2. Understand that hand equities are much closer

In Short Deck Hold’em, hand equities run much closer together than in traditional No Limit Hold’em. That’s the main reason why so few hands are considered premiums, and even these hands aren’t nearly as strong. Getting it in with KK vs. AK, for example, you won’t be nearly as big of a favorite as you’d be in NLHE.

In fact, you may be surprised to hear that pocket kings are just a 10% favorite against any AK and only 6% favorite against the suited AKs! Because the deck has been shortened, an ace will make an appearance by the river much more frequently.

This changes the overall approach to the game. You’ll be better off seeing more flops cheaply and proceeding from there than just trying to get the chips in the middle with hands that might be borderline favorites at best (like JJ or QQ). Therefore, it makes sense to study preflop hands charts and get familiar with the math part of this game.

Because there are only 36 cards in the deck as low value cards (2s through 5s) are removed, suited connectors go way up in value. You’ll be making many more straights in Short Deck than you do in NLHE. Additionally, flushes beat full houses in this game. Thus, suited cards, especially suited aces, are very powerful.

3. Overbets are a regular part of the game

Sizing your bets in No-Limit Hold’em is usually done in relation to the pot. You won’t see too many players firing huge bets that are bigger than the size of the pot except in some very special spots.

In Six Plus Hold’em, though, over-betting the pot is not just normal, but it’s even recommended!

This tip ties into what I mentioned earlier, i.e., equities being much closer together. When you flop a big hand, you’ll usually want to protect it because other players will have good chances of catching up. The best way to do it is by betting big and even over-betting the pot if you’re up against someone who’s sticky or they’re likely to have a big draw.

This works the other way around, too. You can bet big with your big draws and put the maximum amount of pressure on your opponent. They won’t know if you have the nuts or not and even if they call you, you’ll still have a great amount of equity with hands such as combo draws.

Ed. note: Now that you’ve started learning more about Short Deck Hold’em, you might be interested in further study via a comprehensive course. Have a look at our thorough review of Kane Kalas’ Short Deck course over at Upswing Poker.

Poker has certainly had it’s ups and downs over the years, but it’s popularity endures among recreational and professional players alike. A number of sports celebrities have also crossed over into the poker world on occasion. Some of them are just looking for some fun and entertainment, but many of these athletes also show their competitive streak at the poker tables, too. When at the tables, they can often be seen applying their hard coded character traits of striving for excellence, playing without fear, and performing under pressure.

Star athletes are used to the limelight and have no problem being the center of attention whether on the courts or at the felt. Below is a list of five popular, successful European athletes who have on numerous occasions crossed over into the poker realm.

Cristiano Ronaldo (football)

Might as well start at the top! One of the world’s most recognizable faces, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most popular footballers in history. The Portuguese sensation crushes opponents and has long instilled fear into the hearts of those who face him. In interviews, he revealed that he likes poker and often spends many hours playing tournaments online. While he hasn’t shared his on-felt results, he’s made more than enough over his career that it’s OK if he’s not a lifetime winner at the tables. PokerStars has leveraged Ronaldo’s popularity and in the past had him represent the brand. It was a good fit, as he’s said that poker drives him in the same way as playing his chosen sport of football.

Superstar @Cristiano Ronaldo joins #PokerStars as global brand ambassador. CLICK TO READ >> http://t.co/EOyqOSXhaw pic.twitter.com/s2TFUYyGsq

— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) May 27, 2015

Matthew Stevens (snooker)

Stevens is likely without question the best poker player among snooker players. While cash games are more his cup of tea, he’s notched some notable tournament success as well. Taking part in the 2004 Pacific Poker UK Open, he emerged victorious from a final table that included the likes of Irish poker pro Donnacha O’Dea, darts master Phil Taylor, and tennis legend Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The score netted him half a million dollars.

Will Matthew Stevens wish he was playing a cash game of poker than playing Kyren Wilson? pic.twitter.com/xm4zk1Q8Lz

— Brian (@MrBrian1961) April 20, 2018

Teddy Sheringham (football)

Sheringham is an English football legend, a past winner of the EFL Championship and the UEFA Champions League while being on the roster of the incredibly popular club Manchester United. His penchant for poker was known while he was an active player but Teddy more fully crossed into the poker world after the end of the sports career. Sheringham has made it to the final stages of a few large poker tournaments, which has allowed him to keep some money flowing in to his account long after the checks stopped arriving from his football team.

Fun playing poker with bosses like @MagicAntonio and Teddy Sheringham at @888poker Festival in London Stratford

— Sofia Lövgren (@Sofia_Lovgren) October 19, 2016

Fatima Moreira de Melo (field hockey)

Fatima Moreira de Melo is a famous Dutch Olympic field hockey champion. The team’s leader and its permanent captain, she gained respect in the world of professional sports due to her indomitable character. Upon the completion of her professional sports career, she found herself in the world of poker. She has long been a member of Team PokerStars Pro, and has taken part in a number of both their live and online event series.

Spoiler alert: Unfortunately @Fatimademelo is out of the #EPTMonteCarlo Main Event. She exited in 44th place, cashing for €14,800. 👏
Just before she busted, she spoke to us about her deep run. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/abXADD2RDg

— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) May 2, 2019

Ilya “ALOHADANCE” Korobkin (egaming)

Ilya is a Ukrainian professional Dota 2 player (HellRaisers team) better known by his online name ALOHADANCE. In recent years, his popularity has grown not only because of his success in his chosen field of egaming, but also because he’s just quite the entertaining live streaming personality. Ilya got involved in poker over time, participating in online-tournaments. You can watch hi in action in the clip below, but be warned that you ought to lower your volume and strap yourself in for quite the wild ride! In the past, PokerStars has invited him to play at their EPT Sochi festival, where he was a featured player at the TV table to the delight of onlookers both in person and watching from home.

In a recent issue of the OLAM magazine published by the Jewish Press, a letter writer asked a very pertinent question that relates to the game of poker: “Is a Gambling Game Affecting Your Life?” With a photo at the top showing a hoodied poker player at work, the letter suggests that poker is a gambling game that may well have an effect on players’ lives in a negative way. This caught my eye, and gave me cause for concern regarding our world of poker.

gambling loss

Image used for illustrative purposes only

Gambling is risking something of value (such as money or poker chips) upon the outcome of a contest of chance, not under the player’s control or influence, with the understanding that he or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome. As Slots Adviser could tell you, poker and slots are very different games.

According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), “for many people, gambling is harmless fun, but it can become a problem. This type of compulsive behavior is often called “problem gambling.” It can become “progressively addicting, resulting in many negative psychological, physical, and social repercussions.”

Problem gambling has steadily increased in the U.S. According to the North American Foundation for Gambling Addiction, about 10 million people in the U.S. struggle with gambling habits.

Indeed, we all know that there is bound to be an element of gambling where something of value (e.g., money) is involved. It’s 100 percent “gambling” when you fully trust to luck (pure chance) – like tossing a coin into the air: heads you win, tails you lose. Many games are in that category, like the aforementioned slots as well as table games. In those games, the odds are set to give the casino an advantage; that’s “pure gambling.” On the other hand, learning poker skills serves to mitigate the luck factor; so those who study and play the game do so with more of a mind of making a sound investment as contrasted with tossing a coin.

Since you can never completely eliminate chance (luck), there is always a degree of gambling. The same applies to making investments, playing competitive sports, and perhaps even walking across a busy road in the dark (the driver could be distracted).

Unlike “pure gambling,” in many respects, poker can affect our lives for the good. Most people play the game of poker for recreation – just as they might participate in golf, checkers and other challenging games. We all need some recreational activities. We also gain from the social interaction, and thoroughly enjoy the mental challenge.

Treating it as strictly as a recreational activity helps to avoid becoming addicted. Nevertheless, addiction is always a possibility. Help to prevent addiction is readily available (such as Gamblers Anonymous).

Yes, money management is important – just as it is in all parts of our lives. What’s more, for seniors, the mental challenge while playing poker, may very well help to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In this regard, in his recent book Play Poker; Stay Young, the world’s leading poker psychologist, Dr. Alan N. Schoonmaker, quotes my observations based on our seniors poker group experience.

Bottom Line: Poker is different from other games. It encourages becoming skilled to minimize gambling (where one trusts only to luck). Plus, it offers some wonderful benefits, including mental well-being – no more Alzheimer’s!

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Ed. Note: At Cardplayer Lifestyle we enjoy sharing with our readers contributed articles from a variety of different authors with unique perspectives on the game of poker. This post is brought to you by Sol Rosenbaum, licensed professional engineer and founder of TheEngineeringMentor.com.

Engineers don’t have to be engineers.

In fact, engineering school gives one a great foundation to enter a wide array of fields.

There are always the engineering graduates who continue on to medical or law school as well as some who veer into the management and business side of things by getting an MBA. I even know someone who ended up starting a painting business after getting his degree in software engineering.

As poker continues to grow in popularity it should come as no surprise that engineers are getting in on the action. In fact, I think an engineering degree is perfectly suited for success in the poker world.

Here are the three skills that engineers possess that give them an edge in the poker world, plus one that hurts their chances.

engineering

They Understand the Odds

Non-math-oriented people are notoriously bad at gauging relative odds. Just look at the number of people who wait in line to buy a lottery ticket. How many of them really understand that their odds of getting hit by lightning are 4-5x greater than the odds of them winning the lottery?

Sure, there is some luck involved in winning, but at its core, poker is a game of statistical analysis, making the understanding of odds crucial. All good poker players, regardless of their background, are going to have a solid grasp on these odds. However, the learning curve for someone with an engineering background is going to be much smoother considering their inherent background in mathematics.

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Ability to Determine the Variables

In some senses, engineering can be pretty easy and straightforward; just apply the formula and out pops the answer. However, the tricky part can be in determining which formula is applicable in the given situation and the value of each of the variables represented within the formula. After working on these types of problems for four years during engineering school and possibly out in industry as well, engineers become pretty adept at recognizing situations and their variables.

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Applying this type of thought process to the poker world works to an engineer’s benefit. The sooner you can recognize the situation in which you find yourself and the sooner you can recognize the variables that can help or hurt you, the greater success you will find at the poker table.

Ability to Systematize, Analyze, and Test

Does the thought of being handed an Excel worksheet with literally thousands upon thousands of cells representing interval data from a piece of equipment sound like a normal day at work? For many engineers, digging through and interpreting the data to find trends and anomalies is part of their daily routine. Personally, this is something that I end up doing several times a week as I review energy data for buildings and then evaluate how various energy reduction projects may (or may not) help them out.

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Win or lose, it’s important for a poker player to understand what led to that result so that it is repeatable or avoidable. Luck will always be a part of poker, but a deeper analysis of the trends and outcomes can reduce the dependence on luck and increase one’s winning opportunities. As such, it goes without saying that studying with good poker software could enhance these abilities to an even greater level.

On the Downside: Engineers are Risk-Averse

As a group, engineers like to take a more conservative approach in their work and are generally risk-averse. This is particularly prominent with civil, nuclear, and aerospace engineers who design bridges, power plants, and airplanes, where failure would be catastrophic. Therefore, these engineers utilize safety factors in their calculations to pad the results for that “just in case” situation where multiple outside forces come into play.

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Taking measured risks in poker is part of the game and, some would say, a requirement for success. However, due to this aversion to risk, engineers often miss opportunities due to overstatement of the risks. This natural tendency would be something they’d need to overcome upon taking a seat at the poker table.

In Conclusion

Using one’s engineering degree as a springboard for non-engineering pursuits is nothing new. The skills one learns in engineering school and working on engineering projects are applicable in many realms, and poker is no exception.

There will be those who look at an engineer in the poker world and think that he is wasting his education. However, the truth is that he would be actually applying his engineering education and skills in a very direct manner that could lead to a great deal of success.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Arthur C. Clark

I have been called a donkey countless times over the years. Sometimes they were right, but I’ve made a living in the game for 18 years now and I think it’s fair to say that a general description of me as a bad poker player is not accurate. I think the quote above is one of the reasons why we tend to make this mistake at the poker table.

bias

Heeeeere’s Johnny!

I often think of a situation involving my friend Johnny. Johnny is an excellent tournament player who has made multiple millions. He is aggressive and fearless in a way that is typical of strong online players and often frustrates players in the brick and mortar tournament world.

We were at a tournament in Wisconsin, just south of online slots Canada real money country, and I was outside during break. An older man cornered me to tell me a bad beat story about a terrible player who had beat him with 74s from early position. I was only listening to get to the end so I could get away, as people usually do when the bad beat stories start, when he pointed across the parking lot and said: “There he is. That’s the idiot who busted me with four-seven.”

Of course, he was pointing at Johnny. Rather than telling him that he was probably pointing at the biggest lifetime winner playing in the tournament, I kept my poker face on and asked him a few questions. His answers confirmed every one of my suspicions about how the hand went down.

  1. The stacks were deep and the blinds were low.
  2. The table was letting Johnny steal the blinds and they weren’t reraising him very often.
  3. In his bustout hand, Mr. Bad Beat had made a very small reraise with his pocket queens.
  4. When the flop came 775, he gave Johnny his entire stack.

Johnny had raised to 2.2 big blinds, and had been reraised to 4.6 big blinds. The effective stack was over 50 big blinds. So Johnny had invested another 2.4 big blinds to win nearly 60 and he knew that his opponent wasn’t very skilled. The small reraise from an older person in a rural area was probably a good indicator. That small reraise might be scary from a young person because they could be playing a leveling game or hoping to build a pot they could steal in position later, but from this guy? Not a chance.

Johnny knew he was going to get paid if he hit his hand. He also knew he was going to be able to steal the pot sometimes if he missed. Plus, he knew that his opponent would never believe he had a hand like 74s.

You Can’t Know What You Don’t Know

My new friend couldn’t understand any of this. His knowledge of the game was limited to a few simple concepts, namely:

He was subject to so many cognitive biases that I couldn’t hope to list them all. Many players of his skill level make the common assumption that:

This causes them to fold to players they consider “good” far too often and call down “bad” players far too often as well. It also causes them to make terrible assumptions about their opponents. When world class players show down a weak pre-flop hand, they may assume that the beast is in fact a fish, which of course couldn’t be further than the truth.

I did not explain to Mr. Bad Beat that calling so little to win so much, especially against a player you know is weak, is a bargain. I didn’t explain to him how Johnny probably knew he was a weak player or that he had no idea how far above his skill level Johnny was playing. It wouldn’t have done any good.

Mr. Bad Beat Isn’t Alone

I see this same thing to a lesser extent in the cash games and tournaments that I play every day, and not just as far as players’ overall skill. There is a second form of cognitive bias that applies to these situations. We fail to recognize individual plays and skills that we don’t understand, and we recognize the skills that we have as being very valuable and important to winning.

You can win in many poker games at places like syndicate.casino by being either tight or loose and aggressive. But the players who are winning with either style tend to look down on the other and may not realize how effective alternative styles can be. The same goes for players who check to induce bluffs on the river instead of value betting, or players who frequently under represent hands pre-flop or buy in short.

I see players look at a pro who buys in multiple times in a tournament to build a big stack as a fish, and that pro viewing players who are very careful in the first few levels as nits. There are countless examples of this particular bias. We value and recognize the skills we have, while we don’t notice the skills we lack in other players because we have no idea they even exist.

Shoo Away Your Biases

The way to deal with this is to learn more styles, more unique skills, and more ways of approaching a problem. Maybe you need to invest the money and sign up to a poker training site. Then you can apply newly learned skills to understanding why a player might have made a play. You’ll be able to get into their heads, figure out what their skill set is, and then figure out how to attack it.

decisions

Being aware of your opponents’ biases helps you make more money. Not just a little more. A lot more. You’ll have better estimates of your opponents’ ranges if you truly understand how they play. You’ll have more accurate guesses of how they will respond to your plays as well, and you’ll know which skills they underestimate in their opponents.

This means that you can play differently against them, knowing how they probably see you, and what plays will work against them. A tighter player who likes to protect their hands will assume that you are doing the same thing if you make a big reraise. A loose player who values fold equity will be much more likely to call your all-in bet if they think you might be trying to push them around.

Finally, these lessons apply to life away from the felt as well. Everyone has a different skill set. Have some empathy and you will be happier, healthier, and you will win more. You’ll have more power to influence the world around you and a better understanding of what kind of influence is necessary. Keep learning, pay attention to other people, and crush it.

At the recently-completed Run It Up Reno IX, I told Jason Somerville that I’ve never been more stoked to attend a poker festival. I met the Run It Up founder shortly before the cards hit the air on the first day of my assignment for PokerNews, where I got to cover the fan-friendly festival as a live reporter.

There was already a fun and festive feel inside the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada, even before the action started. Over the course of 11 days, my colleague Brandon Temple and I were on the floor for all things RIU, and it definitely did not disappoint.

Here are some of the best things I saw at Run It Up Reno IX.

JOHN GRIBBEN LIVING THE DREAM

Chapter nine of the Run It Up Reno series kicked off with the $440 Mini Main Event, drawing 409 entries and a first-place prize of $30,000.

On Day 1b of the Mini Main, a man named John Gribben told my cohort Brandon that we were giving him “too much coverage”. Every time one of us would walk by, Gribben was seemingly involved in some kind of a big hand, or had added more chips to the stack.

Fast forward to Day 2, and our John Gribben coverage was still going strong, as the Olympia, Washington resident made a final table run. The tournament ended with Gribben hoisting the Mini Main Event trophy, and taking home the $30,000 for a career-best finish.

John Gribben

John Gribben

“Eighty-five into thirty-thousand!” exclaimed Gribben as he celebrated the win. As it turns out, Gribben had qualified for the Mini Main Event by way of an $85 satellite.

I interviewed Gribben after the win, and found out that earlier in the year he made the decision to start living in his van, traveling and playing poker full time.

Gribben was an ubiquitous presence throughout the festival, sweating the action in events he wasn’t playing, and also finishing up with a 32nd-place finish in the $600 Main Event, adding another $2,220 payday to his haul.

DOUG BROWN TAKES THE TRIP

I can definitely say that hearing about the atmosphere of the Run It Up Reno festival instills a case of FOMO like perhaps nothing else short of the World Series of Poker.

Garland, Texas resident Doug Brown decided not to miss out this time. Inspired by his favorite poker podcasts, Brown decided to buy a plane ticket and travel, by himself, to Run It Up Reno IX to experience the event firsthand.

Doug Brown

Doug Brown

One of the biggest influences on Brown’s decision was Joey Ingram, who’s talked about the Run It Up Reno series on his Poker Life podcast and was scheduled to make an appearance at Run It Up Reno IX.

Ingram, as the poker community knows, has been busy doing some of the most important work of his career in recent weeks, dedicating his life to the investigation of a cheating scandal that’s become the biggest story of the year in poker.

Ingram got word about Brown’s trip to RIU, however, and took the time to send him a personalized video.

Brown left Run It Up Reno with not only that message from Ingram, but also a pair of cashes, including finishing in the money in the Main Event.

VANESSA KADE AND CELESTE

During certain events at RIU IX, Halloween candy would start appearing everywhere in the Capri Ballroom at the Peppermill, and the trail of mini Baby Ruth’s and Twix would always lead straight to whatever table Vanessa Kade was playing at the time.

Kade made a couple of deep runs at the festival, finishing 19th in the Mini Main Event for $1,625 and coming up just short of the final table with a 12th-place finish in the Main Event for $5,400.

At all times during RIU IX, Kade was accompanied by Celeste, a candy-filled unicorn that was perhaps the biggest celebrity in attendance by the end of the festival.

Vansessa Kade Celeste the unicorn

Vansessa Kade, with Celeste the unicorn

Kade’s tablemates, including the dealers, would always have candy in front of them whenever the Canadian poker streamer was around. One of the dealers showed me her stash on a break during Day 2 of the Main Event, unloading a purse stuffed full of bite-sized treats.

Despite Kade’s generosity, it wasn’t all fun and games.

🚨PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨

CHOCOLATE THIEF ON THE LOOSE at @wsopc @harveystahoe: a player left a @KITKAT from Celeste 🦄 on the table during break, only to return to find it missing.

If you have more information regarding this heinous crime, please comment.

✨🦄🍑🍬✨ pic.twitter.com/hVsuZrnTX7

— Vanessa Kade (@VanessaKade) October 24, 2019

No word on whether this chocolate thief has been brought to justice, but let’s hope this doesn’t discourage Kade from bringing Celeste along at future RIU events.

COLLECTION OF CHARACTERS

Run it Up Reno IX brought together a cast of poker personalities that you just don’t usually see all in one place at the same time.

Survivor alums like Tyson Apostol and Shirin Oskooi were not only in attendance, but played in nearly every event. Both were very nice, approachable and entertaining, and Apostol has a “go big or go home” playing style that makes every trip to his table an adventure from a live reporting perspective.

Along with Somerville, Run It Up ambassadors Ricky “ratedGTO” Guan, Arlie Shaban, and Andrew Neeme also made the trip to the Peppermill. Poker vloggers Brad Owen and Jaman Burton were in attendance as well, and all of these guys were extremely affable.

As someone who spends quite a bit of time watching poker vlogs, I was definitely excited to see a few of my favorites at the festival, and had to get a photo with Burton before my time was up.

Geoff Fisk Jaman Burton

Hanging with Jaman Burton

The Run It Up Reno fields were full of other great players as well, as I got to cover tournament crushers like Jesse Sylvia, Matt Stout, Max Young and Josh Prager over the course of the series. Chris Moneymaker came in for the Moneymaker Tour event, in which Thirst Lounge Streamer Drew Gonzalez booked the win and the Platinum Pass to the 2020 PokerStars Players Championship in Barcelona.

I got to meet Garry Gates, Joe Stapleton and numerous other fun-loving people who really made the experience unique, and one that I’ll always remember. If you’ve ever wanted to attend Run It Up Reno but haven’t yet had the chance, I can’t recommend it enough. I guarantee the experience will not disappoint!

Before we get into reviewing Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em, some context and background. Short deck poker, 6+ Hold’em, and all the other colorful names this No Limit Hold’em hybrid has been given has gained a lot of popularity lately. This is definitely in part due to the Triton Poker Series and the fact the big-name players such as Tom Dwan, Andrew Robl, Phil Ivey, and others play a lot of super-high stakes Short Deck cash games during these events.

I was intrigued about the game from the first moment I saw it. It definitely looks much more action-packed than traditional NLHE. Hand equities definitely run much closer and the blind/ante structure is such that it makes it possible to play many more hands from different positions. In other words: ACTION!

Upswing Poker Master Short Deck Hold'em

All of this is theory, though. Up until now, there’s been no solid course on Short Deck that would actually explain what this all means in terms of actual hands you should and shouldn’t be playing and what those equities really look like.

So, when Upswing’s Master Short Deck Hold’em was launched I was really keen to watch it. Presented by Kane Kalas, one of the regulars in those aforementioned Triton Poker high stakes games, there was no doubt in my mind this course would offer answers to many of the questions I had about the game. I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Course Structure

The course contains over 27 hours of viewing material and is divided into several main groups, namely:

The way it’s been structured, the course can help even those completely new to Short Deck Hold’em. It starts with explaining the rules and goes on to build from there, tackling some pretty high level stuff by the end. There is really no stone left unturned as Kalas does his best to explain every important aspect of the game.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Fundamentals

In the Fundamentals section, as the name suggests, Kalas covers the game basics, including the rules. While the game plays a lot like No Limit Hold’em, there are some important differences. The first one is the fact that all the deuces, treys, fours, and fives are removed from play, leaving only 36 cards in the deck.

Because of these changes, there are also some adjustments to hand strengths. In Short Deck, at least in most variations played, a flush beats a full house, which influences the strategy a lot. The structure of the blinds is different as well, as everyone posts an ante and the button posts the double ante, so there is much more dead money in the pot and everyone’s getting much better odds before the flop.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

The Fundamentals section isn’t too long, but it manages to explain all the important bits. Kalas touches upon some important concepts such as limping much more often (having a higher VPIP in general), utilizing overbets, and how to properly value hands such as open-ended straight draws.

Already in this section, the course was able to answer many of the questions I had about the game going in and some specific plays I’ve seen on live broadcasts but couldn’t quite understand. The way things are explained in a detailed and understandable manner really provides an excellent foundation to dive into the next section, which is a bit more technical.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Preflop Play

The first section after the introduction addresses the pre-flop play, which is a huge part of Short Deck, much more so than in (full deck) No Limit Hold’em. I was really interested in this part and how hand ranges are constructed given the fact that equities are so much closer across the board. Some of the interesting takeaways for me from this part were:

Kalas explains differences between two main variations of the game, i.e., when playing 50 antes deep vs. 100 antes deep. He also spends a lot of time explaining how having 50 antes in Short Deck is very different than having 50 big blinds in traditional Hold’em.

Although this makes a lot of sense when you think about it, he provides the reasoning behind it and really makes it easy to understand.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

Raising vs. limping

One thing that I was really interested in was why there seems to be so much limping going on and not nearly as much raising. I was a bit shocked to hear that in Short Deck, you shouldn’t really be raising anything before the cutoff in a 6-max game. That’s definitely a huge difference from NL games.

Kalas goes on to explain why this is, and then it begins to make sense, but it’s definitely not something I would’ve been able to just stumble upon. Constructing your ranges in Short Deck is a process in which knowing standard No Limit Hold’em does help, but there are also many new factors to consider.

Heads Up Play

Although the course is focused on 6-max play, Kalas takes the time to also address heads-up play in several videos, which is a nice touch. In these videos, he covers the most important situations, explaining how to construct your raise and limp ranges when first in, what hands to defend with, what part of our range represents good 3-betting material, etc.

While heads up play isn’t a particular area of interest for me, these videos were still entertaining to watch and quite educational. Having at least a solid idea about your heads up ranges at different stack depths can be useful, even if only when you find yourself battling for a tournament win.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Post-flop Play

Although there is a lot of focus on the pre-flop segment of the game due to the blind structure, post-flop play is still important in Short Deck Poker. A lot of money will have gone into the pot by the flop, so there is a big focus on that particular segment of gameplay.

The way the post-flop section is crafted is quite intuitive as Kalas analyses different major group of hands, such as:

Kalas goes on to explain these different types of hands in detail on various board structures and how to approach them correctly. There are many great examples in these videos where we’re presented with equities vs. various likely holdings by our opponents. These numbers and percentages are really helpful in understanding why some hands need to be played differently in Short Deck vs. No Limit Hold’em.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

A fair amount of time in this section is devoted to playing nut flush draws, as these are very powerful hands in Short Deck since flushes even beat full houses. Kalas explains how to approach these types of hands depending on the board structure and also does a great job of explaining why our equity is often very high in these spots even though we have fewer outs to complete our flush.

Overall, this section definitely covers a lot of ground in terms of post-flop play. If you’ve been dabbling with Short Deck but are uncertain about how to play different hands like open-ended straight draws, flush draws, sets, etc., this course will shed a lot of light on the topic. It doesn’t just provide you with answers to your questions, but also with great, sound reasoning behind those answers.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: River Play

The penultimate theoretical section of Upswing’s Master Short Deck Hold’em course deals with river play. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of material covering this particular topic, but Kalas once again quite simply did a great job of covering a wide spectrum of related topics. The section is divided into two main subdivisions:

Across six videos, Kalas goes on to explain how to build your bluffing and value betting ranges when playing as the aggressor and how to find the best hands to bluff-catch with when facing aggression on the river.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

There are some very interesting concepts discussed here, such as anti-blocking, i.e., holding cards that we’d expect our opponent to have in their folding or bluffing ranges. Although the river play may not be as important in Short Deck as it is in No Limit Hold’em, these lessons are still quite valuable and will help solidify your newly acquired Short Deck poker knowledge.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Adjustments

In the final section of Upswing’s Master Short Deck Hold’em course, Kalas moves away from all the GTO talk and actually discusses how we can adjust our play based on our opponents’ tendencies. This is one of the parts that I liked the most because it addresses what you’ll often encounter at real tables.

He identifies several major pre-flop and post-flop leaks that you’ll likely notice when playing Short Deck, such as players limping too much or too infrequently, those who have too many 3-bet folds in their range, failing to shove value hands, c-betting board textures that are good for c-betting in NLHE, etc.

This advice is very useful as you’ll be able to start implementing it straight away. If you’re playing in lower stakes and/or live Short Deck Hold’em games, you’ll likely be up against players who don’t have very good theoretical foundations. This means that they’ll be making a lot of mistakes that you can take advantage of.

Quantifying Stakes in Short Deck

The final video addresses the comparison between seemingly same stakes in Short Deck and NLHE or PLO. This one is quite interesting as well as it explains why Short Deck games in effect play much bigger. With everyone posting an ante before the flop and the button posting two antes, there is much more dead money in the pot. Thus, games play bigger and that’s why there is a big difference between having 100 antes in Short Deck versus having 100 big blinds in No Limit Hold’em.

Upswing Poker’s Master Short Deck Hold’em: Play & Explain

Like most Upswing Poker courses, this one concludes with an extensive Play & Explain section, where Kalas takes a great number of actual hands and goes through them. There are three main sections here, one analyzing the play of an Upswing member, another focusing on his own heads up play, and finally the one going through various live hands from Triton Poker cash games.

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

While all of these are very educational, the Triton Poker analysis section is definitely my favorite; after all, that’s what got me into the game in the first place. You’ll get a new look at many of the big pots you might have already seen on live stream broadcasts or YouTube. Kalas breaks down the action and plays from the likes of Paul Phua, Tom Dwan, Andrew Robl, Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov, and others, providing a lot of useful insight.

So, How Good Is the Upswing Poker Short Deck Course?

As it’s currently the only existing course on Short Deck Hold’em, Upswing’s course is the best one by default. With that said, even if there were some competition, this one would likely be the best and most comprehensive course for those wanting to learn the game. Having the talented and eloquent Kane Kalas as the instructor really is a big unique selling point here.

While the $999 price tag might be steep for those playing low stakes poker, the course is structured in such a way that it can be watched and understood by someone who has almost no knowledge about Short Deck Hold’em whatsoever. It’s not aimed at advanced players looking to get better, but rather everyone wanting to become good in this new game format. And remember, you’re not spending money; you’re investing it in becoming a better player!

Upswing Poker Short Deck Hold'em

Two years ago, Oliver Biles decided to start living the dream.

At the beginning of 2018, Biles quit his job as a tennis coach in London to embark on what was intended to be a two-year journey across Asia. The original plan was for Biles, and his girlfriend Alice, to travel around Asia, play poker for a living, and hopefully return to London with as much (or more) money than he left with.

As the end of that original two-year stretch approaches, rather than have to go back to the drawing board and start learning from a guide to popular card games, Biles’ dream has evolved into something he could never have imagined. He started a poker and travel vlog, won the Vlogger in Paradise contest with said vlog, and won a Platinum Pass to the first ever $25k PokerStars Players Championship in the Bahamas as a result.

Since then, he’s also started working for PokerNews as an on-screen presenter, and also for high-stakes pro Charlie Carrel as the videographer of Carrel’s own traveling and poker vlog.

I got the chance to catch up with Biles, via Skype, just after he returned to his current “home base” of Bali, following a trip to the Philippines.

Oliver Biles

How is everything? How’s life?

Life is good. I’m back in Bali; did a month of traveling in the Philippines last month, which was awesome. I highly recommend going to see the Philippines whenever you get the chance. Now back in Bali, pretty much settling down here for the foreseeable future. We’re off to Vietnam for 10 days in a few weeks, then back to Bali for a month, then to Prague, doing EPT Prague, and then home for Christmas. So all is good, lots of things to do.

Did you play any poker on the Philippines trip?

I played a lot of poker in Manila, which was really good. It went well. I took second in a tournament with about 150 people, which is pretty cool. It’s the best I’ve run in a tournament in the last year and a half, but it was the lowest buy-in tournament I’ve ever played. So I didn’t win much, but it was nice to get a good run.

That’s usually how it goes, right? Those low buy-in tournaments are the ones you end up crushing.

Exactly.

How is poker going for you in general? I know you’re busy with all of these other things. Where is poker on the priority list right now?

That’s a good question. Charlie Carrel asked me the same thing when I was working for him, and that made me think of what I want to do going ahead with my life. When I first started traveling, the plan was to travel for two years, and pay for it from playing poker. The first year, last year, was the best poker year that I’ve had. I had a couple of deep runs at WSOP events, and made more than enough money for that year, and probably this year as well.

This year, didn’t go so well during the WSOP. I pretty much bricked everything; min cashed a couple of events. In terms of cash game trips, I went to Cambodia and it didn’t go so well. Manila went well, but that’s probably the only winning trip I’ve had this year. That said, it’s weird how my life has kind of changed, working for PokerNews and working in poker media, where I’m kind of combining two things that I really enjoy, being on camera and also working in the poker industry.

So I think going ahead, I want to focus my time on that. Getting better at being a presenter, getting better at editing and videography, and probably playing poker more recreationally.

How long have you been playing poker, and what got you into the game?

I started playing about 11 years ago, pretty much when I was 18. I went to drama school, training to be an actor, but I always wanted to go to university to study math. It was only my drama teachers at school that thought I should go to drama school. They actually offered to pay for all of my auditions and all of my transport to London, so they basically gave me a freeroll to go to drama school.

I didn’t know that being a professional actor was even an option to be honest. So I went to drama school, and basically left all of this mathematics behind. One of my friends at school asked me if I had ever played poker, and told me about the statistics and probability in it. I’ve always been a gamer. As a teenager I used to play Counterstrike and World of Warcraft a lot. So, I started playing poker, and I immediately felt that it was a game I could play where I could actually make money.

Let’s talk about starting the vlog; at that time you’re already traveling around, playing poker, living the dream. Then the Vlogger in Paradise contest happened; what made you decide to go ahead and enter the contest?

Me and Alice were going to start a vlog at the beginning of our travels. We bought a drone, and the plan was to get some cool drone shots and make a vlog. But it was only after the WSOP that I decided I’m really going to go for this. I’ll do this poker and travel vlog, give this kind of view of being a westerner trying to play poker in the east. The east is a very different place to play poker. The rules aren’t enforced the same way.

I remember being in Vietnam, and waking up one day and watching Andrew Neeme’s vlog. That was the vlog where he announced he was doing the Vlogger in Paradise contest, looking for the next poker vlogger. And I thought, this is the best way for me to start. Not even really knowing what I was doing; I didn’t even have a camera at this point.

Nearly a year ago I dared to dream and winning my #PlatinumPass through the #VloggerInParadise competition has really changed my life. Thank you @PokerStars for giving this opportunity to so many more! #DareToDream https://t.co/RjwW2jaeZG

— Oliver Biles (@OliverBiles) August 27, 2019

I had made one video in my life, when I was 12 or 13 years old. I really had no experience. I downloaded some software and just started trying to put things together. I remember wanting to see what some of the competition was like, and I watched this guy Matt Kiefer, who ended up winning the other Platinum Pass. I remember thinking, “This guy is good. He’s a professional videographer, he’s really good on camera, and his first video was just super solid.”

And I remember thinking, “I’m going to have to do something different.” The first video I made was just a very traditional vlog. Then I got to thinking what kind of skills I could bring to the table that other people might not have? That’s where I kind of went off the rails a little bit, not doing the traditional thing.

In the second video, you had to do a hand analysis. So I thought, “Everyone’s going to do a hand analysis like Andrew Neeme does it. How can I do something different?” So I came up with this idea of playing another character that I came up with, Fred. Fred was kind of a fish, and I came up with this whole script of me, as me, talking to Fred, my character, about a hand history that he played in Vegas.

Going into the inaugural PSPC, you had a lot of poker playing experience, but what were some of your emotions going into that event?

Funny story about that; when we arrived in the Bahamas our bags didn’t make it. We literally had no clothes, toiletries, or anything like that. It was coming to Day 1, and I actually met Garry Gates. He was the first PokerStars contact that we had.
He was the nicest guy; he ran around and got us a bunch of clothes and toiletries, to make sure we fit in comfortably. It was only Day 1! I got a text from Brandon, from PokerStars, and found out I was sitting at the feature table. This was obviously the biggest tournament I’ve ever played in my life.

I saw the lineup for my table, and it included Jason Somerville, Sam Greenwood, partypoker pro Joao Simao, and Eric Baldwin. There were just some insane crushers on this table.

Tell me about working with Charlie Carrel. I know you traveled with him to partypoker MILLIONS Europe in Rozvadov, as well as EPT Barcelona.

That started as a tweet from Charlie that he was looking for a video editor. I thought that I’d love to do that, but I also kind of doubted myself. I’d only been editing videos for nine months up to that point, but I just tweeted back with the emoji with the hand up.

Half an hour later, he direct messages me, saying “Hey man, I’ve seen your vlogs; would you like to come work with me?” So I started editing some videos for him.

Later we had a meeting, and he asked me if I any other cool ideas for videos that I could make. I suggested that he get a videographer and editor to follow him around to some of the high stakes tournaments? He liked the idea and asked me if I wanted the job.

It’s been great catching up with you, as always. Thanks Oliver!

Bluffing is an essential part of Texas Hold’em, and you can’t expect to become a successful player if you aren’t capable of pulling off an occasional bluff here and there.

Obviously, you shouldn’t be trying to win every single hand, but taking down the pot when you are holding rags is both pleasurable and profitable, so it has to be a part of your game.

Essentially, there are two large groups of poker players: those who bluff way too much and those who don’t do it nearly enough. Both of these extremes are bad and will cause you to lose money in the long run. Like with most things in poker, you want to be somewhere in the middle.

Of course, this is easier said than done, and it takes a lot of experience and practice to recognize good bluffing spots. So, in this article, I will try to make finding that golden balance a bit easier for you.

bluffing

1. Avoid no-equity bluffs

People love bluffing in poker and slamming their hand proudly on the table to show how they won the pot with just 6-high. While this may seem fun, making plays with hands that have little to no actual equity, can be very problematic, and is almost guaranteed to lose you money in the long run.

When you’re deciding whether to bluff or not, you’ll want to pick spots where you have at least some equity, for instance a gutshot straight draw, a couple of overcards, or at least a backdoor flush draw.

With these hands, you not only could win if your opponent folds, but you also have the chance to improve and win a big pot at showdown if called. While this may not seem like a big deal, it actually can make all the difference in the world.

All this isn’t to say that you should never bluff without additional equity, but you should stick to doing so in position and when you are the pre-flop raiser. In most other cases, try to pick some hands that have a chance to improve, and leave yourself more room for maneuvering on future streets.

2. Plan your bluffs ahead

If your plan is to try and bluff on the flop and “see what happens,” you’re probably better off not bluffing at all. The “let’s bet and hope” approach won’t get you very far.

When you’re deciding to pull a bluff, you need to think ahead about various possible scenarios. What happens when your opponent calls? Are there certain turn cards where you’ll want to slow down? When will you continue barreling? What if you get raised?

All of these are real possibilities, and you should be prepared for every single one of them before you put a single chip into the pot.

plan prepare perform

When you start bluffing on the flop, you should already have several scenarios developed in your head about how you get to the river. By thinking ahead, you’ll often find that some spots aren’t as good for bluffing as you might have thought at first, and it will save you a lot of money on the way.

3. Know when to pull back

Knowing when to take your foot off the gas pedal and save your chips is an important piece of an overall bluffing strategy. There’s no shame in giving up in a spot where you’re just not going to win. In fact, giving up in such scenarios is a rational decision that should involve no emotions; i.e., exactly how you should be thinking at the table.

Don’t worry about “looking bad” or “weak” if you give up. Just think about the most profitable action you can take at that moment. The fact that you’ve already invested chips in the pot does not mean a thing, and you should only concentrate on the current decision.

Therefore, if turn or river brings a card that is much better for your opponent and makes his range stronger, do not force yourself to continue betting. This might seem like a very straightforward tip, but many of my players get married to their hands and can’t stop bluffing even when they should.

On a more minor note, you should not try to bluff passive recreational players too much, since they are not going to fold as much as they should. You ought to adjust your strategy appropriately. Luckily, it is very easy to do that online with the help of poker software. In live games, just be sure you closely observe all the players at the table.

Most importantly, never rush to make the final decision. If you leave yourself enough time (within reason, of course), you will be able to think situations through and find many profitable spots for bluffing.

Every poker player has heard about tilt and its potential wrong effects. However, not everyone knows an exact definition of tilt and that it comes in many different varieties. This means that we may not even notice ourselves when we happen to play under its influence.

Tilt does not necessarily mean aggressive and “furious” play, but sometimes even a slight distraction or playing too passively can be a sign of it. In its simplest definition, tilt in poker is anything that is not A-game play. In this article, I introduce five most common types of tilt and how to deal with each of them.

There is no room in poker for your emotions. Make sure your mind is in a good place before sitting at the table and don't let anything tilt you and cause you to play poorly! #Poker #Emotion pic.twitter.com/zlC7OtjoS7

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) April 2, 2019

Loose Tilt

Loose tilt is the most common form of tilt. Signs of this type of tilt are playing too many hands pre-flop and folding too little post-flop. This tilt occurs because almost every poker player “deep down in his heart” wants a lot of action. The specific reasons for loose tilt are desire to make up for losses, frustration, too much confidence, and lack of patience.

To deal with loose tilt, which means that you play under the influence of strong negative emotions, you should try to prevent it from happening in the first place. Play only when you are rested and relaxed. Do not play after drinking alcohol or when something has upset you, e.g., after arguing with a loved one. What’s more, try to remove as many things as possible that may disturb you during the session: turn off Facebook, Skype, mute your phone, do not watch movies during the session. Stay focused only on the game.

Passive Tilt

Passive tilt is a silent enemy of the poker player. It may sneak into your game unnoticed, and once it’s in it, it’s very hard to detect. Instead of betting and raising in good situations, you’ll start checking and calling too often. Passive tilt generally affects post-flop poker more than pre-flop, because raising pre-flop is something we do automatically.

Passive tilt is almost always caused by loss of confidence or fear of taking risks. Here’s what usually causes this tilt to “be activated” in our game: new limits, insufficient capital, bad runs, and playing with scared money.

Don't play with scared money. If you are not comfortable at the limits you're at, move down. #poker

— Ivey Poker (@IveyPoker) October 20, 2013

To avoid passive tilt: Always remember to play for stakes where you feel comfortable. If you are attacking a new limit, set an appropriate stop-loss. If, on the other hand, you are running bad and have lost confidence, end the session and return to the tables another time with a cool head.

Stereotypical Tilt

Stereotypical tilt means that you play “by book” completely without adapting to the game.You play on autopilot and do not think enough about the situation you are in. For example, you fold a weak suited hand on a button, when two blinds are playing really tight. Here are the most common reasons that this type of tilt gets activated: boredom, tiredness, distraction, lack of proper respect for opponents and lack of concentration. When you’re in a state like this you might as well be playing casino games online while taking advantage of free bet no deposit offers!

To avoid this type of tilt, take care of yourself physically and mentally: get enough sleep and get active. Also remember to have a routine in place that will help you maintain your concentration during the game at the appropriate level.

Revenge Tilt

We’ve all been in this situation. A player, usually on your left, begins to re-raise, 3-bet and call widely, so often, that we feel that he is doing it all the time. When you start losing money in such a situation, you can start to feel negative emotions, in particular anger and the desire to take revenge.

When you start to feel that you are dealing with revenge tilt, often the best way is to request a seat change or table change. It makes no sense to fight an aggressive opponent on the left, unless you can keep your head cool and make money by adapting properly. If revenge tilt happens to you, after the session think about what exactly caused it. You can even take notes so you won’t forget your emotional state. If revenge tilt happens to you often, you may need the help of a mental game trainer and work on deep beliefs.

Elliot Roe A-Game Master Class

Fancy Play Syndrome

Fancy play syndrome is almost the opposite of stereotypical tilt. It occurs when a player begins to overthink, and tries to perform actions on a higher level than his opponent is capable of reaching.

Fancy play syndrome often occurs when you play with very good opponents and are looking for a way to outplay them at all costs. Sometimes it is also associated with too much confidence.

In the #MTG game we call this “fancy play syndrome” https://t.co/tc07rSKrAc

— Brian David-Marshall (@Top8Games) April 10, 2019

To avoid this type of tilt, make sure you have the right session starting routine, with some brief analysis of the hands before you begin play. What’s more, choose the right table. When you play with weak opponents, you probably have no problem playing your A-game and earning money. You don’t need to “over-adapt”.

The Key to Not Tilting

Every experienced poker player knows that the key to making money in the game is usually plying solid and keeping it simple. Nonetheless, poker’s history is rife with cases of players who have squandered substantial fortunes because they could not cope with the mental side of the game. This is precisely why it is so important to be aware of the different types of tilt that can prevent you from winning.

I hope that after reading this article you are more aware of possible mental mistakes that you make or have made in the past, and begin work on correcting them.