Today we’re going to look at a hand in which Hero has pocket Aces. Usually playing AA in a 4-bet pot at NL10 is pretty straightforward, but here we get an interesting turn spot as a result of a misclick by Hero. So thanks to Lord Kelvin for sending in this hand, and let’s jump right into it: Continue reading
Two thirds of the time with AK we flop Ace-high and little more, but a fairly common draw with this hand is the broadway gutshot. The following hand was sent in by MiamiConfusion and illustrates some common themes when playing Ace King against a strong range.
MiamiConfusion gives us this information to set up the hand:
It’s early in the morning in NL5 Zoom, your average player is a nit, players don’t like getting to showdown with second best, only some regs bluff often enough for you to call light. Continue reading
Ace King creates more issues for players than seemingly any other hand. Today, we’ll explore the question “can we fold top pair/top kicker with AK postflop?” And to spice it up, we’ll explore it through the lens of a 3bet pot. A special thank you to ‘M’ for sending in this 50NL hand history, and without further ado, let’s see if hero-folding AK makes sense here… Continue reading
Second pair is always tough. It’s pretty strong, it’s ahead quite often, but is it worth a bet? Should second pair always go into your check-behind and try to get to showdown range?
In this hand we’ll explore these questions through the lens of a single hand: King Queen on AQ3. Our hero, Alexander, ends up calling a 3bet and villain checks to him on this board. Much of the discussion is about the flop decision, since that sets the entire hand in motion. So let’s get into it and see what goes into making a strong decision with second pair…
Every poker player has leaks. Some are more obvious than others – but we all have them. Yes, even Phil Ivey has leaks in his game. He just leaks in more refined ways than the fishy calling station at your local card room.
A leak is an area in a poker players game that consistently leaves money on the table. Leaks can be aggressive or passive, but ultimately they are -EV plays that negatively impact a player’s winrate.
Today I want to discuss three of the most common leaks that I see today. These are issues that you can see at just about every table you sit down at. It doesn’t matter if you play cash games or tournaments, live or online.
If you pay attention, you’ll spot these leaks.
But the honest truth is that 98% of players who read this will have some-all of these leaks in their game. Maybe slightly, but they are there.
While reading this, think about the last time you made one of the mistakes. Think about the pots you’ve been giving up on due to these mistakes. And focus on ‘The Fix’ at the end of each leak for a clear way to patch that leak using my new course The One Percent.
Let’s get patching… Continue reading
After months of hard work, my new course The One Percent is finally available! This course has one goal in mind – to arm you with a complete strategy that you can use in any game.
The One Percent takes a frequency-first approach to the game, which may sound scary at first glance, but it’s how the best players visualize and attack poker. This complete series is a companion to the popular book “Poker’s 1%” by Ed Miller, who gave me permission to turn his work into a video series that doesn’t just rehash the content, rather it expands and explains all the subtleties that get lost in the original work.
By the end of this course, you will have a crystal-clear idea of things like:
- How often you should barrel (even when you totally miss the flop)
- How the best players in the game THINK about poker (hint: flopping 2pair+ is NOT the goal)
- What percentage of your turn ranges should be bluffs
- How to protect your ranges and avoid getting run over by tough players
- How to internalize these concepts so you can actually USE them at the tables
The goal is not just to flood your brain with the right poker theory. The goal is to help you understand the theory, build a model, AND practice it so you can apply it properly in real-time.
Wondering what is covered? Here is the entire video list for The One Percent… Continue reading
Folding is the least sexy topic in poker. Folding is just so…final. Your cards hit the muck, you concede the pot to your opponent, and you’re off to the next hand.
But the honest truth is that poker players fall into two main categories:
1. Players that fold far too often
2. Players that fold far too rarely
There is a third type of player though. A rare-breed of player that folds a correct amount of the time and keeps their continuance frequency right on track.
That’s the kind of player I want you to become. Continue reading
Over the last year I have released three poker workbooks. These are first-of their kind workbooks that guide you through the hand reading/range building process and layout the kind of intense study that most players know they truly need.
That being said, I get an endless amount of emails that go something like this:
“I just bought your workbook. There is no answer key and I have zero idea if I am doing these exercises correctly.
What am I supposed to be getting from this?”
That seemed like the perfect kind of thing to write an article about. So here are a bunch of the major takeaways you should be getting from every exercise you complete…
My goal, when I started creating these workbooks, was to help players like you develop your hand reading skill set through guided exercises. To help you work through the same repetitions that I did when I was growing as a player. To help you explore the spots that impact your win rate in every session. And to layout your poker study so that you always know what to work on.
Winning a poker tournament with hundreds or thousands of opponents is not an easy task. Even if you’re a solid player, you will require some luck to reach the final table. In fact, tournaments have the highest variance in the game. The reason is simple – the money is spread across just a tiny group of players that reach the latest stages of the event.
This is why your goal should be to reach the final table as often as possible. Playing just to finish in the money is not a winning strategy and doesn’t work well in the long run. In this article, I will give you some tips how to improve your chance of reaching it. Of course, it does not guarantee success, but it will certainly help you to play for that big win more often. Continue reading