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This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan. When looking at a high-stakes professional poker player losing a half a million dollar pot, or busting out of a huge tournament “in the bubble” and taking it in stride, the word “stoic” might come to mind. While colloquially referred to as someone who is calm and emotionless in the face

This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan. Handling the inevitable swings in poker is one of the biggest obstacles to success for any aspiring poker player. Doing everything right and seemingly getting punished for it over and over again is so incongruent to the human experience and preconceived notions of justice and fairness that most

Something that people ask me all the time is if you can prevent bad beats at the poker table. I am sure you are sick of getting so many bad beats in poker. So am I! So, is there anyway to make them go away? It is completely natural to ask this question because bad beats are actually one of the hardest parts...

It's Christmas and that means all of my poker books and my poker video course will be 25% Off for the next few days. If you have been waiting to pick up one of my best selling poker books or my poker video course (especially as a Christmas gift for someone), now is the time to cash in on some big savings. Don't...

One of the hardest hands to play effectively in No Limit Hold'em is Ace Jack. While it is a very strong hand in theory, and will be a large long term winner for you, it will also often put you in all sorts of tricky spots. You need to know when to bet, raise and most importantly, when to fold with this hand....

The holidays are upon us and that means soft (easy) poker games. Because this is the time of year when people are inside more often and ready to gamble it up! With Covid this year the games have actually already been amazing throughout most of 2020, as most of you already know.This is because many newer and inexperienced players have taken up the...

Something that confuses a lot of newer poker players in particular is when to raise the river. This is especially the case in small stakes games, which the majority of people play. Should you only raise the river with the nuts? How about with bluffs? How about with middle strength hands like trips weak kicker, top pair and so on? These are a...

Black Friday is upon us and that means the biggest sale of the year on all my poker strategy books and my poker video course.Everything will be 25% Off until Monday Nov 30 at midnight EST.If you have been waiting around to pick up one of my best selling poker books or my poker video course, now is the time to cash in...

Something that people often ask me is if it is possible to avoid coolers in poker. Is there some magic way of sensing when you are facing a big setup hand? How do the pros get away in these situations and not lose all of their chips? I am going to answer all of these questions in this article. What is a Cooler...

Have you ever dreamed about playing at the final table of the WSOP (World Series of Poker)? Do you want to become a famous poker millionaire with all the gold and diamond bracelets to prove it? Maybe you have watched Rounders 87 times like me? I think we all have these poker dreams at some point. But the reality is that some people...

People often ask me what is the best poker HUD for Mac. And as a 10+ year online poker pro, who also uses a Mac, this has been something I have tested a lot over the years. Because the biggest problem facing Mac users is that a lot of the best poker HUDs out there are not compatible with a Mac. They only...

People often ask me what is the best free poker ebook these days. And there is pretty clearly one free poker ebook that stands out above all the rest in my opinion, mostly because it was written by a poker pro. But also because it teaches you the very best proven poker strategies to beat today's small stakes poker games either online or...

This post was written by blackrain79.com guest contributor Roger Marquez Poker staking has blown up in recent years. In fact, many people are shocked to learn that most high stakes pros these days are staked (i.e. they are not playing on their own money). Now there are many different staking arrangements these days and many in between cases where a pro still has...

Many people ask me these days, is PokerStars a total joke? And believe me, I get it!I have taken an unbelievable amount of bad beats on this site. So much so, that at times I am left wondering how it is not totally rigged for action? But is there some real treachery going on behind the scenes these days at PokerStars? Is PokerStars...

People often ask me how long does it take to become a professional poker player. And as somebody who made a living as a poker pro for many years, I can provide some insight here on how long it takes for the average person to quit their job and be a poker pro. But I must warn you that the amount of time...

Everybody has to start somewhere in poker and I think the very first milestone you should shoot for is to make $100. The reason why $100 is a great initial goal is because this is an easily achievable amount that nearly anybody can do, with a little bit of practice. And the great thing about taking little baby steps like this in poker...

People often ask me these days what is the average professional poker player salary? And to be quite honest, the answer varies depending on your skill level, what stakes you play, how much volume you put in and so on. So in this article I am going to break it all down for you. This is the ultimate guide to a professional poker...

Did your pocket aces get cracked again? Are you wanting to know what are the odds of aces getting cracked? This is something that many of us wonder about when our aces seem to get cracked again and again and again. So let's just jump right into it! Is Pocket Aces a Good Hand? The first thing you should know is that pocket...

Many people ask me about what it is like to be become a professional poker player. And as somebody who played poker professionally online for 10+ years, I have a little bit to say about it! Is it all about sitting at the beach sipping pina coladas living the easy life while you hop online for a couple hours a week, crush some...

Phil Hellmuth is perhaps best known for his famous rants and blowups at the poker table whenever he takes a bad beat. This is why he even earned the nickname "The Poker Brat." In fact, some of the most popular poker videos on YouTube have titles like "Phil Hellmuth loses it once again." Or "You won't believe what Phil Hellmuth did after this...