Blog: Smart Poker Study

In celebration of Mother's Day, here's a 4-part Q&A series. In this series, I answer 4 listener questions and also give my recommendation for a related Poker Forge video that will help you beyond my answer here. Happy Mother's Day! Mother’s Day Q&A #1: "What skills should I drill into my game?" Listen to Mother's Day Q&A #1:...

You're about to learn 2 plays that I love making to earn pots and 1 more that gives me MAX Value when the time is right. Action is the greatest teacher! If you just read or listen below, sure, you’ll learn something. But to truly get value out of this post, and to earn more pots and more value, take action with these...

We're in the throes of 2021 and isn't it about time you developed a strong poker study habit? Too many of us go willy-nilly from one video to the next, or binge listen to dozens of podcasts without even putting one piece of poker strategy to use. Well, no more! This is your Ultimate Poker Study Guide for turning yourself into the player...

In my efforts to understand my opponents better, I've developed a system to help train myself to think about my opponents. I use Focus Sessions of just one table at a time for this practice. By playing just one table, I have enough brain space to observe all the action to make as many reads as possible. And I also have the time...

3 great questions today about a recommended poker development plan, practicing outs and odds math and going overboard with HUD use. I love answering questions, and I know the answers below will help you. Speaking of helping you, this page with all the links below can be your study guide for the next 2+ months! Imagine avoiding poker overwhelm for 2 full months...

I had the opportunity to interview mindset consultant Pat Bailouni (website PatBailouni.com) who is a trained Demartini Method Facilitator. He's also a financial market trader and he uses his understanding of human behavior and psychology to help traders, poker players, entrepreneurs and athletes sharpen their edge in their respective fields. Check out his recent article:...

I loved Why Alex Beats Bobbie at Poker. Duncan Palamourdas has a gift for conveying poker strategy through stories and examples. You might think a math guy like Duncan (he teaches math and poker at UCLA) would write an overly complicated and hard-to-digest math-heavy book, but nothing could be further from the truth. He blends strategy and math into easy-to-understand examples and...

"Occasionally, you need to just turn off all the technology and GTO and HUDs and software and all the other damn crap, and just play some real poker." -Dave "Memphis Mojo" Smith TL;DR Executive Summary: Using a Head-up Display (HUD) can have harmful effects on your poker game in the long-run. Players who multi-table online with HUDs typically can...

Let’s be real. Poker can be infuriating at times. So much so, that most of us who have played the game for a considerable amount of time likely have our fair share of moments where we were forced to question our own sanity. The question below comes from a student of mine who is also a highly successful chess player. Their question arose...

How Emotions Can Destroy Your Poker “The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your […] The post How Emotions Can Destroy Your...

I'm a huge fan of audiobook listening as it helps pass the time when doing the mundane: chores, commuting, jogging, etc. I even listened to all 47 hours and 47 minutes of Stephen King's The Stand!!! And they're great for poker education, too. I use audiobooks to help reinforce the strategies and techniques I learn in my study sessions. Listening to a...

The ability to figure out what poker hands your opponent could be holding, also known as hand reading, is one of the key aspects of your game. The best poker players in the world are using solvers to train this process and understand ranges in different situations. However, I am aware that not everyone enjoys using solvers and analyzing the difficult math,...

The ability to figure out what poker hands your opponent could be holding, also known as hand reading, is one of the key aspects of your game. The best poker players in the world are using solvers to train this process and understand ranges in different situations. Listen to this article within the podcast:...

With every piece of content I create, I treat it like it's a 1-on-1 session between me (your coach) and you (my student). You should do the same. Listen to this podcast episode:...

With every piece of content I create, I treat it like it's a 1-on-1 session between me (your coach) and you (my student). You should do the same. Listen to this podcast episode:...

Do you understand outs and odds math? There is a huge issue that many players face… they don’t know how to determine whether their draw is worth chasing. Maybe you have this issue: You flop a flush draw and your opponent bets 2/3 pot. Is your draw strong enough to call? Are you paying too much to chase it? This uncertainty leads to...

Do you understand outs and odds math? Do you use it to make profitable post- flop drawing calls? There is a huge issue that many players face… they don’t know how to determine whether their draw is worth chasing. Maybe you have this issue: You flop a flush draw and your opponent bets 2/3 pot. Is your draw strong enough to call? Are you...

Always respect the math! Poker's one big math problem and in this article, I show you the critical importance of 4 poker math concepts. Applying these bad boys will improve your profitability. Listen to this podcast episode as you follow along below: Episode coming soon! The idea for this article came from a 1-on-1 coaching session with a long-time student named Keith. We...

Always respect the math! Poker's one big math problem and in this article, I show you the critical importance of 4 poker math concepts. Applying these mathematical bad boys will improve your profitability. Listen to this podcast episode as you follow along below:...

There is a common issue among all losing players… curiosity causes them to call rivers way too frequently with subpar hands. How many times have you reached the river with 1 pair, your opponent bets, and based on the player, the board, their range and their bet size, you knew you were beat but you called anyways? I bet your answer is, “Waaayyy...