11-part series
Playing Better Poker
The fundamentals that win money at any table, in the order you need them: the words, position, which hands to play, pot odds, bet sizing, when to bluff, exploiting and defending, stack depth, reading opponents, and keeping your head after a bad beat. Plain English and worked hands, no solver required.
Read the series in order
The Poker Terms You Actually Need to Know
Every game has its own language. Here is the poker vocabulary that actually comes up, in plain English, with links to go deeper on each one.
Read →
Why Position Is the Most Underrated Edge in Poker
Position is one thing: who acts last. It is also the closest thing poker has to a free edge, and most players give it away.
Read →
Which Hands to Play: a Preflop Starting-Hand Guide
The most common leak in poker is playing too many hands. Fixing it is the cheapest improvement you can make, and it happens before the flop.
Read →
Pot Odds and Equity: the Only Poker Math You Really Need
You don't need to be good at math to use pot odds. You need one ratio and one shortcut, and most calling decisions start to answer themselves.
Read →
Poker Bet Sizing: How Much to Bet and Why
Most flop bets should be between a third and two-thirds of the pot. Here is how to pick the number, with the math and worked hands.
Read →
When to Bluff in Poker (and When to Just Give Up)
A bluff is a bet that makes a better hand fold. If nobody at the table can fold, you are not bluffing, you are just paying them.
Read →
Exploitative Poker: Play the Player, Not the Cards
GTO makes you unexploitable. Exploitative play makes you a winner. Against anyone short of a perfect opponent, the money is in the adjustment.
Read →
Defensive Poker: How Not to Get Run Over
Every post about beating a player type has a flip side: not being the player type that gets beaten. This is the defensive half of poker.
Read →
Stack Depth: Why Short and Deep Stacks Are Different Games
Two players, same cards, same board. One has 20 big blinds and one has 200, and they are not playing the same game at all.
Read →
How to Read Your Opponents (and Their Tells)
You can't see their cards, but you can see almost everything else. Reading opponents is the skill the whole game is really about.
Read →
Tilt and the Mental Game: How to Stop Spewing After a Bad Beat
Anyone can learn the math of poker. The mental game is the part that actually separates winners from losers, and tilt is its biggest enemy.
Read →