Nokautov
One of our first coaches: on the team since the very founding of the project. He prioritizes simple and practical training with an emphasis on real game situations and decision-making over the long run. Val doesn't just "beat the games" as a player, but also instills a systematic approach to the game and discipline in his students.
At the tables you can run into opponents who play a wide range and constantly pressure their opponents with bets. Let's discuss how to play against loose-aggressive opponents.
Range, sizing and typical mistakes beginners make in early position.
How it works, which one to choose and at what stakes you should start playing with a solver.
In this article, we'll break down what ATS is in poker, how stealing works, which positions are best for stealing blinds, what ranges and sizings to use, how to adapt to different opponents, and what to do if the blinds keep trying to steal from us.
In this article, we'll break down what the mid-stage of an MTT is, what the M-ratio is and how to use it, which hands to open from different positions, when to steal blinds, and how to defend the big blind.
In online poker, the information vacuum is filled by statistical software — trackers. They save data on players' actions and help interpret it. Let's discuss the key stats — VPIP and PFR.
Knowledge of math is a key skill for a poker player, and combinatorics is the most important topic for beginners. Let's discuss how to count combinations in an opponent's range.
In this article, we'll break down what the bubble is in poker, why it's so important for the final result in a tournament, how ICM pressure works, what adjustments need to be made to your strategy, and how to play correctly with different stack sizes.
In this article, we'll break down how ICM works at the final table, what adjustments need to be made to your strategy with different stack sizes, how the game changes as the number of participants shrinks, and what principles help you more often turn final table appearances into a fight for the highest places.
In this article, we'll take a detailed look at what WTSD, WWSF, and WONSD mean, which values are considered normal for different game formats, how to read these stats in combination, and how to use them to analyze opponents and find your own leaks.
So the late stage of an MTT isn't just a continuation of the middle stage. It's a transition to a game where every decision must be evaluated not only through chip EV, but also through its impact on the final monetary result.
In this article, we'll explain how the early stage of MTT poker differs from deeper stages, which hands you should open from various positions, and which strategies to follow after we've entered a hand.
Let's figure out what tournament poker is: how it differs from regular poker, what disciplines and tournaments exist.
We'll discuss strategy, adaptations to opponents, and other aspects of Heads-Up.
Top coaches are expensive. Budget options often don't deliver results. Let's discuss how to find a good coach and avoid scammers.
Let's discuss what Heads-Up is and how the number of opponents changes the rules and strategy.
In this article, we'll break down what a draw is in poker, what types of draws exist, how to assess their strength, and when aggression with a draw becomes profitable.
How to beat the microstakes, which mistakes hold back your progress, and how much money you need to move up to the next level.
In this article, we'll break down what a squeeze is in poker, in which situations it works, which hands are suitable for it, how to choose the right bet size, and how to avoid turning this play into a source of losses.
Let's talk about sets, trips, and the difference between them.
In tournament poker, almost every player goes through the same stage. At the start of the event, the stack is deep, the blinds are small, and that means we have room to maneuver. But as the blinds grow, the tournament structure changes. A stack that seemed comfortable just a moment ago suddenly turns into a short one.
Almost every player sooner or later finds themselves in a situation where they have to risk their entire stack. Sometimes it happens preflop with a strong hand, sometimes postflop while playing a big pot, and sometimes because of a short stack in a tournament.
In tournament poker, we regularly find ourselves in situations where the standard logic of "I'm ahead, so I should play" stops working. We might have a strong hand, good equity, and favorable pot odds* — yet calling or pushing* still turns out to be a mistake over the long run.
MTT is a multi-table format of tournament poker. Like any other variety of poker, it has its own specifics that you need to know to play successfully.
Almost every player goes through the same path. At first we see the bluff as a standalone move: we bet — the opponent folds, so it worked. Then the long run starts to reveal the other side: the very same lines work in some sessions and systematically burn chips in others, and we get the feeling that bluffing depends on circumstances more than on the quality of the decision.
Almost every player who starts studying poker systematically sooner or later runs into the term GTO — Game Theory Optimal, the optimal strategy from a game-theory standpoint.
In poker, we almost never make decisions against a specific hand. We play against a range — the set of combos the opponent could have arrived at the current point of the hand with. And the higher the price of the decision, the more important it is to understand how many strong hands the opponent can realistically have.
No-limit Texas Hold'em became the industry leader in the 1960s. Before that, another type of poker dominated Las Vegas casinos — seven-card stud. NL Hold'em overtook its competitor thanks to the simplicity of its rules. Hold'em is much easier to master than stud. However, NL Hold'em rules do have their own nuances. Let's discuss what a kicker is and see how it works.
In poker, we constantly find ourselves in situations where we don't have a made hand. We missed the flop, didn't improve on the turn, but the pot is already big enough — we want to take it down. It's exactly in these moments that the main question arises — do we have a way to win without going to showdown?
Bluffing is one of the most romanticized topics in poker. In movies it looks like a "special state of mind" — the player simply senses that their opponent is about to give up, and bets big. In a real game it works differently.
In poker, in the early stages it's easy to get stuck in the illusion that what matters most is the cards in your hand. We're dealt a strong combination — we win; we're dealt a weak one — we fold. And when we're just starting out, that's exactly how it feels: as if the result depends more on luck than on us.
Every poker player who wants to earn consistently must understand probabilities. Without this, you won't be able to accurately assess your chances of winning, make the right decisions, and build a profitable strategy over the long run.
A 4-bet is the action that brings players in poker to the most expensive hands. The pot suddenly becomes large, ranges become narrow, and the cost of a mistake is noticeably higher.
Poker is often romanticized: the main thing is supposedly to know how to bluff, make slick moves, and take down pots on sheer guts. But if you look at the graphs of poker professionals, it becomes clear — money in poker is earned not through expensive, complicated bluffs, but through methodical, mathematically justified decisions.
The donk bet has a bad reputation. In the poker community, this play was for a long time considered a sign of weak play — a bet without initiative, against the aggressor, looked impulsive and devoid of logic.
Check-raise is one of the most controversial plays in poker. To some, it looks like a sign of strength and confidence; to others, it's a dangerous trap that you can easily set for yourself. And the truth is, a check-raise can be both.
In poker tournaments, the size of the forced bets — that is, the blinds — keeps increasing. Meanwhile, opponents regularly try to steal them with a raise from late position. If you don't defend your blinds, your stack will start shrinking even without being involved in any big hands.
Why Playing Without Bluffing Is a Bad Strategy
A multipot is a hand where several players reach the postflop. This happens when you raise and get multiple calls, or when you call a raise yourself and end up in the pot against two or more opponents. Playing multipots is harder than playing hands one-on-one. Here you're not up against a single range of hands, but several at once. This means the probability of making a winning combination drops, while the chance of you making a mistake rises. Errors in these pots are more costly, so you need to play hands against multiple opponents carefully.
What mistakes do players make preflop? How can you improve your push/fold? We explain in this article.
What mistakes do players make postflop? How do you bet correctly with a strong hand? We explain in this article.
Limping is the main sign of a weak player. Find out why it's a serious mistake, how to make a proper isolation raise, and which strategy will help you systematically take chips from passive opponents.
Complete guide to exploits for micro-stakes MTTs. We break down how to steal blinds, make big value bets, and punish limpers to maximize your profit.
