There are a few of these multi-lesson challenges available, but in this review we’re looking at the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge. For 30 consecutive days a new video lesson was released, accompanied by a short quiz upon completion to test your newfound skills. Now, as mentioned, all 30 days of content are available on demand, and can be consumed in whichever order you choose. First, here’s a look at the list of all 30 lessons:

1. Learning Your Opponents Through Preflop play – Jonathan Jaffe (35 min)
2. 3-betting at Different Stack Depths – Jonathan Little (12 min)
3. Exploitative Plays to Crush Live Tournaments part 1 – Faraz Jaka (62 min)
4. Short Stack Preflop Play – Matt Affleck (80 min)
5. Exploitative Plays to Crush Live Tournaments part 2 – Jaka (50 min)
6. Short Stack Post-flop Play – Affleck (64 min)
7. $10k Bellagio Day 1 & 2 Review – Jaffe (83 min)
8. Live Play & Explain Part 1 – Little (38 min)
9. Button vs Big Blind Play – Jaffe (91 min)
10. Advanced Big Blind Defence Strategies in Tournaments – Affleck (73 min)
11. Review of Blaz $10 Online Tournament Win Part 1 – Little (21 min)
12. Review of Blaz $10 Online Tournament Win Part 2 – Little (23 min)
13. Review of Blaz $10 Online Tournament Win Part 3 – Little (18 min)
14. How to Complete PokerCoaching Homework – Little (24 min)
15. Complete October 2019 Tournament Homework – Little (37 min)
16. Reviewing Jonathan’s Deep Run in the Online $1k Freezeout Part 1 – Michael Acevedo/Little (61 min)
17. Reviewing Jonathan’s Deep Run in the Online $1k Freezeout Part 2 – Acevedo/Little (102 min)
18. Live Play & Explain Part 2 – Little (49 min)
19. Mastering the HUD: VPIP & PFR – Alex Fitzgerald (33 min)
20. Mastering the HUD: C-Bet Statistics – Fitzgerald (35 min)
21. Mastering the HUD: Fold to C-Bet Statistic – Fitzgerald (12 min)
22. Mastering the HUD: Check-Raise Statistic – Fitzgerald (13 min)
23. Mastering the HUD: Test Your Skills – Fitzgerald (72 min)
24. Live Play & Explain Part 3 – Little (50 min)
25. Bubble Thoughts – Little (22 min)
26. Introduction to ICM – Affleck (92 min)
27. Mastering High Roller Final Tables Intro & Part 1 – Little (30 min)
28. Mastering High Roller Final Tables Part 2 – Little (27 min)
29. Mastering High Roller Final Tables Part 3 – Little (27 min)
30. Tips to Crush Small Stakes Tournaments & Final Exam (30 questions) – Little (63 min)

In total, this adds up to almost 24 hours worth of elite No Limit Hold ‘em training content.

My recommendation for consuming this challenge would be to tackle it in one of two ways: either as originally intended with one lesson per day over 30 days, which is the most easily digestible process, or by combining the multi-part lessons and consuming those together in slightly longer chunks.

For example, Faraz Jaka’s 2-part series on Exploitative Plays to Crush Live Tournaments could be watched together. Moreover, Days 11-13 could easily be watched in one sitting, as they are a 3-part hand history review. Also, if you wanted to merge lessons on pre- and post-flop short stacked play, Matt Affleck’s Day 4 and 6 lessons could be watched together.

There are other examples of this as well, and for the purposes of a more easy-to-follow review of the content, I’ll be combining those lessons and reviewing them one section at a time, with their days of the challenge denoted at the top of each section.

Now, with that all said, let’s dive into it!

Day 1: Learning Your Opponents Through Pre-flop Play

I was very happy to see this lesson, which I’ve discussed in previous reviews, included in the challenge, and even kicking it off on Day 1 no less.

Jonathan Jaffe takes students through a series of pre-flop situations and provides analysis of what tendencies a player will have based on their actions. A super light raise from early position obviously suggests a loose/maniacal player, but there can be a lot more behind that raise. Getting reads on your opponents is critical, and Jaffe guides the student through the multitude of other things to consider. This is a lesson that’s useful for players of all skill levels.

Day 2: 3-betting at Different Stack Depths

Jonathan Little brings us an intensive crash course on how you should be 3-betting, outlining the many different strategies required based on your stack size. Range charts are provided for a variety of stack depths, from 15 BB to 75 BB and up, along with a chart breaking down what 3-bet sizing you should be using, based on your stack depth.

The importance of 3-betting with good blockers when short stacked vs. 3-betting with a more linear range when deep is discussed, along with what stack size your 3-bets should be an all-in.

Plus, Little lays out the situations in which you should defend more and not 3-bet from the big blind when short.

Days 3 & 5: Exploitative Plays to Crush Live Tournaments Parts 1 & 2

Given that this review was being written during the COVID-19 pandemic with live tournament poker at a minimum around the world, I’ll admit that I saved these videos for last. And wow, was I pleasantly surprised by how much of these videos are also applicable to the online game, notably smaller stakes where players are very exploitable!

Part 1 focuses on pre-flop exploits, such as how to target weak opponents, exploitative blind stealing, 3-bet attacks, and the ever popular psychological warfare! Getting too boggled down in the specifics would take too much time, but I will mention one critical concept of playing strong exploitative poker: you are going to be playing more hands. Maybe not as many as Faraz Jaka is known to, but to play this style effectively, you will be widening your ranges. (Jaka will explain where and when are the best spots for this throughout – it actually ties together nicely with theories from Jaffe’s lesson on learning your opponents’ pre-flop play. The supposed maniac raising suited Kx in early position? Well here he is.) As such, YOU MUST BE FOCUSED and paying incredible attention to the table and know how to potentially exploit each player.

Of note in part 1, easily the coolest slide I’ve seen in any poker training material out there is Jaka’s section on psychological warfare. That’s right, sorry to disappoint, but you don’t want to be the Macho Man when you’re playing. Oooooooooh…no?

Part 2 goes into post-flop play, with a lot of discussion on downbetting and smaller post-flop bet sizes, except when you can exploitatively use larger sizing against the non-believers to maximize value. The importance of recognizing and overfolding against players who are completely unbalanced in their ranges is also discussed.

Jaka wraps the series by analyzing several live hands he’s played, including a cool hand against Jessica Dawley at the final table of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, and why at a table with just them and three amateurs, he felt she was the player he could most successfully exploit.

Days 4 & 6: Short Stack Pre-flop and Post-flop Play

If I was compelled to pick something as the best or most important section of the series, Matt Affleck’s videos on short-stacked play would get my vote. This is mainly because, as Affleck himself notes, of any element of tournament poker short stack is what you’ll be playing the most, and it’s an area where you can create more EV than the majority of your opponents.

The pre-flop video discusses the hugely important concept of ‘lazy shoves’ and how to better play a 15-20 BB stack by using split ranges. Sure, just piling in your 15 BB stack with KQo in the hijack is profitable, but if you take a more strategic polarized/linear approach, there is much more EV to be made.

Affleck breaks down which hands to instead min-raise and call off to a 3-bet shove, which hands to min-raise/fold, and which are still just a straight shove.

Re-jamming is also discussed thoroughly, with the key concepts of getting hands you dominate to call and getting hands that dominate you to fold!

Why are we 3-bet shoving A9s, A5s and A4s along with AKs and AQs, but not AJs and ATs?

These are solid GTO baselines for 3-bet jamming, but Affleck also notes that there are plenty of opponent-based exploits that must be considered as well.

The short stack post-flop video uses a lot of PioSolver and hand breakdowns to analyze what your best options are with a shallow stack-to-pot ratio (SPR). I think many amateur players would be surprised how much play you have on a sub-25 BB stack. Protection and equity denial is king, and every 4-5 BB pot you can drag when short stacked is a huge win. Affleck guides you through when your top pair is a monster, when your 2nd pair is safe and when it isn’t, which draws are worth applying pressure with, and which blockers can be bluffed to steal a key pot for you.

I can honestly say I am infinitely more comfortable playing a short stack since studying these videos. There are spots I wouldn’t have taken before that have now kept my stack alive and grown it repeatedly at key points in a tournament. Recently I navigated my way into the money of the WPT Poker Industry Invitational despite being on a 15-20 BB stack with 30 players left and 15 making the money. Affleck’s teachings kept me alive, got my stack healthy, and gave me the best opportunities possible to run my stack up. I even got my 2nd pair in dominant for a potential 36 BB double up with 11 left, until the 2-outer came for my opponent on the river. But hey, I got it in good, thanks to what I learned from this training.

Day 7: 10k Bellagio Day 1 & 2 Review

The first week of lessons wraps up with what kind of felt like an extended version of one of PokerCoaching.com’s hand quizzes. Jonathan Jaffe is back with a review of hands he played on the first two days of his 6th place run in the 2019 Bellagio Five Diamond Main Event.

Hands are all from earlier levels with deeper stacked play and, as such, Jaffe explains how he likes to play these levels more like a cash game (more PokerCoaching.com Cash Game resources here), making his opponents uncomfortable by playing bigger pots than they may have liked or expected to. He goes deep into his thought process of each hand, analyzing his decisions street by street. Throughout the video, Jaffe takes questions from students on each hand, also discussing how he would have played alternate runouts on certain hands.

He discusses various concepts, including the importance at higher stakes of having some ace/wheel bluffs in early position against other early position opponents.

There are plenty of fun and interesting hands to dissect, including a wild one four ways with AJo on the BTN vs. a UTG raise, a UTG+1 call, and then a call from the SB. How good do you feel on an A87 rainbow flop, and how do you proceed?

Days 8, 18, 24: Live Play and Explain Parts 1, 2, & 3

Recently, Jonathan Little has been streaming his Sunday online tournament sessions, and naturally he saw this as an opportunity to teach his students how to better grind the online streets.

The 3-part series is a cool look at, and explanation of, Little’s Sunday grind, firing tournament after tournament with tables covering every corner of his computer monitor.

If you’re not a multi-tabler, this series will definitely boost your comfort level of adding volume to your sessions. In general, I wasn’t, but since watching this series I’m more comfortable adding three or four tables to my sessions, and am still seeing my winrate move in the right direction.

Little provides plenty of advice and tips throughout including…

• Play as many tables as you’re comfortable with.
• Use a HUD if you can.
• Organize and prioritize your tables to keep track more easily.
• Don’t waste time sweating results, just make the best decision and move on.
• Don’t let bad runouts on smaller buy-in tables tilt you and impact your decisions on higher priority tables.
• Multi-tabling is not about improving skills. It’s about utilizing strategies and maximizing volume.
• If you’re rebuying or buying in short, there will be more variance. Be ready for it.
• Don’t just register everything. Game select and find the best games to maximize your ROI.

Lower priority tables cascaded top left. Higher priority tables separate.

It really is impressive to watch Little playing 10+ tables and having no issues keeping track and playing as optimally as possible. While he admits that occasionally he does make mistakes, and that will come with mass multi-tabling, his focus and decision making is almost always on point. It was very cool to see him recognize a spot where he needed to fold a flush in one of his smaller buy-in tourneys where a lesser player would have just gone ‘oh, flush, call’, before clicking on to the next decision.

Day 9: Button vs. Big Blind Play

Jonathan Jaffe says he considers button vs. big blind play the most complex area of No Limit Hold ‘em because you’re dealing with such wide ranges in both spots, leading to difficult situations. I’ll happily agree with him. Range analysis in this scenario is very difficult, but Jaffe does a good job as he runs through a simulated session with two of his students using PokerStars play money home game software.

To be honest, this was a bit confusing to follow at times because it was set up visually as a heads up match, with the button player instructed to act as if there was an imaginary small blind between himself and the simulated big blind. There are a bunch of different scenarios presented, but I would recommend primarily listening to Jaffe’s commentary as opposed to watching the action to avoid the visual confusion.

Day 10: Advanced Big Blind Strategies in Tournaments

Day 10 brings another meaty and thorough class with Matt Affleck, which was also one of my favourites in the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge.

Remember the good old days when the big blind would fold too much because they didn’t want to play a junk hand out of position? Remember when it was then determined that it was mathematically correct to defend the BB with a wide range because the pot odds dictated it? Well, now the problem with most players is that they’re defending too wide, and you likely are too, especially multiway!

Affleck discusses how most poker players make a lot of mistakes in the big blind because they assume their pot odds are correct to be seeing a flop in almost any situation that hasn’t been 3-bet. Position of the raise, and the size of the raise are not fully considered, leading to players getting themselves into horrific spots. And just because your pot odds are so fantastic with five players in the pot by no means justifies flicking in a few more chips with a junk hand that can easily be dominated if you hit the board.

The coordination between raw equity, EV, and equity realization % is broken down, with Equilab used to illustrate the key points.

One solution to poor big blind play is to increase your 3-betting. As much as players over defend the big blind by calling, they’re under 3-betting grossly in spots that are very profitable. Most players just default to calling, again ‘since they’re getting such a great price’, but there are plenty of hands that can be 3-bet, and Affleck shows you where and why. Some theories referenced in his short stack videos are applicable here as well, as we’re now 3-betting weak aces to get medium aces to fold. Some marginal suited hands can be 3-bet as well because most people just are not calling enough 3-bets in general, and many hands that would have you dominated are now folding!

Finally, while fewer hands should be defended from the big blind with deeper stacks, the opposite is true with a short stack! It may seem counter-intuitive to defend a higher percentage of your stack when short, but that’s just it. If you’re short, you can happily get your stack in with pairs and good draws, whereas it would be heinous to commit a larger stack with the same hand strength.

Day 11-13: Review of Blaz $10 Online Tournament Win

As mentioned earlier, this 3-part miniseries can be ripped through in a little over an hour, as Little reviews a student’s win in a $10 6-handed tournament. Despite the relatively short runtimes of each of the three videos, there are still many key strategies to take away. None is bigger than the simple reminder that just because a tournament is short-handed, it does not justify opening ranges unnecessarily wide. A 6-handed table is just like a 9-handed table, just that the first 3 players have folded.

Case in point, one of the student’s opponents is playing a ridiculous 79% VPIP with a 13% PFR. Several pots are contested against this player, with maximally exploitative lines discussed in both small and large pots. Plus, not only are they an absolute muffin to play against, a blatant bet-sizing tell is picked up, too!

Once that player is disposed of, other situations are analyzed, including vs. a player the exact opposite of our 79/13 friend. What adjustments need to be made against a far more aggressive player with a high 3-bet percentage?

At the final table, an ICM suicide is narrowly averted thanks to the opponent folding vs. the student’s overplay of third pair with an open-ended straight flush draw on the turn.

Oh, you got called and the 4 of diamonds rolled off? Cool 3rd pair bro.

Days 14 & 15: How to Complete Poker Coaching Homework & October 2019 Tournament Homework

A staple of any PokerCoaching.com curriculum is the monthly homework assignments, and the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge is no exception.

Using the PokerCoaching.com Range Analyzer, students input their own ranges into a chart based on a hand scenario provided by Little. The student first creates a pre-flop action chart, saves it, then adjusts it street by street, based on the community cards and opponent actions of the hand.  Hand combinations are categorized into ranges for premium made hands, marginal made hands, draws, and junk.

The Day 14 video is a tutorial on how to create your charts and save them in the PokerCoaching.com forum for review during the monthly homework webinars hosted by Little. On Day 15 you’ll actually create a series of range charts, and then compare them to the analysis provided in the accompanying video.

Little will suggest how you should balance your betting and checking ranges, by adding or removing hands from the various categories. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with them though before jumping into these homework assignments. At first, I was a bit overwhelmed by them, but have since learned to love them as a great way to study ranges and work on GTO range balancing.

Days 16 & 17: Reviewing Jonathan’s Deep Run in the Online $1k Freezeout Parts 1 & 2

In this pair of videos, PokerCoaching.com’s GTO wizard Michael Acevedo dissects Little’s play in a deep run against a table full of online killers.

A warning before you dive into these videos. This is VERY high-level GTO hand analysis between Acevedo and Little. Acevedo analyzes mostly to Little’s level of understanding, not necessarily to a student of the site. PioSolver is used frequently, and not explained to the layman poker player at all. You will need to be somewhat familiar with the program.

With that said, indeed, this is some VERY high-level GTO hand analysis!

REVIEW: Michael Acevedo’s Modern Poker Theory Video Packs

It’s fascinating to observe their poker minds at work, breaking down a queen-high river call, discussing the merits of min raising vs. slightly bumping up raise sizes, analyzing when a 15-20 BB shove is recommended (contrary to other short stack lessons), range betting vs. pot control, and tons more.

Remember, this is an elite player analyzing an elite player, playing against other elite players. This is NOT the review of the $10 tourney. There is some discussion of exploitative plays that could be applicable to smaller stakes tournaments, but for the most part we’re flying way above the rim here.

Day 19-23: Mastering the HUD (VPIP & PFR, C-bet, Fold to C-bet, Check-Raise, Test Your Skills)

It’s nearly three weeks into the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge before Alex Fitzgerald makes his first appearance, but the Assassinato’s entire course on Mastering the HUD gets a full five days worth of attention and it’s invaluable.

NOTE: Importantly, if you don’t play in an online poker room that allows HUDs, the 30-day challenge essentially just became a 25-day challenge. You can skip it entirely.

Fitzgerald admits he hated using a HUD at first and actually didn’t for five years. However, if you play on a site allowing HUDs and are not using one, you’re at a tremendous disadvantage against players who are.

Lots of numbers and colors can be scary, but once you learn them you’ll be the one they fear!

You’ll learn the ins and outs of the key numbers, learning how to play optimally against, and maximally exploit your opponents, based on their statistical tendencies. Fitzgerald acknowledges that unless you’re playing regularly with the same players your sample sizes will be small, but that will still tell you at least as much as in a live tournament setting.

Plenty of hand examples are provided in each section (especially Day 23) for students to consider, not just based on their potential opponent’s stats, but on other players and factors.

After watching this course, I’ve revamped my own HUD and am using it much more effectively. It’s undeniable that the difference in how the game feels based on using or not using a HUD is pretty large. With that said, if you can gain that advantage in decision making based on live analytics, it really is something you should be doing, and this section will prepare you thoroughly.

Day 25: Bubble Thoughts

Little’s 22-minute Bubble Thoughts class is all about pressure, pressure and more pressure; determining if your opponents care about sliding into the money, and if so, making life as uncomfortable for them as possible.

Find out where they don’t want to go, then make them go there!

Jonathan Little

There are obviously specifics to consider, such as stack sizes, position, and player type, and Little will go through what to look for that will give you the green light to attack. Reading weakness is always key to playing aggressive poker, but no time more so than on the bubble.

Several examples are analyzed, including an interesting situation showing how drastically a button shoving range changes on the bubble, depending on the quality of opponents in the blinds. A 64% range dropping down to 8%, sounds extreme, but it is justified against players who will call off too wide.

This section also leads into the next part of the challenge with some ICM discussion, and a reminder to pass on those tiny edges if you have a skill advantage, because ICM doesn’t take skill into consideration.

Day 26: Introduction to ICM

In this section you’ll dive deep into ICM with Matt Affleck. The title may say ‘Introduction’, but this class has heaps of great info throughout the beefy 92-minute runtime.

For those completely unfamiliar, Affleck starts off with a brief discussion on the difference between chip EV and $ EV, with a simple example of a winner-take-all sit n’ go payout vs. a top 3 payout.

The very cool concept of ‘Risk Premiums’ takes up a good chunk of the lesson. Affleck assigns an added percentage to a player’s pot odds when determining whether to make a call (think of it like a calling tax). We know a big stack is risking very little by calling a shove against a short stack, but to see specific formulas incorporated into various all-in situations based on stack sizes is a very cool guide to consider.

Post-flop ICM consideration with regard to bet sizing is compared to Risk Premiums, as the larger the bet you face, the higher the risk premium. You may seemingly only need 25% pot odds to make a call, but considering ICM and your risk premium, you need as much as 45-50% to justify putting your stack at risk.

Plenty of in-game examples are dissected through ICMizer to determine the profitability of potential all-ins. Consideration of risk premiums are thoroughly incorporated and considered.

Of note, Affleck discusses how risk premiums are even higher in satellite play. In a recent WSOP Online satellite, I was in a lengthy stretch of play with a ton of smallish/medium stacks (myself included) at the table as the bubble approached. Accounting for risk premiums saved my stack in a couple of key spots, whereas had I only considered the pot odds, I would have made an incorrect and tournament-ending decision. Instead, I made tighter folds, where others committed ICM suicide. As a result, I made it to the target tourney while others did not.

Days 27-29: Mastering High Roller Final Tables

We’re into the home stretch as we hit Day 27, and after almost four weeks of hard work this part of the series almost feels like the end of a school year when you’d get treated to watching a movie in class.

Yes, there is obviously a lot of high level poker that can be studied and learned from here, but you can also just kick back and enjoy watching some of the very best in the world play a $2,000 online final table.

Little had not actually watched this final table before doing the commentary on it, so it’s fun to watch him analyze the play in real time.

Since it is an online high roller final table with plenty of wizards, there is a lot to be taken away from it, notably the almost universally EXCELLENT play. Things you’ll see that Little discuses and analyzes include:

• Lots of GTO play
• Additional thoughts on min-raising vs. raising slightly more
• Players knowing when to check their marginal hands
• Tiny C-bets that make it difficult for opponents to defend properly against, instead of ‘betting to make your opponent fold’
• No blind C-betting – lots of consideration of opponents’ ranges
• Proper ICM-related decisions and play
• Minimal over-aggression and unnecessary 3-betting
• Good river decisions; recognizing showdown value and not needing to bluff
• Developing a final table limping range
• High level exploitative plays
• Head- up strategies and ranges

Day 30: Tips to Crush Small Stakes Tournaments and Final Exam

Congratulations! You made it to Day 30!

But before you can say you’ve completed the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge, there’s one more lesson with three tips to crush small stakes tournaments.

Oh… and the final exam!

You’ll have to check out the video for all the details, but the three tips are:

1. Exploit wide ranges! Low-stakes players don’t play well with wide ranges. Little will teach you how to combat these players most effectively, especially in late position.
2. Maximally exploit weak players! As you get deeper in tourneys, the stakes get higher and many players will get uncomfortable.
3. Play optimally on pay jumps! Your timebank is your friend. No, tanking isn’t sexy, but if it’s the difference in making a pay jump and boosting your ROI, then it’s tank time, baby!

After Little goes through these points, he wraps up with a 40-minute Q & A session with students on a wide variety of topics.

The final exam consists of 30 multiple choice questions, similar to the short quizzes at the end of each day’s lesson. Many of them aren’t too tough, but there are a few that might catch you. But really, if you’ve paid attention and have absorbed the information provided, you should have no problem registering a strong score (ahem…)

Aced it!

PokerCoaching.com 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge: Worth the Price!

As I have mentioned a couple of times in this review, I’ve had immediate success implementing the teachings of the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge, to my own game.

One test of the effectiveness of a training course is how quickly it pays for itself. Well, while working through the challenge for this review, it paid for itself multiple times over! With so many different aspects of tournament play discussed in this series, its an invaluable resource that can be enjoyed by signing up for just 1 month of PokerCoaching.com Premium access.

If you take on the 30-Day Tournament Preparation Challenge and put in the work, improved tournament results are a virtual certainty.

As PokerCoaching.com’s impressive roster of coaches has now grown to a team of 10 incredibly talented and diverse poker players, we celebrate this milestone with a deep dive into the impressive roster, and take a closer look at what each poker coach brings to the table.

The three main elements of PokerCoaching.com training are Courses (series of multiple videos covering a topic), Classes (standalone videos or webinars covering a topic), and Quizzes (hand breakdown videos with multiple-choice questions attached to key elements of the hand, with answers broken down by coaches). There are also monthly Homework Challenges and other webinars done exclusively by Little, but we’ll discuss those specifically in his section.

Cue Sirius / Eye in the Sky by The Alan Parsons Project… and in my best Ray Clay voice…. AAAAAAAAAAND NOW! THE STARTING LINEUP FOR YOUR MULTI-TIME CHAMPION…. POKERCOACHING.COM COACHES!!!!

Jonathan Little

• Courses: The vast majority of the multi-video series are taught by Little. The library of courses he’s built over the years is truly impressive. There really is something for everyone (both tournament and cash games), from his outstanding Cash Game MasterClass (see my review here), to beating wild games, combating limpers, beating online 6-max, WSOP prep, WSOP Final table reviews, High Roller Final tables, and MANY more!
• Classes: The bulk of PokerCoaching.com Classes are taught by Little as well, with over 90 individual videos available on every conceivable topic in areas of No Limit Hold ‘Em, both on and off the felt.
• Quizzes: of the near 900 available quizzes, over half are guided by Little, with hands coming from every stake (live and online), both cash and tournament, from $1/2 cash to $25k tournaments, and everything in between.

Since PokerCoaching.com was founded by Little, it’s no surprise that so much of the content comes from him.

The huge amount of coaching he alone provides would be worth the subscription price, and that’s without even mentioning the monthly Homework Challenge webinars and the multitude of situational charts on the site.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the regular content he provides for free via YouTube and his social media channels (shout out to Mr. James and Mr. Thomas!).

Little’s contribution to teaching poker to the world is undeniable. But his ability to grow his roster of coaches to expand on his teachings and provide their own unique perspectives is a key reason why PokerCoaching.com has become such an outstanding resource for those looking to expand their knowledge of No Limit Hold ‘Em.

So let’s look at the rest of that roster…

Matt Affleck

• Courses: Advanced Deep Stacked strategies, Deep Stacked Tournament Strategies
• Classes: 40+ (2nd only to Little). Affleck’s classes also cover a wide range of topics, including hand history reviews for tournament and cash games both live and online, situational play, range composition, WSOP preparation and review, and several videos utilising tools such as Equilab, PioSolver, and Hold’Em Resource Calculator.
• Quizzes: 150+ ranging from low-/mid-stakes cash, and low to high buy-in tourneys up to $10k (both live and online).

As Lead Coach at PokerCoaching.com, Affleck’s volume of content is second only to Little’s, and he can be counted on to provide at least one class or quiz per week, sometimes more. Like Little, the amount and variety of coaching he provides is really appealing, especially if you’re an online player. Recently, Affleck even did a near 90-minute hand review webinar of a member’s $5 online tourney! Hand reviews from a wide range of buy-ins form most of Affleck’s classes, but there are plenty of other classes on good decision making, situational strategies, and technical play as well.

Alex Fitzgerald

• Courses: Blind Defense, Neutralize Their Position
• Classes: 5 – Cutoff Play, 5 Post-flop Tricks, Barrelling Theory, Exploitative C-bet Sizing, 3-betting Out of Position
• Quizzes: 150+ (tourneys from low-/mid-stakes online to mid-/high-stakes live)

Alex “Assassinato” Fitzgerald’s content on PokerCoaching.com may be the best value available for standard and trial members because almost all of his content is available for the lower tiers of membership! Fitzgerald is a veteran tournament coach with a long resume of success, especially online. I’ve said this in previous articles I’ve mentioned him in, but at first I found his delivery a little, shall we say, smug? But as his name suggests, He’s a freakin’ Tournament Assassin! If I were as good as Fitzgerald, and knew as much about poker as he does, yeah, I’d be sounding pretty damn confident, too!

As I’ve watched more and more of his content (and read his outstanding books), I’ve become a huge fan. Fitzgerald’s knowledge is evident in every piece of content on PokerCoaching.com, and I continually look forward to learning from the brilliant and creative ways he’s laid waste to whatever new opponent he’s faced.

Evan Jarvis

• Courses: Five Pillars of Peak Poker Performance, How I applied the 5 Pillars
• Classes: 4 – Maximizing Study EV, A Deeper Dive into Position, Aggression and Poker, Hand Selection
• Quizzes: 80+ low-stakes cash

First, a quick aside… I just want to say it baffles my mind that I’ve never once crossed paths with Evan Jarvis, as he lives in Toronto and plays in the same casinos regularly that I do. Heck, he even goes to the same Float Spa that I do! Forget figuring out high-level GTO play, THIS is the aspect of poker that blows my mind!

Anyway, “Gripsed” is probably my personal favourite coach on the PokerCaching.com roster, and yes, it is primarily because of the reasons mentioned above. However, his teachings are extremely relatable to small-mid stakes players. $1/2, $1/3, and $2/$5 cash game quizzes are his primary contribution to the site, which are tremendously helpful for players at that stake. But his mindset work, which is featured in his ‘5 Pillars’ courses, is something I’m a big believer in as well. I really believe that a healthy lifestyle away from the tables, and having a healthy mindset and focus when it comes to your poker, is invaluable! Mindset coaching is a huge part of the game that’s really been developed in recent years, and I know it can help any player’s game.

Tristan Wade

• Classes: 9 – Mostly tournament hand history reviews, also Deep Stacked Fundamentals, Transitioning from Cash to Tourneys, When to Triple Barrel Bluff
• Quizzes: 8 – $2/5 cash game quizzes

Wade is another hugely successful player with experience in coaching. While his content here is primarily hand reviews (not a bad thing by any means, they are one of my favourite study methods, and Wade’s are very thorough), his other classes are solidly on point as well. His most recent class on triple barrel bluffing was something that piqued my interest, as I’ll fully admit to having a tendency to barrel off unsuccessfully in bad spots. This is now being worked on, thanks to Wade’s excellent teachings. Oh, and his PowerPoint game is as strong as his coaching!

Jonathan Jaffe

• Classes: 9 – Overbetting for Value / as a Bluff (2 videos), Learning Your Opponents Through Pre-flop Play, When to Check Raise Flops, Common Flop Mistakes, Button vs. BB play, $10k Bellagio 5 Diamond Review

Jaffe’s collection of classes cover a really interesting mix of topics. I was especially impressed with his videos on overbetting. It’s a topic I’ve really not seen much content on specifically. Sure, it gets mentioned here and there in hand history reviews, where spots come up for an overbet as an option, but to really get a solid deep dive into it was appreciated. His class on learning opponents through pre-flop play was also a favourite of mine. Getting reads on your opponents is crucial, and Jaffe provides a ton of things to look for early that will be useful for players of all skill levels.

Michael Acevedo

• Courses: Mastering GTO short stack play
• Classes: 11 – Lessons from the GTO Master (w/ Jonathan Little), 2-part review w/ Little on $1k online tourney, 2 on Short stacked strategy, 3 on final table ICM strategy ($5k WCOOP final table review), playing out of position as the pre-flop raiser, 2 on check-raising monotone boards from BB

You want to learn GTO? Here’s your guy! As Little even says himself in Acevedo’s debut video with PokerCoaching.com, Acevedo is a GTO master (he’s literally written the book on it!). With his videos, you’ll be diving headfirst into the solvers, as Acevedo breaks down GTO play. Acevedo’s classes include several hand reviews, including a very cool series with Little, as Acevedo analyses Little’s play in a recent tournament against some of the online world’s very best.

Be warned though, this is some high-level stuff. If, however, you are ready to dive into GTO, or even just want to get a good glimpse at how solvers are used effectively, Acevedo’s teachings are the way to go.

Lexy Gavin

• Classes: 6 – When to C-bet, 3-betting Strategy, Check Raising Strategy, How to Play Overpairs, Pre-flop Hand Ranges for NL Cash Games
• Quizzes: 7 – variety of cash and tourney stakes

My feelings on Lexy Gavin’s coaching are extra warm and fuzzy; because I recently watched some of her videos immediately after watching Michael Acevedo teach GTO. They were a breath of fresh air, to say the least (high level GTO is haaaaard!).

To be fair, the content of their classes is of course worlds apart. Gavin’s classes are more focused on single, specific areas of No Limit Hold ‘Em, which is still tremendously valuable, and I’d certainly recommend her classes for players looking to build really strong fundamentals.

As a bonus to ‘Standard’ level PokerCoaching.com members, Gavin’s content is all available to you! Of note in her quizzes, a really interesting $25/50 NL hand she played against Cate Hall is included, which is a great example of not blasting off with an overpair, and recognizing range and nut advantages.

LISTEN: Interview with Lexy Gavin

Faraz Jaka

• Classes: 5 – 5k WCCOP hand review (3 videos), Exploitative Plays to crush live tourneys (2 videos)
• Quizzes: 4 from mid-stakes tourneys

Jaka has been in the lab since coming back to poker last year after taking a couple of years off to work on a start-up company, and it shows, in a very good way. He still has the aggressive, exploitative mindset he’s known for, but he breaks out the PioSolver less than 15 min into his WCOOP review to deeply analyze a flop bet sizing that he didn’t like. Jaka is fiercely critical of his own play, and recognizes he’s still got work to put in in the lab.

It’s really interesting to see such a creative player break down how he played a hand in the moment, then dive right into self-analysis and watch him learn along with you. I’m really looking forward to seeing the continuing rebirth of “The Toilet”.

James Romero

Romero is the latest addition to the PokerCoaching.com roster, having signed on at the beginning of April. He brings six years of online and three years of live experience to the table, with millions of dollars in earnings in each format.

Though he hasn’t created any content just yet, Romero has done a Q&A “getting to know you” session with Little on his background, and what we can expect from him. In it, Romero described himself as originally a GTO-based player, but he is now exploring more variations and adjustments. He says he played too much PioSolver-based GTO theory, and now believes a general understanding of poker theory is more important than finding exact solutions based on solvers.

Romero’s first sessions with PokerCoaching.com will be a 5-part series of webinars, which will be released monthly. These will include:

• Pre-flop fundamentals
• Post-flop fundamentals
• Micro strategies (in-game)
• Macro strategies (out of game)
• Database review / HUDs

Please welcome the newest @PokerCoaching_ Coach, @skielanskis, to the team! I’m very excited for our students to have the opportunity to learn from one of the best players in the world. To start things off we’ll be hosting a live webinar today at 4pm EST:https://t.co/9xQiaVdsXA pic.twitter.com/dWEcW3B5ql

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) April 9, 2020

A Winning Team of Poker Coaches

Before the year is done, this outstanding roster of coaches will have created 300+ new hand quizzes, 24 new video classes, 12 new live challenge webinars, 48+ new live coaching webinars, and much more!

That’s like the poker training equivalent of the ’97 Bulls putting up 200 on the Clippers! How could you not get on board with that?!

If you’re looking to boost your No Limit Hold ‘Em game, there really is no better group of coaches to get you to your goals than the team at PokerCoaching.com!

Not realizing that there was a distinct parking lot on the far side of the property and a separate, direct, entrance there to the Rio’s Convention Center area, my Dad and I parked and walked in through the hotel-resort’s front entrance. Dad gripped my hand tightly, and I’m sure he felt me trembling with excitement, as we followed the signs to the far end of the complex.

WATCH THE VIDEO: My First WSOP

Sitting and reflecting on the experience now, back here in Israel, that incredible feeling still hasn’t worn off. Time seemed to slow down as, slowly but surely, I approached poker’s grandest theater. My eyes darted, Ivey-like, from right to left and back again, trying to take the entire scene in. After all those hours spent in front of TV and computer screens consuming WSOP footage over the years, what and who would I recognize first?

Then, I saw it in the distance. A black banner draped across the width of one of the hallways with a white-lettered greeting: “Welcome to the World Series of Poker”. I looked down at my phone – it was 11:18 pm on Monday, June 20th, 2016; that’s the moment my “poker life” changed forever. After 13 years of yearning, I had finally reached “Destination WSOP“.

Follow Me; I’ll Show You Around

After picking up my media credential, I asked where WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla was seated. After forging a great relationship with one another over the last couple of years and using social media to keep in touch, I couldn’t have pictured a warmer in-person welcome; it was a true pleasure finally getting to meet him for the first time. Nolan was kind enough to give me and my Dad “a tour of the place”. “You’re standing in the Amazon Room,” he said. “There’s also the Pavilion Room and the Brasilia Room.” I’m usually not at a loss for words, but during those few minutes I sure felt like a deer in headlights, simply overwhelmed by the occasion. Of course I knew where I was, but it felt too surreal.

Most things don’t appear the same during the day as they do at night, and the World Series of Poker is no different. Thus, I also thoroughly enjoyed “tour #2”, which I got the next day when I met Kevin Mathers (a.k.a., Kevmath) for the first time. Actually seeing the masses throng the hallways, I suppose that’s when things started to feel a little bit real.

Taking It All In, Bumping Into Poker’s Superstars

Over the next few days, I would spend a good deal of time walking around the Rio, witnessing up-close a poker world that had been painfully out of arm’s reach for far too long.

The sheer enormity of the World Series of Poker is difficult to describe, but my feet can attest that I did my fair share of walking around. For the six days and nights that I got to spend at the WSOP, it seemed as though every new step I took brought along new delights. Every place I looked I was surrounded by poker and it’s standout performers. All those faces and Twitter handles I’d gotten so used to seeing were suddenly real, walking those halls along with me.

To any Las Vegas local, Rio employee, or tournament circuit grinder, bustling WSOP hallways full of poker celebrities are “the norm”. For a poker fan who lives half a world away, having the briefest of opportunities to be immersed in that mythical poker culture is practically indescribable. So many things happened over those few days that have given me so many mini-stories to tell. Here’s a small sampling:

• I randomly bumped into WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel in a Starbucks and discovered after a couple minutes of conversation that he was also Jewish.
• For the first time in my life, instead of “cheese” I said “shark” while posing for a picture… with Humberto Brenes, of course. Later on, I got prompted to “smile, baby”, from none other than the Prince of Poker himself, Scotty Nguyen.
• I passed by Jonathan Little so many times that I felt like his neighbor… and then we ended up parking next to each other one morning.
• Speaking of the parking lot, I refrained from using any of the Rio’s infamous outdoor toilets, but while headed out to my car one afternoon, that’s precisely where I bumped into “the Toilet” himself, Faraz Jaka.
• On another trip down the hallways, I looked over to my right and noticed a guy sitting on a bench, only to realize that it was Anthony Zinno. I built up a bit of courage to approach him, as he didn’t really know me, and then he ended up thanking me for coming to introduce myself and tell him “what I do in poker”; go figure!
• My Dad and I bumped into a just-got-off-the-plane Eugene Katchalov who, despite his fatigue, kindly took the time to chat with us for a few minutes, but I couldn’t follow half of the conversation because it was being conducted between him and my Dad in Russian.

Branded Decks Lead to Smiles, Success, and More Stories

I decided to give out close to 150 decks of branded Cardplayer Lifestyle cards while I was in Las Vegas. When was the last time anyone looked at a business card, right? A free deck of cards though? THAT, someone could use

Anyhow, among the recipients were Jason Mercier, who got engaged about a week later, and Brian Rast, who won the $50K Poker Player’s Championship a few days after that. Now, I’m not going to claim that my decks bestowed upon Mercier and Rast any sort of magical “run good”, but if great things start happening to the other 148 deck recipients in the coming weeks , you’ll know why…

I gave another deck of cards to Jason Somerville, who I had first met at the PCA six months ago. Walking through the Pavilion Room, I noticed Jason playing at a table where he was seated next to actor James Woods. I stood there, observing quietly for a minute, when Jason looked up. He immediately spring out of his seat, and greeted me with a big hug, saying “Robbie, SO nice to see you again!” After a couple minutes of catching up, I asked Jason if he wouldn’t mind giving Mr. Woods a deck of cards as well. He did far more than that, saying some incredibly nice things about me and this blog to Mr. Woods. I’m blushing just recalling the experience, but hopefully next time I won’t be so bashful and will go up to Mr. Woods myself for a proper introduction.

Pictures, Pictures, and More Pictures

I felt a constant need to take pictures of everything and everyone. Happiness was bursting out of me. I had to do everything in my power to document the experiences.

After almost a week traversing those Rio hallways, I wanted to somehow pack it all up in my suitcase and bring it home with me. Of course, I’m hopelessly addicted to that WSOP poker drug, already looking forward to the next time I’ll hopefully get to make it back to those hallways and experience everything all over again.

Some pictures with poker luminaries, from left to right – top to bottom: Jack Effel, Jonathan Little, Humberto Brenes, Brian Rast, Mike “the Mouth” Matusow and Benny Glaser, Kevin Mathers, Jason Somerville and James Woods, Scotty Nguyen, and Faraz Jaka

There’s so much more that I experienced during my first trip to the World Series of Poker that I’d like to share with you, and I will in future blog posts.

For now, I’ll just end off by saying that while I may have started my maiden WSOP pilgrimage off in the wrong place, I sure ended up in the right one .

1)      Antonio Esfandiari

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $25 million

When your nickname is “The Magician” it carries with it some lofty expectations. Fortunately for the Iranian-born Antonio Esfandiari, he has been able to back it up with over $25 million won in his poker career, more than any other poker pro in the world. His list of accomplishments includes two World Poker Tour championships and a victory at the “Big One for One Drop” in 2012 (1 of 3 WSOP bracelets he owns). The latter event was the largest buy-in tournament in history and Esfandiari’s take home was $18,346,673 – his best magic trick to date. He will be turning 35 in December and we wonder if he’ll be able to top the birthday party he threw for himself last year.

2)      Joe Hachem

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $11.6 million

There are few “One Drop” opportunities in the world of pro poker. Joe Hachem had to “make due” with a plain old victory at the 2005 Main Event of the World Series of Poker, which was good enough for a $7.5 million payday. The most successful Australian player of all-time, Hachem largely credits his Lebanese roots for his success. In an interview with Poker Player Magazine, he was quoted as saying, “Being born Lebanese as I was and playing cards, it’s a combination that’s natural.”

READ MORE: Interview with Joe Hachem

3)      Freddy Deeb

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $8.1 million

Born and raised in Lebanon, Freddy Deeb shares more than just a knack for poker with Joe Hachem. Deeb currently sits #35 on the all-time poker tournament career money list, which is a little behind Hachem (#11). However, he does hold the edge for career cashes and WSOP bracelets (2). Deeb also has a dramatic narrative to accompany that success, turning to poker for income when he was unable to land a job due to complications with his citizenship. Fortunately, it turns out that he’s not too bad.

4)      Hasan Habib

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $5.4 million

It turns out that Hasan Habib’s skill set is not limited to professional poker. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Habib is a former 14-and-under National Tennis Champion in that country. Although far-removed from his biggest career win – a $1,372,223 take home at the Five-Star World Poker Classic in April 2004 – Habib is still a presence in the poker world, having cashed for $12,667 at the WSOP back in June.

5)      Farzad Bonyadi

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $3.8 million

Countrymen to Esfandiari, Bonyadi moved from Iran to the United States in 1983. Early exposure to the U.S. casino business included holding the title of executive host at the Commerce Casino (one of this poker writer’s favorite places to play) and shift manager at Hollywood Park Casino. Bonyadi garnered attention for his poker skills at the 1998 World Series of Poker, earning $429,000 in a Limit Hold’Em victory. Farzad has been quiet over the last year but his 3 WSOP bracelets still speak for themselves and stand the test of time.

6)      Sammy Farha

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $2.8 million

Born in Lebanon, Sammy Farha might be best known for his showdown with Chris Moneymaker at the 2003 WSOP Main Event. We know how that turned out: Moneymaker came out on top and what has been referred to as the “poker boom” began. Although his winnings aren’t as impressive as some of the other poker players with Middle Eastern roots on this list, Farha remains a popular face who is exceedingly cool at the table and easy to root for. Of course his books on Omaha and 3 WSOP bracelets in that poker discipline still make him count as one of the game’s best.

7)      Eli Elezra

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $2.3 million

It seems like Eli Elezra should have higher totals for career winnings to back up his notoriety and fame in the poker world, at least based on all those Poker After Dark appearances. One might not have anything to do with the other but the PAD performances certainly increased the popularity of the Jerusalem-born Elezra. It’s probable, though, that Elezra’s biggest wins have come in poker cash games, whose results are obviously not known to the public. That said, the man’s got 2 WSOP bracelets, one of which he just won playing 2-7 Triple Draw this year. Oh, and he’s one of the Top 10 Jews in Poker.

8)      Owais Ahmed

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $1.1 million

Owais Ahmed is still plenty young and is going to be a lot of fun to watch playing poker for years to come. He has 15 cashes since January 2012 but his two biggest paydays were at the 2011 World Series of Poker. That year he won $255,959 and his only bracelet by taking first place in the Omaha & 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 or Better. That was accompanied by a $482,058 fourth place finish in the Poker Players Championship. The Pakistani-born Ahmed has been convincing as one of the nicest guys in poker – he’ll now look to prove he is also one of the best.

9)      Yuval Bronshtein

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $1.1 million

Yuval Bronshtein has been on a sustained tear for the last four years, having accumulated 30 cashes since January 2010. Although he has yet to win his first WSOP bracelet, the Israeli-born Bronshtein seems destined for continued prominence. For instance, he had a very deep run in the 2012 WSOP Main Event, finishing 23rd (we interviewed him just afterwards). In addition to all those earnings, Bronshtein was the only player to cash at the World Series of Poker Europe H.O.R.S.E. event in both 2007 and 2008. Yuval’s feats of greatness have also been visible in the online sphere where he has shown his ability to dominate.

10)   Faraz Jaka

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $5.3 million

One of the rare poker pros who is deadly both while playing live poker and online poker, Faraz Jaka has won millions on both the live and virtual felt. With Pakistani roots, Jaka doesn’t yet have that career-defining win, but he’s final tables WPT, EPT, and WSOP events as well as won many a prestigious online tournament. Surely his best days in poker are yet to come – and that’s pretty impressive considering he’s already won upwards of $5 million.

Ed. note – Oct. 8th, 2013: I woke up this morning to find a number of pro poker players discussing this article on Twitter (thanks for reading and sharing by the way!). It thus came to my attention that I had made an incredibly glaring (accidental) omission – indeed it would reflect poorly on me as a poker writer and this site, as the go-to news and information resource for recreational poker players and fans, were this player to not appear on the list. That said, better late than never… So as not to disrespect any of the other 10 players by removing them, I’m adding #11:

* Daniel Alaei

Career Tournament Poker Winnings: $6.6 million

Daniel Alaei has been a true force at the poker tables for close to a decade now. The 4-time WSOP bracelet winner, of Iranian descent, also boasts having won the WPT 5 Diamond Classic, back in 2009. A force at both the tournament tables and cash game tables, Alaei was featured numerous times on the popular High Stakes Poker TV series, mixing it up with the best of the best of the game’s players. His most recent big score came at this past summer’s WSOP, where he took down the PLO Championship event, for the 2nd time in 4 years.

Source of career tournament poker winnings data: CardPlayer.com Rankings. All images for illustrative use only.