July has been a very successful month for LearnWPT Pros!

We had TWO Instructors each take home their 2nd illustrious Gold Bracelet and a 3rd place finish in the WSOP Main Event! 🏆🙌

Take a look at how Nick, Tony, and LuckyChewy fared….

Lead Instructor for LearnWPT and the World Poker Tour Nick Binger outlasted a massive 2,408 entry field to win his 2nd WSOP bracelet and took home an impressive $133K first prize at the World Series of Poker Event# 24 8-Hand No-Limit Hold'em Tournament.

If you’ve ever watched one of his Strategy Episodes, attended a Live Workshop and heard his lecture, or had the pleasure of sitting at one of his Lab Day tables, you know how dedicated LearnWPT Lead Instructor Nick Binger is to teaching his students.

Nick has dedicated over 12 years perfecting his poker instruction skills with the WPT and enjoys teaching as much as he enjoys playing.

Nick has helped many students reach their goals and achieve success in the game they love. Click below to learn more about Nick...

LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst took home his 2nd bracelet when he outlasted a massive 1,361 entry field and scored a huge $168K 1st prize during the World Series of Poker Event#21 $777 buy-in 6-Hand No-Limit Hold'em Tournament.

As a high-stakes pro and co-commentator for the World Poker Tour, Tony who has spent over eight seasons analyzing some of the most pivotal hands from World Poker Tour events.

Away from the bright lights of the WPT set, Tony is a force to be reckoned with both at the live and online felt. Tony has been putting in the work and getting great results.

Tony's experience grinding the Tournament and Cash Game scene make him a huge resource and asset for LearnWPT Members and Students. Click below to learn more about Tony...

LearnWPT Instructor Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger took 3rd place and scored $140K in the huge 2,126 entry field World Series of Poker Event#31 $1,000 buy-in Championship Main Event!

LuckyChewy is one of the best all-around players in the game today and had 8 cashes in major live tournaments in 2019 alone.

Chewy has been tearing up the virtual felt and continues to evolve and improve his game dominating both online tournament and cash games.

LuckyChewy's experience, positive mentality, and success make him a powerful resource and asset for LearnWPT Members and Students. Click below to learn more about Chewy...

LearnWPT Instructor Johan Schultz-Pedersen took to the online felt last weekend to win his FIRST career WSOP Bracelet!

Johan captured WSOP Bracelet #1 and the $149,745 1st place prize after outlasting the 3,379 entry field in the $400 No-Limit World Series of Poker Colossus Online Event #20. As a testament to Johan’s focus and determination, he won his first bracelet while on an off day before the start of Day 2 of the $10K WSOP Main Event!

This incredible victory is the highlight of an already epic summer, including 🔥 12 WSOP cashes and a Final Table in the super stacked WPT Alpha8 Trifecta $25K buy-in event at Wynn Las Vegas.

Johan adds this win to his impressive list of live and online career accomplishments including:

➧ WSOP Bracelet Winner
➧ More Than $1 Million in Combined Online and Live Earnings
➧ PartyPoker $150K GTD Tournament Champion
➧ Final Table $5K Buy-in EPT London Main Event
➧ Multiple Cashes in $25K Events Including WPT and PokerGO Tour

Johan’s knowledge of Game Theory Optimal (GTO) poker strategy has been a valuable asset in developing many of the training solutions currently available for the WPT GTO Trainer.

We are very proud to have Johan on Team LearnWPT and know that this is just the beginning of his championship success.

Congratulations Johan!
- Team LearnWPT

He's done it again!

LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst took to the online felt last weekend to win his third career WSOP Bracelet!

Tony captured WSOP Bracelet #3 and the $134,888 1st place prize after outlasting the 2,435 entry field in the $500 No-Limit World Series of Poker Deepstack Online Event #15. After a hard fought 13 hour battle of online play through a massive field stacked with Pros and online grinders the remaining 8 players reached the final table.

Just as the sun was rising over the Las Vegas Valley, the last hand of heads up play with his opponent “vevere” was dealt, and the marathon session ended with Tony securing WSOP Bracelet #3.

Tony adds this win to his impressive list of live and online career accomplishments including:

➧ World Poker Tour Champion
➧ 3x WSOP Bracelet Winner
➧ 3x WSOP Circuit Ring Winner
➧ More than $5 Million combined live and online cashes
➧ World Poker Tour Lead Commentator
➧ 10+ Years as Professional Player and Respected Coach

Since the beginning of LearnWPT in 2016 Tony has been an incredible asset to LearnWPT Members providing unique insights and expert strategy advice. His experience in the booth and on the felt combine for a one of a kind perspective on the game and we are proud to have him on Team LearnWPT.

Congratulations Tony!
- Team LearnWPT

It’s easy to perform badly for a long time. Anyone can do that. Your A-game, however, is taxing. You’re utilizing recently learned skills and that requires more effort.

Even though performing at an A-game level feels, at times, natural and easy, I can assure you that experience doesn’t reflect the fact that your A-game uses a lot of mental energy and requires endurance to sustain.

While improving your mental endurance can be helpful in a variety of ways, with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) coming up, I want the poker players out there to pay special attention to this blog. Poker tournaments are intense and you need a reservoir of energy to be able to access the knowledge and skills you’ve worked on more recently, including progress in your mental game. This is especially true in the late stages of a tournament where the big money is on the line. The last thing you want is to falter down the stretch because you’re tired.

Of course, mental endurance is key in other fields. For many traders, endurance is a concept that isn’t discussed much but is still significant. This is especially true for newer traders who have yet to condition themselves to the intensity of the live market, which is very different from a typical 9-5 job. More experienced traders tend to underestimate the impact of burnout and don’t realize that strengthening endurance is key to minimizing or avoiding burnout altogether.

Mental endurance is also relevant for golfers, including me, who are trying to improve their games. But the WSOP only comes once a year and I’m going to focus my examples and advice here on tournament poker.

One of the reasons mental endurance is key is because, for all of us, the only thing guaranteed every day is the C-game.

C-game relies mainly on your unconscious. Decisions come automatically and there is no deep thinking involved. Thinking is your mind working and if it’s working, it’s burning energy. If you have to think a lot and think deeply to perform well, it’s an indication of the lack of mastery or automation of knowledge and skills. I’m not saying that’s bad, I’m simply outlining the facts.

Your A-game, on the other hand, requires effort, preparation, and the right conditions. A-game is earned, not expected. Understanding the demands of what is actually required to be able to sustain your A-game for longer periods of time can help you unlock that performance more often.

To be at your best more often, you want to expand the amount of time where you are operating in that optimal state. You need endurance. You want to be capable of making high-level decisions when you need to or, at a minimum, solid ones that are part of your B-game and don’t fall into C-game.

Decisions that require thinking burn more energy than standard decisions made automatically. Training knowledge to a deep level, on the other hand, not only builds capacity but preserves energy.

Habits and routines are energy-efficient. With a limit to how much you can think about at any one point in time, the more of your skills that are automated, or mastered to the level of Unconscious Competence, the better able you are to make quick, and accurate, decisions while burning less mental energy.

When your knowledge is part of your Unconscious Competence, performance becomes more instinctual. To be clear, I’m not saying to automate your decisions, I’m saying that by automating more of the knowledge that feeds into your decisions you preserve mental energy.

With that in mind, when preparing for the WSOP it’s important to know when to stop learning new things. There is often a tendency to want to do everything and check all the boxes, but you have to work/study with an eye towards the big moments. If you cram too much information in your head right before the series starts, you risk not having access to that knowledge readily available because of pressure, and you’ll burn more energy trying to get to it.

Cramming puts you in a compromised position from both an execution and endurance standpoint. While it can be hard to selectively choose to not try to improve areas of your game that you “theoretically” could, your ability to access that information is not guaranteed. So figure out when you’re going to stop actively learning new things, and hold yourself to it.

Of course, after that point and during the series, you can make small adjustments, because they can be easily integrated into your game. But you will play far better going in with a knowledge base that you know is solid and reliable vs. cramming for the WSOP like it’s a test in school. And let’s get real, you never took a test in school where the exam lasted 12 hours a day, and sometimes for several days in a row! So why would you approach the biggest tournament series of the year that way?

Now is the perfect opportunity to build mental endurance for the WSOP and the process is similar to the process of increasing physical endurance. As an example, if you want to run a marathon, you are not going to just show up to the race without having built a capacity to run long distances. And you likely aren’t going to start your first training run at 20 miles and build from there.

While the analogy isn’t perfect, we can use the general framework of steadily ramping up your endurance to give us ideas on how to do it in poker. Here are a few ideas that have helped clients:

• Make a realistic assessment of where you are today. For example, look at your average volume in a series like the WSOP or in years past, the prevalence and severity of mental game problems, and what your ideal WSOP schedule looks like.
• Between now and a week or two before your WSOP starts, create a training plan where you look to steadily increase your volume or duration of play, either online or live. The idea is to understand where your limit is and then push it a little more.
• To help you build endurance while playing well, use injecting logic statements and strategic reminders to help ensure you retain emotional stability and quality decision making as you push.
• Increase steadily over time. While it’s hard to be exact about how much to increase your play, I think a reasonable goal is 10% at a time. Be wary of pushing too hard and burning out instead of increasing capacity.
• We still have some time before WSOP and it’s a good opportunity to treat smaller poker events in the lead-up as a good tune-up for what’s been working tactically and an opportunity to build some mental endurance.

At the end of the day, if you want to perform at a high level, you have to fight for it. If it was easy, everyone would do it and there would be no reward.

I hope you final table a big event and that when you get there you have more energy than normal, and you can see how your opponents are tired and more vulnerable to tilt and mistakes from fatigue. This, of course, doesn’t mean you’re going to take down the title, but in a game like poker, you’ll take every advantage you can find.

If you want more content like this to help you prepare for the WSOP, including improving focus, reducing tilt, and getting in the zone more often, check out The Mental Game of Poker 2 and my video series The Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker.

-Jared Tendler

For more insight and stories from Jared visit his blog at https://jaredtendler.com/blog/

Analysis of Mental Game strategy is as important as any poker technique you can master which is why top poker players trust Jared Tendler to help maintain focus & bring their A-game to the table.

Jared's Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker video series is a step-by-step guide to prepare your mental game for sustained success and get you ready for the WSOP, WPT® World Championships, or a series at your local card room.

This step-by-step guide to preparing your mental game for sustained success during a tournament series includes:

• 8 specific training modules with 34 video lessons
• Downloadable worksheets to personalize your training
• A private community forum
• Review quizzes to reinforce your learning!

Find out why the world’s best poker players trust Jared to help them maintain focus and bring their A-Game to the table more consistently. Unlock a hidden edge in your poker game, and start working towards unshakable confidence at the table today.

Our goal for 2023 was to create new ways to help LearnWPT Members improve their poker game, learn, and have fun!

We accomplished that goal by adding new game-elevating features, advanced content, additional ways to interact with our Pros, and more. All with the help of feedback from YOU.

Here’s a Recap of the Best From 2023:

We changed the way LearnWPT Members learn, study, and analyze their stats... all from YOUR Personalized Training Dashboard!

Your LearnWPT Dashboard is designed to put you on a specific learning path and deliver content tailored to your current poker knowledge, track your recent poker training activity for quick reference, plus display your complete statistical history as a Member. Everything you need to review for efficient poker study is in 1 spot.

We added a new COURSES section! Jared Tendler's Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker course is a step-by-step guide to prepare your mental game for sustained success and is ready for purchase. We are excited to announce new courses shortly including a MTT course from Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger!

We’ve loved seeing all the effort you put into becoming a better poker player in 2023. The LearnWPT Community is made up of poker players all across the world that share a love of this great game and we couldn’t be more proud of your dedication.

Here’s a look at some of the impressive training statistics for Members that you’ve contributed to this year. WAY TO GO!

• Viewed Over 750,000 Minutes of Strategy Videos
• Tested Your Skills With 50 New Poker Hand Quizzes
• Voted 85,000+ Times to Fold, Call, Check, or Raise
• Played Over Half a Million Solved WPT GTO Trainer Hands
• Received Over 330 Answers to Ask a Pro Questions
• Submitted 190+ HIT Hands for Analysis
• Attended Over 850 Minutes of Study Sessions & Webinars

Not a Member but ready to put in the work to improve your game? Just today for just $5 your first month of Membership!

In 2023 we made it a mission to streamline your training and make learning more fun with live streams and structured Study Session Webinars exclusively for Members. Study Sessions are one of our favorite ways to help you prepare to play your best poker and get your A-Game ready for long series events.

Study Sessions & Live Streams

Our team of Instructors conducted Member exclusive live Webinars focused on the essential strategies to crush the WSOP and dominate the record breaking WPT Prime Championship and WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. In addition to teaching, several Instructors showed their poker knowledge and love for the game during live stream final table coverage of World Poker Tour Events.

It was truly an international year for Team LearnWPT and we love looking back to these exciting Streams & Sessions:

• LearnWPT On Tour Series Open on ClubWPT Live Stream With Tony Dunst & Adrian Naggy
• Live Study Session With LuckyChewy & Adrian Naggy
• Live Mental Game Session With Jared Tendler & Adrian Naggy
• WSOP Prep Live Webinar With Eric Lynch & Michael Gagliano
• WPT® Prime Vietnam High Roller Final Table Live Stream With Adrian Naggy & Johan Shultz-Pedersen
• WPT® Prime Vietnam Main Event Final Table Live Stream With Adrian Naggy & AJ Rudolph
• 6 Live Study Sessions to Prepare for The WPT® World Championship With Team LearnWPT
• WPT® Seminole Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open Championship Final Table Live Stream With Adrian Naggy & Matt Savage

Team LearnWPT On Tour With WPT

The action was truly record-breaking this year On Tour with the World Poker Tour once again creating incredible poker experiences at unparalleled destinations on the Main Tour schedule.

From coast to coast Team LearnWPT was on the scene to take part in the poker action and share good times with everyone who joined us on and off the felt. We love every minute we get to spend at these award winning destinations and the amazing staff members who helped create memorable moments in 2023.

Be sure to keep up with where Team LearnWPT will be next by checking the LearnWPT Events page!

The achievements and accolades earned by LearnWPT Students and Instructors on the felt were on full display in 2023 🏆

Whether it's outlasting over 10,000 players in the WPT Prime Championship, huge multi-million dollar scores, WSOP Bracelet wins, deep runs on the EPT, and multiple WPT Final tables, the LearnWPT Family has a lot to celebrate.

During the summer 7 week stretch in Vegas alone LearnWPT Students cashed for over $650,000 and we got to watch another LearnWPT Student take down their 1st Gold Bracelet and.

Here are some 2023 memorable moments for LearnWPT Students:

• 🥇 Tammy Abraham Won Her 1st WSOP Bracelet!
• Sergio Braga Took 5th in The WSOP Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Tournament
• Loren Cloninger Final Tabled The WSOP Seniors Tournament
• Tommy Reeves Final Tabled The WSOP Gladiators Event - the 2nd Largest Live Tournament Field in Poker History
• 👏 Bob Buckenmayer Made the Televised WPT Prime Championship Final Table

It’s no coincidence that the Instructors from Team LearnWPT have had a stellar 2023. Their love for poker and commitment to staying on top of the game shows in every Strategy Episode, Live Workshop, and response on the Ask A Pro Forum.

Some of the incredible accolades they achieved in 2023 include:

• WPT World Championship Final Table
• 1 EPT Championship Final Table
• WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Final Table
• WSOP Main Event Deep Run
• 1 WSOP Bracelet
• 2 WSOP Circuit Rings
• 1 PGT Poker Masters Title
• 2nd in a PGT Super High Roller Bowl $300K Buy-in Event
• 3rd in a WPT High Roller $25K Buy-in Event
• 25+ Major Tournament Final Tables
• Over $7M in combined tournament winnings

CONGRATULATIONS and continued success to everyone in 2024!

Most Watched Strategy Episodes:

1. EP537: Johan Schultz - Train and Explain BTN Vs BB
2. EP541: Tournament Series Prep with Johan, Tony, and Chewy
3. EP538: Tony Dunst - Poker Priorities and Motivations
4. EP305: Nick Binger - First-In Hand Ranges: Tournaments
5. EP442: GTO Train & Explain - Middle Position Vs Button Call
   

Most Voted Poker Quiz Hands:

1. A♥K♥ Preflop Vs a Limp & Raise
2. Pocket Eights Facing an All-In
3. J♠T♠ in Middle Position
4. J♦J♠ Preflop Facing a 3-Bet
5. Q♦Q♠ Facing a Flop Check-Raise

Most Played WPT GTO Trainer Packs:

1. Big Blind Call Vs Button Open - Tournament
2. Big Blind 4x 3-Bet Vs MP2 Open - Tournament
3. 3-Bet Defense OOP Vs Button 3x - Dynamic MTT
4. 30BB Button Open Vs 70BB Big Blind Call - Final Table
5. Big Blind 3x 3-Bet Vs Small Blind Open - Cash Game

Not a Member but ready to put in the work to improve your game? Just today for just $5 your first month of Membership!

Once again Team LearnWPT was out in full force providing in-person poker education and training to Students of all skill levels!

The LearnWPT Instructors traveled the country to conduct several Workshop events from free satellite strategy seminars to interactive multi-day training events with lab sessions to kick off the WPT World Championships at Wynn Poker.

We learn so much from interacting with Students and look forward to training with everyone in person in the new year.

We’ve been truly fortunate to have your support and look forward to sharing another year full of passion for poker with you.

To all of our current, former, and future Members - THANK YOU for a great 2023 and for being a part of LearnWPT!

The LearnWPT Development Team is hard at work on several Enhanced Features and we look forward to helping your game grow in 2024.

We'll see you online,
- Team LearnWPT

The inaugural edition of the WPT® World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas saw record breaking prize pools, exciting off the felt activities, and set the standard for all future poker festivals.

The $10,400 Championship event crushed its ambitious $15M Guaranteed prize pool and saw an incredible conclusion as Eliot Hudon emerged to etch his name on the Mike Sexton Champions Cup and take home $4,146,400 for a well earned first prize.

The 2023 WPT® World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas is even more ambitious and aims to take poker to new heights with the first $40,000,000 guaranteed prize pool in an open Championship event - the largest single live tournament guarantee in the history of poker.

Your chance to join an exclusive list of Champions and take part in the most talked about poker event of the year is here! Team LearnWPT is ready to dominate the felt and we want to make sure you're ready to rise above as you compete in the Championship Event.

Are you ready to be part of history (again!)?

The 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas Festival runs November 29-December 23, 2023. The marquee event of the multi-tournament festival will be the $10,400 buy-in Championship event including a televised final table. The festival features more than a dozen tournaments including three primary events!

Let's get started...

🌎 Festival Schedule
🌎 The Who, What, and Where
🌎 FREE Tips and Strategy
🌎 WPT Off the Felt Special Events
🌎 Get Final Table Ready
🌎 Join Team LearnWPT

Be Part of Poker History at Wynn Las Vegas

WPT Prime Championship: $5 Million GTD Prize Pool

Buy-In: $1,100 | December 7th - 19th | Schedule | Structure
➧ Day 1A - Thursday, Dec 7th 11am PT
➧ Day 1B - Friday, Dec 8th 11am PT
➧ Day 1C - Saturday, Dec 9th 11am PT
➧ Day 1D - Sunday, Dec 10th 11am PT
➧ Day 2 - Monday, Dec 11th 12pm PT
➧ Day 3 - Tuesday, Dec 12th 12pm PT
➧ TV Final Table - Tuesday, Dec 19th 4pm PT
A single (1) re entry is permitted for each starting flight
⚡ Live Updates

WPT World Championship: $40 Million GTD Prize Pool

Buy-In: $10,400 | December 12th - 20th | Schedule | Structure
➧ Day 1A - Tuesday, Dec 12th 11am PT
➧ Day 1B - Wednesday, Dec 13th 11am PT
➧ Day 1C - Thursday, Dec 14th 11am PT
➧ Day 1D - Friday, Dec 15th 11am PT
➧ Day 2 - Saturday, Dec 16th 12pm PT
➧ Day 3 - Sunday, Dec 17th 12pm PT
➧ Day 4 - Monday, Dec 18th 12pm PT
➧ Day 5 - Tuesday, Dec 19th 12pm PT
➧ Day 6 - Wednesday, Dec 20th 12pm PT
➧ TV Final Table - Thursday, Dec 21st 4pm PT
One entry per day maximum (freezeout per flight)
⚡ Live Updates

WPT Ladies Championship: $250K GTD Prize Pool

Buy-In: $11,100 | December 6th - 8th | Schedule | Structure
$1,100 discounted ladies buy-in
➧ Day 1 - Wednesday, Dec 6th 11am PT
➧ Day 2 - Thursday, Dec 7th 11am PT
➧ Final Table - Friday, Dec 8th 11am PT
Unlimited re-entry is allowed until the close of registration
⚡ Live Updates

With more than 30 events on the calendar, the 2023 festival is where every poker player needs to be this December. There are plenty of can’t miss events that offer a wide range of buy-ins including more than 10 live satellites into the World Championship!

The festival kicks off with a $1 Million Guaranteed, $600 No-Limit Hold’em multi-flight tournament followed by player favorites including the $250,000 guaranteed WPT® Ladies World Championship, $5 Million Guaranteed WPT® Prime Championship, the ever-popular Mystery Bounty featuring a $2 Million guarantee, multiple Seniors events (50+) and a $10,000 buy-in Seniors High Roller.

Multiple mixed game tournaments are also available throughout the festival, ranging from the $1,100 HORSE Championship to a brand-new addition to the schedule, a $3,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship.

➧ Click here for the full schedule of events
➧ For results, chip counts, redraws, and more visit: www.wynnlasvegas.com/casino/poker
➧ Follow the Wynn Poker Room Twitter page for nightly updates

📍 The Who, What and Where...

With so much action going on at the Wynn Las Vegas where do you begin? Click here for the WPT Players Guide

Here are some quick tips:

➧ If parking or arriving by taxi cab or rideshare instruct your driver to drop you off at the main entrance of Encore (not Wynn)
➧ If driving, parking in Encore self-park is the quickest way to the Encore ballroom & registration for main events
➧ Players must have a Wynn Player card - you can get one from the Wynn Rewards counter in the Encore Casino area

➧ Most events will be played in the Encore Ballroom - you can register in the Debussy Ballroom (next to the Encore Ballroom)
➧ If an event is played in the Poker Room - you can register in the Poker Room located in the Encore Casino area
➧ Registration in the Ballroom opens each day 2 hours prior to the earliest event (typically 9am PT) and closes approximately 10pm PT
➧ Registration is available for any event 24/7 in the poker room

The Encore at Wynn is marked with signage for easy navigation. Click here for the Wynn property map.

LearnWPT Members Are Ready To Dominate 💪

Over the last 2 months Team LearnWPT hosted 6 Poker 📚 Study Sessions for Members to get their game ready to dominate the 2023 WPT World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

For each Study Session we provided Members with a curriculum that focuses on specific concepts essential for tournament success - now let’s get YOUR game ready with FREE strategy videos and tips from Team LearnWPT! Let's get started...

① Study Session: Mental Game & Endurance

We'll kickstart your poker study by outlining valuable strategies for managing routines, building confidence, and dealing with adversity. We’ll also talk about preparing for long tournament days and using physical fitness and nutrition to optimize your play.

⦿ Tournament Prep With Tony, Chewy, and Johan

Huge Tournament Series like the WPT World Championships at Wynn Las Vegas bring excitement and tons of opportunity. To make the most of these gigantic fields and massive prize pools, it's important to plan ahead for the unique challenges that you may encounter.

In this Strategy Episode hear firsthand from LearnWPT Instructors Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger, Tony Dunst, and Johan Schultz-Pedersen about how they prepare for peak performance during a long poker tournament series.

Many players ignore Mental Game issues that prevent growth in their game including fear, anger, and frustration. Building Endurance through exercise, rest, and nutrition is key to excelling during a long tournament series.

For more tips and videos from the Mental Game Session…
➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Mental Game Curriculum

② Study Session: Preflop Strategy

In this Session we are focusing on the one decision you must make in every hand you play - what to do when action folds to you preflop. We'll also discuss strategies such as 3-Betting that will give you the opportunities to exert skill edge against your opponents.

🛑 Know Your First-In Hand Ranges

During the course of a poker tournament you are likely to face dozens of stressful decisions. Your ability to stay present in the moment and focus on the 5 Key Factors will likely decide whether you make a deep run or bust out on Day 1. Luckily there are some things you can start doing now to take away distractions and help make high quality strategic decisions under pressure.

Spend just a few minutes each day reviewing the Game Theory Optimal (GTO) Preflop Hand Ranges. Over time you will gain a solid grasp of each positional range and your preflop decisions will feel less stressful. You’ll free up mental energy to work on other areas of your game and be able to maintain sharp focus when facing tough spots postflop.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger as he gives you a detailed breakdown of which hands you should play from each seat position when raising first-in to the pot.

If you are a tournament player and haven't added these first-in hand ranges to your game plan you are missing opportunities to grow your chip stack and gain a balanced preflop attack. Understanding what hands to act with preflop from Early, Middle, or Late Position is crucial to your success!

Here are a few points from this Episode to remember...

Think in Hand Ranges:

• A range includes all hands a player may have in a given situation
• Avoid trying to put your opponent on a specific hand
• Position, action, and stack depth help determine ranges
• Analyzing hand ranges is best done away from the table

➧ Download a copy of the GTO First-In Hand Ranges

Use these rock solid Game Theory Optimal hand ranges and you'll be well on your way to an award winning performance at the 2023 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas!

These charts will tell you what hands to play when you are the first person to put money into the pot at the poker table. They'll keep you on very solid, profitable ground.

Quick Tips for Using the First-In Charts:

• Use the Position Graphic to determine your position at the table and reference the appropriate chart for your seat. Always count backwards from the Button to determine your position
• You should raise with all hands highlighted in PINK. Do not call the minimum bet amount - RAISE!
• Your raise sizing should be between 2.3 and 3 times the big blind amount depending on stack depth.
• Stay consistent with your raise sizing. If you raise a larger amount with a specific hand and smaller amounts with others, you will be easier to read at the table (IE don't raise to 600 with AA, but 400 with 99)

You'll develop Muscle Memory for preflop play by simply reviewing the charts and putting them into practice at the table!

Knowing how and when to make moves preflop is one of the keys to getting a hold of chips in a poker tournament. Understanding how to adjust for specific stack sizes and positions will give you opportunities to exert a skill edge.

For more tips and videos from the Preflop Strategy Session...
➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Preflop Strategy Curriculum

③ Study Session: Defense Strategy

In this Session we'll be talking about the specific strategies you can use when facing aggression in common Defense situations at the poker table. We'll also dive into the factors that you need to consider when deciding to defend in position vs out of position.

⦿ Turn and River Play With Tony Dunst

With more opportunities to Defend your Big Blind, you’ll definitely be in some interesting postflop situations facing a wider range of hands. In many of these spots you’re likely to face a continuation bet so understanding which board textures are favorable and when bluffing may be an option is valuable. Navigating these pots from out of position without the equity advantage translates to more difficult decisions on every street.

To gain a true understanding of how tough these spots can be, it’s essential to analyze postflop decisions in Big Blind Defense situations away from the table.

Join LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst as he explores 3 hands from recent sessions to break down optimal play on the turn and river when defending from the Big Blind. Watch this Strategy Episode as Tony uses PioSolver to demonstrate how ranges interact in this spot and what factors you should be accounting for.

🛡️ Tips for Defending Your Big Blind Like a Pro:

• Avoid calling with offsuit hands, suited hands and speculative hands are best
• This strategy only applies when you are up against 1 opponent and in the Big Blind
• Make sure you only defend by calling with specific hands. Don’t remove 3-Betting from your game plan!
• Defend with tighter calling range against larger open raise sizes
• Default to checking the flop after you call the raise, no matter what cards you hold

Blind and Button Defense Strategy in a poker tournament all have unique considerations and hand range constructions that help you target specific opponents in position and develop criteria for check-raising frequent c-bettors.

For more tips and videos from the Defense Strategy Session…
➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Defense Strategy Curriculum

④ Study Session: Postflop Considerations

This Study Session is all about getting you geared up to attack flops with properly sized c-bets, identify spots to float aggressive opponents, and give you the tools to make huge laydowns and big hero calls when the pressure is on. We’ll discuss how to approach tough opponents and break down exploitative adjustments to max value when you have a skill edge.

⦿ C-Betting Vs Tough Opponents

Whether in a cash game or tournament, continuation betting is a key part of postflop strategy. A strong default c-betting strategy will put most opponents on the defensive and result in winning many uncontested pots.

However, as you face more skilled opponents additional factors must be considered to ensure your c-bets are profitable. When facing tougher opponents, you’ll need to upgrade your approach and adjust how frequently you fire again on the flop after raising first-in.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick Binger explains how equity advantage, nut advantage, and your perceived range help you decide when to c-bet against tough opponents. Plus, Nick outlines the common spots vs tough opponents that are the most challenging.

Deeper stacked poker tournaments feature more decision points and create tougher Postflop Considerations. Understanding how board texture and ranges interact will have a big impact in your ability to win uncontested pots.

For more tips and videos from the Postflop Strategy Session…
➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Postflop Strategy Curriculum

⑤ Study Session: ICM & Satellite Strategy

In this Study Session we focus on the factors you need to consider when facing a tough decision on the Bubble, as well as specific differences between satellites and traditional multi-table tournaments. We’ll discuss how ICM (Independent Chip Model) influences hand ranges and betting, plus outline specific strategy for Milestone Satellites.

🛰️ Satellite Your Way Into a WPT Championship!

Approaching satellite play with the same strategy used in a regular poker tournament will often result in you busting when you would otherwise have a seat to the target tournament locked up.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger as he discusses the key adjustments you need to make when playing Satellite Poker Tournaments.

Tips for Milestone Satellite Play

In a Milestone Satellite a player must accumulate a specific chip stack amount designated by the poker room ("The Milestone") to be awarded the tournament prize - the Milestone is usually noted in the rules and structure sheet (see pages 66-74).

As in a traditional satellite format, players may also win a seat by surviving until the number of seats available in the prize pool equals the number of players remaining, however achieving a verified Milestone stack at any point in the Tournament automatically guarantees that player a seat to the target event.

Example: You are playing a $1,100 buy-in Milestone Satellite to the $10,400 buy-in $40M GTD WPT World Championship with a starting chip stack of 20,000 and the "Milestone" is 230,000 chips. Once a player's chip stack reaches 230,000 chips they are instantly awarded a seat into the event and their chips removed from play.

The satellite will conclude when the number of players remaining is equal to the number of $10,400 prizes generated based on the Tournament Prize formula, less the the amount of players who have previously won by reaching The Milestone.

• Milestone Satellites prioritize a more risky playing style than traditional satellites, similar to bounty tournaments
• Specific opponent tendencies play a big factor in your approach and dictate whether going for the Milestone is a priority
• Larger raise sizes may have increased fold equity against opponents close to the Milestone (within 5-10BBs) due to poor risk/reward
• Don’t lose site of the Milestone in later stages when effective stacks are shallow - a few preflop steals could be enough to secure your seat
• The endgame of a Milestone satellite can be chaotic - stay focused on the best strategy for your stack size and specific table conditions
• Remember that you don’t always have to get to the Milestone to win a seat, you can still use traditional satellite strategy and have a good chance

Take these strategies to the Wynn Las Vegas poker room and play a $400 Double Play Milestone Satellite to secure your seat into the $1,100 WPT Prime or Ladies Championship, a Milestone Satellite to $10,400 buy-in $40M GTD WPT Championship, or other Wynn Festival events.

Click here for the full schedule of satellites and tournaments

Tournaments have specific inflection points where the threat of elimination plays a large role in shaping decisions. Bubble, ICM, and Satellite Strategy are critical areas of study to make big scores and win seats to high buy-in events for small investments.

For more tips and videos from the ICM & Satellite Session...

➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Satellite, ICM, and Bubble Curriculum

⑥ Study Session: Exploits and Intuition

This Session is all about using your strategic knowledge to punish bad plays and cultivate your feel for the game. A common trait shared by most successful tournament players is the ability to identify when an opponent is making an obvious mistake and knowing when to shift gears and use Exploits to maximize their edge.

⦿ Extracting Maximum Value With Gags

Opponents may change several times in any given poker tournament, so developing a specific player profile can be difficult, if not impossible. Bet-Sizing errors are often the best indicator of an opponent who is deviating from sound strategy and are most likely to make big mistakes postflop

Exerting your skill edge in these spots means staying alert and avoiding autopilot, especially when you flop a huge hand.

The difference between a small profit and a life changing score could lie in your ability to capitalize on obvious strategic errors. Watch as LearnWPT Instructor Michael "Gags30" Gagliano breaks down hands where he uses exploitative lines to extract maximum value and demonstrates how to weigh the potential risk/reward of bet sizing to determine the best approach.

Poker is a game of incomplete information but if you’re focused and prepared to play, opponents will give off several cues that can be used to your advantage. Whether it’s odd bet-sizing, frequent over-calling, or taking too many hands to showdown, these mistakes must be capitalized on if you want to stay ahead of the field.

For more tips and videos from the Exploitative Play Session…
➧ Click to Watch the Live Study Session Replay
➧ Click to Review the Strategy Study Curriculum

A huge THANK YOU to every Student who’s joined us for the WPT World Championship Study Sessions. Members can rewatch the sessions anytime from the Webinars Dashboard.

Not a Member but want to watch the Live Study Sessions? Join for just $5 your first month of LearnWPT Membership!.

We’re in the home stretch now! LearnWPT Members - make sure to submit any questions or hands on trouble spots to Ask a Pro and we’ll get you ready to conquer Vegas!

LearnWPT Students Train With 🌎 Champions

To kickoff the 2023 WPT Championship at Wynn Las Vegas LearnWPT Instructors and world-class Pros Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger, Eric “Rizen” Lynch, and Tony Dunst are spending 2 days with 30 students of the game to get them Championship ready!

After class students will take to the felt in an exclusive satellite where we are awarding 2 seats to the WPT Prime Championship.

Stay tuned for updates from our 2023 satellite winners!

LET'S GO TEAM LEARNWPT 🏆

WPT Special Events for Players

The non-stop poker action, massive prize pools, and the chance to go down in history as a WPT World Champion are only part of the excitement happening in Vegas this December! The World Poker Tour and Wynn Las Vegas have created a one of a kind poker experience that is sure to BRING THE FUN during the Championship Festival!

Whether you’ve dreamed of playing a few hands vs Phil Ivey, wanted to make a guest cameo in Brand and Andrew’s Vlog, be entertained by amazing halftime shows and performances, or dance the night away with the WPT Family in an epic Player’s Party that could only be held in Vegas, there are plenty of off the felt activities to enjoy.

Join The WPT 💰 Meet Up Games (MUG)

During the Premier Meet Up Game you'll have the chance to play with WPT Ambassadors and Icons including Phil Ivey, Vince Van Patten, Lynn Gilmartin, Tony Dunst, Matt Savage, Brad Owen, and Andrew Neeme (and special guests!).

➧ Join the action December 1st at 9am PT in the Wynn Poker Room

On December 8th, ahead of the WPT Ladies Championship final-table finale, Jamie Kerstetter will once again be bringing the fun (and Mimosas) to the Wynn Poker Room for the Ladies Meet Up Game! This year, 19 splash pot prizes will be awarded during live-action play, ranging from gift bags to $1,100 WPT Prime Championship seats.

Join Jamie and special guests for a cash game and connect with women from all different poker backgrounds including weekend warriors, professional players, women’s poker community leaders, your favorite influencers and even brand-new players trying out the game for the first time. Players of all experience levels are welcome!

➧ Join the action Dec 8th at 9am - 12pm in the Wynn Poker Room

1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ ClubWPT Members Take to the Live Felt

Congratulations and good luck to the 100+ players ClubWPT is sending to the 2023 WPT World Championship Events!

ClubWPT Members and Qualifiers always receive the royal treatment and will enjoy several fun events including additional ways to win seats into the Championship Events live on-site at Wynn Las Vegas.

➧ The ClubWPT WPT® Ambassador Tag Team Challenge - Watch WPT Ambassadors Andrew Neeme, Brad Owen, Lynn Gilmartin, Matt Savage, Vince Van Patten, and Tony Dunst, play LIVE with ClubWPT™ qualifiers for a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat.
December 9th at 12pm - 2pm in the Encore Ballroom

➧ The ClubWPT Phil Ivey WPT® Duel - Watch Phil Ivey play heads up simultaneously with two ClubWPT™ qualifiers as they play for a chance to win a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat.
December 10th at 12 pm - 2 pm in the Encore Ballroom

🥳 WPT Thank You Players Party at AREA15

Players are invited to the Thank You Players Party at AREA15 on Sunday, December 11th at 8 pm - 1am!

To join the party, just present your tournament receipt from the WPT Ladies Championship, WPT Prime Championship, WPT World Championship, and satellite events. WPT will provide a free shuttle every 30 minutes from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm to AREA15 to help keep the party going. Team LearnWPT will see you there!

WPT 🏆 Final Table Play With Tony Dunst

To make sure you are prepared to shine for the TV cameras and show off your skills, we’ve got some important strategies to share to help you get ready.

Final Table Strategy can differ dramatically from the early stages of a tournament, especially with huge pay-jumps and the prestige that only comes with winning a World Poker Tour title. Often players are unprepared for the pressure that comes with playing in front of an audience and for potentially life-changing money at stake.

When you are facing the pressure of big pay jumps and the studio lights seem just a little too bright, it’s important to stay focused and make objective decisions.

Watch this LearnWPT Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor and WPT Commentator Tony Dunst for key insights on how the Pros perform on the big stage.

Here are a few tips to help sharpen up your game for showtime!

• Be aware of stack sizes and pay jumps at all times, even the slightest changes in stack sizes can shift strategy dramatically
• When short stacks exist, there is extra pressure on the bigger stacks to avoid busting out
• The chip leaders can use this extra pressure to win many pots while the short stack is in play
• As a medium stack vs larger stacks be cautious with any bets and raises and try to take marginal hands to showdown passively
• Preflop ranges shift quite a bit at final tables due to this effect with big stacks playing much wider ranges and medium stacks much narrower ranges
• Do not be afraid to ramp up your aggression against players that are playing tight in the hopes of laddering up

Not 1, Not 2, But 3 📺 Final Tables

The WPT Big One for One Drop, WPT Prime Championship and WPT World Championship Final Tables will be filmed for Television in the Latour Ballroom at Wynn Las Vegas! Reserve a seat for free in the audience by contacting [email protected].

➧ WPT Prime Championship: TV Final Table - Dec 19th at 4pm PT
Doors open at 3:30 pm and seating is first come, first serve

➧ WPT Big One for One Drop: TV Final Table - Dec 20th at 4pm PT
Doors open at 3:30 pm and seating is first come, first serve

➧ WPT World Championship: TV Final Table - Dec 21st at 4pm PT
Doors open at 3:30 pm and seating is first come, first serve

Not in Vegas? The 2023 WPT World Championship Festival includes a full livestreaming schedule spanning 14 days for poker fans around the globe to follow the action live from Wynn Las Vegas.

The livestream schedule, from December 7th through December 21st, includes multiple final tables, high-stakes cash games, and five-day coverage of the $40 Million 2023 WPT World Championship.

Streaming on:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/worldpokertour
📺 Twitch: https://twitch.tv/worldpokertour

Join Team LearnWPT at Wynn Las Vegas

Are you playing any of the WPT Championship Events at Wynn Las Vegas? Stop and say Hi 👋 to Team LearnWPT!

Your LearnWPT Instructors Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger, Brian Altman, Tony Dunst, Michael "Gags30" Gagliano, Johan Schultz-Pedersen, and Adrian Naggy will be at the Wynn and in the action.

Follow and tag us on social media to let us know you are in the action, to show off your chip stack, or celebrate a deep run.

Twitter @LearnWPT | Facebook @learnwpt | Instagram @learn_wpt

We love to hear how LearnWPT Students are doing!

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

Train With LearnWPT Champions for Just $5

Meet Team LearnWPT - Combined the LearnWPT Instructors have amassed 5 WPT Championships, 12 WSOP Bracelets, 6 WSOP Circuit Rings, 9 High Roller titles, 2 Poker Masters Championships, over $55 Million in live Tournament winnings, 5 decades of coaching experience, and authored 5 acclaimed poker books.

Ready to train and learn from these Pros? Join them NOW!

LearnWPT Members have access to over 100 hours of on-demand video Strategy Episodes featuring key poker concepts and real world examples demonstrating specifically how to use them in your game - all for just $5 your first month of Membership!

Whether you are brand new to poker training or you’re an experienced student this is your chance to learn from world-class professional poker players in a friendly community using state of the art tools.

Have Questions about LearnWPT? Send an email to our Support Team at [email protected] or click the red CONTACT US button.

Over the past 2 months Team LearnWPT hosted Poker Study Sessions for Members to get their game ready to dominate the 2023 WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

For each Study Session we provide Members with a curriculum that focuses on specific concepts essential for tournament success - our last Session is focused on Intuition and Exploitative Play!

➊ First, watch the selected Episodes, play the WPT GTO Trainer packs, and write down any questions you have
➋ Then join Team LearnWPT LIVE on Tuesday, November 28th at 6PM ET / 3PM PT to discuss the study session topics

Let's Get Started...

📚 Study Session 6: Intuition and Exploits

There’s no doubt that consistently training your game through studying Strategy Episodes, using Ask a Pro, and practicing with the WPT GTO Trainer will put you in a good position to play your best. However, in real-world games there are a wide variety of opponents and unique spots that will force you to make decisions in situations that might not have come up during your preparation.

Poker is a game of incomplete information but if you’re focused and prepared to play, opponents will give off several cues that can be used to your advantage. Whether it’s odd bet-sizing, frequent over-calling, or taking too many hands to showdown, these mistakes must be capitalized on if you want to stay ahead of the field.

Our next Study Session is all about using your strategic knowledge to punish bad plays and cultivate your feel for the game.

Gags and Rizen will break down the tendencies you should be on the lookout for and the exploitative adjustments that are likely to net you more chips, or help avoid disaster and conserve your stack. We’ll also talk about how being prepared and staying present at the table can increase your intuition and elevate your play.

Save the Date: 📅 Live Session November 28th

Join Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Michael “Gags30”Gagliano for a LIVE Study Session on Tuesday, November 28th at 6PM ET | 3PM PT

Make sure you watch the selected Strategy Episodes, practice the suggested WPT GTO Trainer packs, and write down any questions you have. Join Rizen & Gags on November 28th to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

🤔 Send questions to [email protected] about Intuition & Exploitative Play and we’ll answer them during the Live Session.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Live Study Session!

Did you miss it? No worries! Members can rewatch the Study Sessions anytime on the Webinars Dashboard.

🐐 Exploitative Play With the G.O.A.T.

Tournament poker requires a unique blend of caution and ruthless aggression in order to maximize your chance of making a deep run and cashing for a big score.

Using a strict strategy based on sound theory will net some profit in the long run, however without the ability to adjust to obvious opponent mistakes and the guts to pull the trigger, it’s unlikely to consistently produce wins.

Long-term tournament crushers like Vanessa Selbst are looking for the earliest opportunity to take advantage of errors in play and aren't shy about applying aggression as their tool. If you’ve ever been on the opposing side of an assault by one of these masters, you know how paralyzing their pressuring style can be.

In this Strategy Episode Vanessa introduces key concepts of exploitative strategy and illustrates how specific betting pattern tells can be used to exploit even the most skilled players.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes and attend the LIVE Study Session.

Train & Explain With Vanessa Selbst

Train & Explain Strategy Episodes give you an exclusive seat behind a LearnWPT Pro for 5 select hands from the WPT GTO Trainer to learn the "why" behind each decision.

And we've added an innovative twist: you'll play the same hands as the LearnWPT Pro for each Episode!

Test your decisions against one of the all time best players...

The setup: In a Tournament with 50 big blind stacks you open raise to 2.5BBs from Middle Position and the Button calls.

➊ Start by playing the same 5 hands that Vanessa does from the WPT GTO Trainer then click the WATCH NOW button

➋ Next, watch Strategy Episode 449 and follow along as Vanessa delivers expert analysis targeting bluff spots that will put your opponent to the test

Members can practice more hands from this scenario by playing the Cutoff Open Vs Big Blind Call WPT GTO Trainer pack!

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to play more WPT GTO Trainer scenarios like this.

Live Reads and Tells With Tony Dunst...

Unlike Hollywood movies, you’re unlikely to encounter an opponent who broadcasts their hand strength by how they eat a cookie.

You’ll need to pay much closer attention to specific actions including bet-sizing, timing, and whether they are more interested in the game on TV than your 3-bet range from the Cutoff.

Maximizing your edge in tournament poker comes from focusing on subtle changes in process and glaring strategic errors that can tip your opponent’s holdings. Developing a profile based on these tendencies will allow you to make exploitative adjustments more effectively and can play a big factor in making close decisions against specific opponents much easier.

LearnWPT Instructor and WPT Commentator Tony Dunst describes the Top 8 Tells he’s observed in live poker and gives you tips on making Table Reads that will add profit to your bottom line.

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the November 28th Live Study Session.

Start With a Pregame 🏋️‍♂️ Warm-up

Have you been in the Zone at the poker table? The feeling of effortless decision making and almost “knowing” your opponent's next move is exhilarating, yet can be elusive. One day you are on top of the world and can’t lose, and suddenly during your next session the feeling of invincibility is gone.

Fortunately there is a way to train so that you’re more likely to play your A-Game on a consistent basis.

Building a process to track your current leaks and manage your emotional state is vital to accessing strategic knowledge under pressure and avoiding early mistakes. Much like an elite professional golfer, a proper Mental Game warm-up for poker will ensure that you are ready to hit the felt focused and ready to battle.

LearnWPT Mental Game Coach Jared Tendler provides the building blocks for an efficient Pregame Warm-up and describes why it is essential for growth in your game.

Tune Up Your Mental Game and Save!

Jared's Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker course is a step-by-step guide to prepare your mental game for sustained success and get you ready for the WPT® World Championships or a series at your local card room.

BONUS: We are giving Study Session participants the chance to SAVE $150 on Jared's course (use promo code JARED150 at checkout) for a limited time, through December 1, 2023.

In this section from his course Mental Game Tune Up for Tournament Poker Jared tells you why it’s critical to have a process for preparing to play your A-game aside from studying strategy.

This step-by-step guide to preparing your mental game for sustained success during a tournament series includes:

➧ 8 specific training modules with 34 video lessons
➧ Downloadable worksheets to personalize your training
➧ A private community forum
➧ Review quizzes to reinforce your learning!

Purchase this course today for just $499 (normally $649) and get lifetime access to the course videos, downloadable worksheets, quizzes, and interactive forums.

Use promo code JARED150 at checkout to receive the discount!

Extracting Maximum Value With Gags

Your opponents may change several times in any given poker tournament, so developing a specific player profile can be difficult, if not impossible.

Bet-Sizing errors are often the best indicator of an opponent who is deviating from sound strategy and are most likely to make big mistakes postflop. Exerting your skill edge in these spots means staying alert and avoiding autopilot, especially when you flop a huge hand.

LearnWPT Instructor Michael "Gags30" Gagliano explains how maximizing your opportunities against opponents when you have a defined read is vital to growing your stack during a multi-day tournament Championship event.

The difference between a small profit and a life changing score could lie in your ability to capitalize on obvious strategic errors. Watch as Gags breaks down hands where he uses exploitative lines to extract maximum value and demonstrates how to weigh the potential risk/reward of bet sizing to determine the best approach.

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the November 28th Live Study Session.

Review Previous Poker Study Sessions Here!

A huge THANK YOU to every Student who’s joined us for the WPT World Championship Study Sessions.

You can rewatch any of the sessions right now by clicking the links below or on the Webinars Dashboard.

☑ Study Session 1: Mental Game and Endurance
☑ Study Session 2: Preflop Strategy
☑ Study Session 3: Defense Strategy
☑ Study Session 4: Postflop Considerations
☑ Study Session 5: ICM and Satellite Strategy
☑ Study Session 6: Exploits and Intuition

We’re in the home stretch now! Make sure to submit any questions or hands on trouble spots to Ask a Pro and we’ll get you ready to conquer Vegas.

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

Improve Your Game With Team LearnWPT

Whether you are brand-new to poker training or you’re an experienced student this is your chance to learn from world-class professional poker players in a friendly community using state of the art tools.

You must be a LearnWPT Member to access and join the WPT® World Championship Study Sessions and becoming a member is easy! Click the red JOIN NOW button to get started.

As a Member you'll immediately gain access to LearnWPT Training and WPT GTO Trainer packs, featuring 500+ Strategy Videos, Downloadable Tools (and more).

Have Questions about LearnWPT? Send an email to our Support Team at [email protected] or click the red CONTACT US button.

Over the next 2 months Team LearnWPT is hosting Poker Study Sessions for Members to get their game ready to dominate the 2023 WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

For each Study Session we'll provide Members with a curriculum that focuses on specific concepts essential for tournament success - our next Session is focused on ICM, Bubble, & Satellite Strategy!

➊ First, watch the selected Episodes, play the WPT GTO Trainer packs, and write down any questions you have
➋ Then join Team LearnWPT LIVE on Wednesday, November 15th at 6PM ET / 3PM PT to discuss the study session topics

Let's Get Started...

📚 Study Session 5: ICM and Satellite Strategy

The WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas is a unique opportunity for poker players who normally wouldn’t dream of spending $10K on a poker buy-in. Whether it’s through online satellites on ClubWPT.com and WPTGlobal.com, or by taking advantage of the many live opportunities offered by WPT partner casinos across the world, there are countless satellites where you can turn a small buy-in into a life changing score.

If you do secure a seat and make a deep run, you’ll need to be ready for some tough decisions that could mean the difference between making your buy-in back and tripling your bankroll. Adjusting your strategy for situations near the tournament money bubble, when facing big pay jumps, and approaching the final table will play a huge part in how many zeros are at the end of your payslip.

Our next Study Session will focus on the factors you need to consider when facing a tough decision on the Bubble, as well as specific differences between satellites and traditional multi-table tournaments. We’ll discuss how ICM (Independent Chip Model) influences hand ranges and betting, plus outline specific strategy for Milestone Satellites.

Save the Date: 📅 Live Session November 15th

Join Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Adrian Naggy for a LIVE Study Session on Wednesday, November 15th at 6PM ET | 3PM PT

Make sure you watch the selected Strategy Episodes, practice the suggested WPT GTO Trainer packs, and write down any questions you have. Join Rizen & Adrian on November 15th to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

🤔 Send your questions to [email protected] about ICM and Satellites and we’ll answer them during the Live Study Session.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Live Study Session!

Did you miss it? No worries! Members can rewatch the Study Sessions anytime on the Webinars Dashboard.

🛰️ Satellite Into a WPT Championship Event!

Satellite poker tournaments are a great way to play a larger buy-in event at a lower price so you don’t need to have big bucks to be in contention for a game-changing score.

Strategies for Satellites can be very different from a normal Tournament, and you’ll need to make some adjustments to your strategy that may seem strange compared to standard tournaments to help increase your edge in a satellite.

Use these strategies to sharpen your focus and maybe you’ll turn a few bucks into a huge payday...

Should You Play a Satellite Differently?

YES YOU SHOULD!

Approaching satellite play with the same strategy used in a regular poker tournament will often result in you busting when you would otherwise have a seat to the target tournament locked up.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger as he discusses the key adjustments you need to make when playing Satellite Poker Tournaments.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes and attend the LIVE Study Session.

Need Help Closing The Deal?

In this Strategy Episode watch and learn as Nick reviews several key hands from a Satellite tournament to highlight the unique adjustments during the endgame.

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the November 15th Live Study Session.

Tips for Milestone Satellite Play

In a Milestone Satellite a player must accumulate a specific chip stack amount designated by the poker room ("The Milestone") to be awarded the tournament prize - the Milestone is usually noted in the rules and structure sheet (see pages 66-74).

As in a traditional satellite format, players may also win a seat by surviving until the number of seats available in the prize pool equals the number of players remaining, however achieving a verified Milestone stack at any point in the Tournament automatically guarantees that player a seat to the target event.

Example: You are playing a $1,100 buy-in Milestone Satellite to the $10,400 buy-in $40M GTD WPT World Championship with a starting chip stack of 20,000 and the "Milestone" is 230,000 chips. Once a player's chip stack reaches 230,000 chips they are instantly awarded a seat into the event and their chips removed from play.

The satellite will conclude when the number of players remaining is equal to the number of $10,400 prizes generated based on the Tournament Prize formula, less the the amount of players who have previously won by reaching The Milestone.

• Milestone Satellites prioritize a more risky playing style than traditional satellites, similar to bounty tournaments
• Specific opponent tendencies play a big factor in your approach and dictate whether going for the Milestone is a priority
• Larger raise sizes may have increased fold equity against opponents close to the Milestone (within 5-10BBs) due to poor risk/reward
• Don’t lose site of the Milestone in later stages when effective stacks are shallow - a few preflop steals could be enough to secure your seat
• The endgame of a Milestone satellite can be chaotic - stay focused on the best strategy for your stack size and specific table conditions
• Remember that you don’t always have to get to the Milestone to win a seat, you can still use traditional satellite strategy and have a good chance

Take these strategies to the Wynn Las Vegas poker room and play a $400 Double Play Milestone Satellite to secure your seat into the $1,100 WPT Prime or Ladies Championship, a Milestone Satellite to $10,400 buy-in $40M GTD WPT Championship, or other Wynn Festival events.

➧ Click here for the full schedule of satellites and tournaments

Tim Fiorvanti sat down with Wynn Executive Director of Poker Operations Ryan Beauregard and Tournament Director Ray Pulford to discuss the innovation of their Milestone Satellites - read more.

Test Your Satellite Skills!

You are playing a milestone satellite to the $40 Million guaranteed WPT World Championship Main Event at Wynn Las Vegas with blinds at 50/100 and a 100 big blind ante. You are in the Small Blind with Q♠Q♥ and 4,600 chips (46BBs). An Early Position player limps, a visibly frustrated player in the MP2 seat makes it 300, the Button flat calls, and action is on you. What do you do here?

Click here to get detailed analysis of this hand from Team LearnWPT and learn more strategy behind the correct plays.

Understanding Bubble Play

Deeper effective stacks and championship blind levels means that you will be playing speculative cards at a higher frequency and flopping your share of draws. With skilled opponents and a reentry available, the frequency with which your opponents are likely to be taking chances with this category of hands also greatly increases.

Watch this Strategy Episode as LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger introduces Bubble Play and how to use aggression on the bubble in a tournament to help improve your chances of accumulating chips and maximize your ROI (return on investment).

Let's Take a Closer Look...

Bubble play is often the most challenging aspect of tournament poker, especially with millions of dollars at stake.

You hold Pocket Kings on the Final Table bubble of a Main Event and two players go all-in ahead of you. If you win the pot, you are the chip-leader. If you lose the pot, you are the short stack.

Sounds like a dream scenario?

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick breaks down the action from an ultra-high stakes Final Table and provides detailed analysis of the strategic points considered when facing a $2 million dollar decision!

ICM Pressure on Preflop Ranges

Strategy adjustments for various tournament stages must consider the impact of ICM and the specific factors in play at your table. When there are different stack sizes and a huge gap in pay between 1st and 9th place, making the most profitable decisions can seem daunting.

When you are the chip leader at a final table it’s also crucial to understand how dramatic ICM will affect your opponent’s strategy, and when you can use ruthless aggression to punish your foes on the way to victory. In both cases, the key to making better decisions with ICM in play starts with adjusting first-in hand ranges.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick breaks down ranges and adjustments across stack sizes and describes how you should be approaching these spots at your next final table.

Are You GTO Ready?

Picture yourself as one of 6 remaining players at the $5M Guaranteed WPT Prime Championship with big money and a title on the line. How do you play your 30 Big Blind stack against a call from a tough chip leader with two short stacks in play?

Play hands from a Final Table pack from the WPT GTO Trainer to see firsthand how preflop ranges affect your decisions at the final table.

Here are some tips when practicing with the WPT GTO Trainer:

• Your goal is to select the action for each individual hand that is as close to 0.00 EV as possible
• EV Loss of 0.00 is the same action a GTO Player would take
• 0.00 EV Loss means you broke even against a GTO Player
• EV Loss Color Coding Hint:
  • Green = Near GTO Play
  • Orange = Take Caution
  • Red = Probable Leak in Your Game

Members can practice more hands from this scenario by playing the 30BB Button Open Vs 70BB Big Blind Call WPT GTO Trainer pack!

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to play more WPT GTO Trainer scenarios like this.

Review Previous Poker Study Sessions Here!

A huge THANK YOU to every Student who’s joined us for the WPT World Championship Study Sessions.

You can rewatch any of the sessions right now by clicking the links below or on the Webinars Dashboard.

☑ Study Session 1: Mental Game and Endurance
☑ Study Session 2: Preflop Strategy
☑ Study Session 3: Defense Strategy
☑ Study Session 4: Postflop Considerations
☑ Study Session 5: ICM, Bubble, and Satellite Strategy
☑ Study Session 6: Exploits and Intuition

We’re in the home stretch now! Make sure to submit any questions or hands on trouble spots to Ask a Pro and we’ll get you ready to conquer Vegas.

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

Improve Your Game With Team LearnWPT

Whether you are brand-new to poker training or you’re an experienced student this is your chance to learn from world-class professional poker players in a friendly community using state of the art tools.

You must be a LearnWPT Member to access and join the WPT® World Championship Study Sessions and becoming a member is easy! Click the red JOIN NOW button to get started.

As a Member you'll immediately gain access to LearnWPT Training and WPT GTO Trainer packs, featuring 500+ Strategy Videos, Downloadable Tools (and more).

Have Questions about LearnWPT? Send an email to our Support Team at [email protected] or click the red CONTACT US button.

In any given hand of tournament poker the community cards (flop, turn, and river) can change equities dramatically and quickly force difficult decisions for your entire chip stack.

Accurate assessment of ranges for each opponent based on position and how they enter the pot preflop play a vital role in your approach to postflop play. Recognizing the different types of board textures and analyzing how each changes the likely actions of your opponent is crucial for maximizing value on your big hands and avoiding costly mistakes deep in tournaments.

Over the next 2 months Team LearnWPT is hosting Poker Study Sessions for Members to get their game ready to dominate the 2023 WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

For each poker Study Session we'll provide Members with a curriculum that focuses on specific concepts and habits essential for tournament success and our 4th Study Session is focused on Postflop Strategy!

➊ First, watch the selected Episodes, play the WPT GTO Trainer pack, and write down any questions you have.
➋ Then join Team LearnWPT LIVE on Wednesday, November 1st at 6PM ET / 3PM PT to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

Let's Get Started...

Study Session 4: Postflop Strategy

If you’re planning to make a deep run in the $5M GTD WPT Prime Championship or $40M GTD WPT World Championship (or both!), making sure your postflop strategy is strong and adaptable is crucial. There will be many deep-stacked spots postflop where you will be facing tough decisions and potentially have your tournament life in the balance.

Our next Study Session is all about getting you geared up to attack flops with properly sized c-bets, identify spots to float aggressive opponents, and give you the tools to make huge laydowns and big hero calls when the pressure is on. We’ll discuss how to approach tough opponents and break down exploitative adjustments to max value when you have a skill edge.

Save the Date: Live Session November 1st

Join Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Michael "Gags30" Gagliano for a LIVE Study Session on Wednesday, November 1st at 6PM ET | 3PM PT

Make sure you watch the selected Strategy Episodes, practice the suggested WPT GTO Trainer pack, and write down any questions you have. Join Rizen & Gags on November 1st to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

🤔 Send us your questions to [email protected] about postflop strategies and we’ll answer them during the Live Study Session.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Live Study Session!

Did you miss it? No worries! Members can rewatch the Study Sessions anytime on the Webinars Dashboard.

Playing Draws

Deeper effective stacks and championship blind levels means that you will be playing speculative cards at a higher frequency and flopping your share of draws. With skilled opponents and a reentry available, the frequency with which your opponents are likely to be taking chances with this category of hands also greatly increases.

Having a default process for determining pot odds and hand equity in real-time eliminates the anxiety around poker math. Add these simple rules for calculating outs and equity and quickly determine the pot odds you need to be profitable with a draw in any situation.

Watch this Strategy Episode as LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger gives you the key factors to consider when playing draws including playing from both in position and out of position pots.

Applying Pressure With Draws

Since you’ll be raising first-in with speculative combos at a higher frequency when deepstacked, it stands to reason that you’ll also be playing draws as the aggressor far more often.

While the math behind making your draws may be the same on the surface, there are several additional layers that dictate your strategy when leading the betting after flopping a draw.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick takes a deeper dive into the strategy behind playing draws aggressively including how a paired board can actually increase our hand equity.

🧮️ Time for a Math Lesson

Understanding Odds and Outs is a vital component to playing draws effectively. Here are some quick shortcuts to use on the felt when calculating Odds and Outs to simplify playing draws.

Outs - Rule of 2 and Rule of 4:

Rule of 2: Percentage of Hitting on the Next Card = Number of Outs * 2
➧ Example: 8 Outs * 2 = 16% Chance

Rule of 4: (Calling an all-in with 2 or more cards to come only) Percentage of Hitting Next Card on Turn/River = Number of Outs * 4
➧ Example: 12 Outs * 4 = 48% Chance

Adjustment over 8 Outs: Subtract number of outs over 8 from your Chance of Hitting
➧ Example: 12 Outs * 4 = 48% Chance of Hitting
➧ Example: 12 Outs - 8 = Adjustment of 4
➧ Example: 48% - 4 = 44% Chance of Hitting

Pot Odds -  Rules of Thumb:

➧ When facing a pot sized bet the pot odds are always 2:1
➧ When facing a half pot sized bet the pot odds are always 3:1
➧ You can always round numbers to simplify
➧ Compare Pot Odds vs Hand Odds. If Pot Odds are more favorable it is a profitable situation.

For more on poker Outs, Pot Odds, and Implied Odds check out...

• Episode 37 Outs \ au̇tz \ noun: Any card that needs to come on the flop, turn, or river in order to improve your hand
• Episode 39 Pot Odds \ pät ˈädz \ noun: A ratio comparing the size of the pot to the size of the bet
• Episode 41 Implied Odds \ im-plī ˈädz \ noun: A ratio showing the relationship between the expected size of a pot and size of a bet

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the November 1st Live Study Session.

Equity Advantage & Nut Advantage

What is Equity in Poker? The share of the pot that is yours based on the odds that you will win the pot at that point in play. Equity changes from street to street.

A solid understanding of equity helps you identify spots where you are ahead or behind enabling you to make the best betting decisions.

In this Strategy Episode Nick Binger introduces the concepts of Equity and Advantage and Nut Advantage. Tune in as Nick describes these concepts in detail and reveals how key tenants of the LearnWPT game-plan naturally account for them in

Quick Tips For Equity Vs Nut Advantage:

• Equity Advantage: When a given hand range has more equity vs an opponent hand range. The preflop aggressor will have the Equity Advantage in most cases
• Nut Advantage: When a hand range has more combinations of cards that make the best possible hand on a given board vs an opponent's hand range.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes and attend the LIVE Study Session.

C-Betting Vs Tough Opponents

Whether in a cash game or tournament, continuation betting is a key part of postflop strategy. A strong default c-betting strategy will put most opponents on the defensive and result in winning many uncontested pots.

However, as you face more skilled opponents additional factors must be considered to ensure your c-bets are profitable. When facing tougher opponents, you’ll need to upgrade your approach and adjust how frequently you fire again on the flop after raising first-in.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick Binger explains how equity advantage, nut advantage, and your perceived range help you decide when to c-bet against tough opponents. Plus, Nick outlines the common spots vs tough opponents that are the most challenging.

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the November 1st Live Study Session.

Practice Your C-Betting Skills!

Visit your WPT GTO Trainer Dashboard and use the Refine Search to Filter by "Open Raise" under Situation. Want to be even more specific? Filter by Game Type, Hero Position, and Stack Sizes!

Practice, practice, practice. This is how the best poker players in the world continue to improve. Make it a goal to play at least 25 hands per day (takes about 10 minutes) and use the LearnWPT Membership Features to help implement what you are learning. Use the concepts learned in the C-Betting Episode to determine the Ideal Action!

Helpful Tip: Click the ☆ symbol next to the name of a pack you like! Starred packs will be sorted at the top of your WPT GTO Trainer Dashboard in the YOUR FAVORITES section.

Put Your Postflop Skills to the Test!

You are in the $5 Million Guaranteed WPT® Prime World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. You open raise from Middle Position to 2.5BBs with a 50BB Stack and it folds to the Big Blind who calls. Now what’s your plan on the flop??

Put your skills to the test with the WPT GTO Trainer and play 5 GTO solved hands from this situation. After playing get your score and a breakdown of the correct moves from Team LearnWPT!

LearnWPT Members can practice more hands from this scenario by playing the MP2 Open Vs Big Blind Call WPT GTO Trainer pack!

Here are some tips when practicing with the WPT GTO Trainer:

• Your goal is to select the action for each individual hand that is as close to 0.00 EV as possible
• EV Loss of 0.00 is the same action a GTO Player would take
• 0.00 EV Loss means you broke even against a GTO Player
• EV Loss Color Coding Hint:
  • Green = Near GTO Play
  • Orange = Take Caution
  • Red = Probable Leak in Your Game

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to play more WPT GTO Trainer scenarios like this.

Review Previous Poker Study Sessions Here!

A huge THANK YOU to every Student who’s joined us for the WPT World Championship Study Sessions.

You can rewatch any of the sessions right now by clicking the links below or on the Webinars Dashboard.

☑ Study Session 1: Mental Game and Endurance
☑ Study Session 2: Preflop Strategy
☑ Study Session 3: Defense Strategy
☑ Study Session 4: Postflop Considerations
☑ Study Session 5: ICM, Bubble, and Satellite Strategy
☑ Study Session 6: Exploits and Intuition

We’re in the home stretch now! Make sure to submit any questions or hands on trouble spots to Ask a Pro and we’ll get you ready to conquer Vegas.

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

Improve Your Game With Team LearnWPT

Whether you are brand-new to poker training or you’re an experienced student this is your chance to learn from world-class professional poker players in a friendly community using state of the art tools.

You must be a LearnWPT Member to access and join the WPT® World Championship Study Sessions and becoming a member is easy! Click the red JOIN NOW button to get started.

As a Member you'll immediately gain access to LearnWPT Training and WPT GTO Trainer packs, featuring 500+ Strategy Videos, Downloadable Tools (and more).

You'll also get alerts and links to the Study Session curriculum and Webinar dates.

Have Questions about LearnWPT? Send an email to our Support Team at [email protected] or click the red CONTACT US button.

Aggressive opponents and escalating blinds combine to create a paralyzing force during a major poker tournament, especially given the increased odds with a Big Blind Ante in play.

You will face raises with a high frequency throughout the course of a tournament and fortifying your defense strategy must be a big part of preparation. Focusing on the specific ranges that perform best in these spots and the typical postflop situations that result from Defense scenarios is essential to growing and protecting your chip stack.

Over the next 2 months Team LearnWPT is hosting Poker Study Sessions for Members to get their game ready to dominate the 2023 WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

For each poker Study Session we'll provide Members with a curriculum that focuses on specific concepts and habits essential for tournament success and our 3rd Study Session is focused on Defense Strategy!

➊ First, watch the selected Episodes, download the charts, play the WPT GTO Trainer pack, and write down any questions you have.
➋ Then join Team LearnWPT LIVE on Thursday, October 19th at 6PM ET / 3PM PT to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

Let's Get Started...

Study Session 3: Defense Strategy

Poker tournaments with excellent structures like the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas are full of aggressive opponents who attack blinds and pressure opponents to build their stacks. If you aren’t prepared for this level of aggression or lack confidence when facing a raise from the Blinds or on the Button, the likely result is indecision and bleeding chips.

In this Session we'll be talking about the specific strategies you can use when facing aggression in common Defense situations at the poker table. We'll also dive into the factors that you need to consider when deciding to defend in position vs out of position.

🤔 Send us your questions to [email protected] about defense strategies and we’ll answer them during the Live Study Session.

Save the Date: Live Session October 19th

Join Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Michael "Gags30" Gagliano for a LIVE Study Session on Thursday, October 19th at 6PM ET | 3PM PT

Make sure you watch the selected Strategy Episodes, practice the suggested WPT GTO Trainer pack, and write down any questions you have. Join Rizen & Gags on October 19th to discuss the study session topics and to get answers to your questions.

Send us your questions to [email protected] about defense strategy and we’ll answer them during the Live Study Session.

Thanks to everyone who joined the Live Study Session!

Did you miss it? No worries! Members can rewatch the Study Sessions anytime on the Webinars Dashboard.

🛡️ Defend Your Big Blind

The Big Blind Ante creates an increase in the frequency you should defend against a single open raiser. Increased pot odds preflop allows for Defending with shallower stacks more often, and the specific portions of your range that perform best across each stack size is constructed differently.

Upgrading your Big Blind Defense Strategy to focus on these specific stack size inflection points will reduce the stress around these decisions in real-time.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger for an in-depth look at Big Blind defense in tournaments with stacks ranging from 15BBs to 40BBs.

Tune in as Nick describes the strategy for each stack size based on open-raises from late, middle, and early position using detailed hand range charts* that you can download and use today.

Note: The advanced hand ranges featured in this Strategy Episode are the result of modifying Game Theory Optimal hand ranges to remove the need for randomizing and exclude some hand combinations that are infrequent in common live poker games.

➧ Download the Big Blind Defense Hand Range Charts

Add the Big Blind Defense Strategy hand ranges to your study routine each day to build a mental snapshot of the hands you should call with against each position group across the stack sizes.

Use the Big Blind Defense charts to decide your response when facing a raise in the Big Blind against a single opponent and increase your chances of winning more chips in the Blinds.

Quick Tips For Using Hand Range Charts:

Note: The strategies outlined in the charts assume optimal responses from our opponents, and therefore may require some adjustment for player tendencies and raise sizes.

• For example, all-in shoves (hands highlighted in dark red) with wider ranges as shallow stacks may be called at different frequencies with tighter or wider ranges.
• You should raise with all hands highlighted in PINK. Do not call the minimum bet amount - RAISE!
• Your raise sizing should be 3.5x-4x the total raise size - i.e. MP2 opens to 2x - your raise size should be 7BB to 8BBs total.
• When calling (hands highlighted in GREEN), your default should always be to check first to act, even when you flop a huge hand. Defaulting to a check on the flop keeps your entire range balance and avoids betting pattern tells.

You’ll gain confidence vs aggressive opponents and have the tools to battle for tough pots from out of position!

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes, download the charts, and attend the LIVE Study Session.

Turn and River Play With Tony Dunst

With more opportunities to Defend your Big Blind, you’ll definitely be in some interesting postflop situations facing a wider range of hands. In many of these spots you’re likely to face a continuation bet so understanding which board textures are favorable and when bluffing may be an option is valuable. Navigating these pots from out of position without the equity advantage translates to more difficult decisions on every street.

To gain a true understanding of how tough these spots can be it’s essential to analyze postflop decisions in Big Blind Defense situations away from the table.

Join LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst as he explores 3 hands from recent sessions to break down optimal play on the turn and river when defending from the Big Blind. Watch this Strategy Episode as Tony uses PioSolver to demonstrate how ranges interact in this spot and what factors you should be accounting for.

🛡️ Tips for Defending Your Big Blind Like A Pro:

• Avoid calling with offsuit hands, suited hands and speculative hands are best
• This strategy only applies when you are up against 1 opponent and in the Big Blind
• Make sure you only defend by calling with specific hands. Don’t remove 3-Betting from your game plan!
• Defend with tighter calling range against larger open raise sizes
• Default to checking the flop after you call the raise, no matter what cards you hold

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the October 19th Live Study Session.

🔘 Button Up Your Defense

The Button is the most powerful position at the table and it should be a priority to play as many hands as possible when you are in that seat. By entering the hand on the Button, you secure ultimate position postflop and can deploy a wide array of bluffs and creative plays on many board textures.

While position plays a major factor in your ability to win, playing just any 2 cards is not viable and there still needs to be a structured response strategy to maximize value.

In this Strategy Episode Nick Binger analyzes the hand ranges you should be using to Defend your Button in Tournaments. Watch as Nick details key range adjustments for each positional group and gives you shortcuts for adjusting to different player types in real-time.

*Note: The advanced hand range charts featured in the Button Defense Episodes are the result of modifying Game Theory Optimal hand ranges to remove the need for randomizing and exclude some hand combinations that are infrequent in common live poker games.

Download a copy of the Button Defense ranges introduced in this Strategy Episode to defend your Button facing a single open raise.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes, download the charts, and attend the LIVE Study Session.

Time to Test Your Button Defense Skills!

Picture yourself on the Button with a 50BB stack in the $5 Million Guaranteed prize pool WPT® Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. Action folds to the player in the Cutoff who open raises 2.5BBs.

Put your skills to the test with the WPT GTO Trainer and play 5 GTO solved hands from this situation. After playing get your score and a breakdown of the correct moves from Team LearnWPT!

LearnWPT Members can play more hands from this common Button Defense spot with the Button Call Vs Cutoff Open WPT GTO Trainer pack and see firsthand the importance of defending your Button.

Defending Your Small Blind...

Improving your play from the Small Blind can have a dramatic impact on your tournament game and help avoid leaking chips due to critical mistakes. Spend time studying your Defense Strategy from the Small Blind and improve your play from the toughest seat at the table.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick introduces a tool for your tournament game-plan, Small Blind Defense. Nick also provides detailed hand ranges and discusses your approach to defending the Small Blind in Tournaments.

Download a copy of the advanced Small Blind Defense ranges introduced in this Strategy Episode to defend your Small Blinds preflop facing a single open raise in tournaments.

Have a Strategy question? Email them to [email protected] and we’ll answer them during the October 19th Live Study Session.

Put Your Small Blind Defense Skills to the Test!

You are in the $40 Million Guaranteed prize pool WPT® World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. A Middle Position player open raises to 2.5BBs and action is on you in the Small Blind with a 50BB stack. You call the raise. Now what’s your plan on the flop??

Tip: Members can practice Small Blind Defense strategy with the newly released Small Blind Call Vs MP2 Open WPT GTO Trainer pack!

Regular play on the WPT GTO Trainer will help you adjust your decisions closer and closer to GTO strategy.

Here are some tips when practicing with the WPT GTO Trainer:

• Your goal is to select the action for each individual hand that is as close to 0.00 EV as possible
• EV Loss of 0.00 is the same action a GTO Player would take
• 0.00 EV Loss means you broke even against a GTO Player
• EV Loss Color Coding Hint:
  • Green = Near GTO Play
  • Orange = Take Caution
  • Red = Probable Leak in Your Game

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to play more WPT GTO Trainer scenarios like this.

Review Previous Poker Study Sessions Here!

A huge THANK YOU to every Student who’s joined us for the WPT World Championship Study Sessions.

You can rewatch any of the sessions right now by clicking the links below or on the Webinars Dashboard.

☑ Study Session 1: Mental Game and Endurance
☑ Study Session 2: Preflop Strategy
☑ Study Session 3: Defense Strategy
☑ Study Session 4: Postflop Considerations
☑ Study Session 5: ICM, Bubble, and Satellite Strategy
☑ Study Session 6: Exploits and Intuition

We’re in the home stretch now! Make sure to submit any questions or hands on trouble spots to Ask a Pro and we’ll get you ready to conquer Vegas.

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

Improve Your Game With Team LearnWPT

Whether you are brand-new to poker training or you’re an experienced student this is your chance to learn from world-class professional poker players in a friendly community using state of the art tools.

You must be a LearnWPT Member to access and join the WPT® World Championship Study Sessions and becoming a member is easy! Click the red JOIN NOW button to get started.

As a Member you'll immediately gain access to LearnWPT Training and WPT GTO Trainer packs, featuring 500+ Strategy Videos, Downloadable Tools (and more).

You'll also get alerts and links to the Study Session curriculum and Webinar dates.

Have Questions about LearnWPT? Send an email to our Support Team at [email protected] or click the red CONTACT US button.