Team LearnWPT is back On Tour and ready to roll as we return to the incredible Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, CA (right outside of Sacramento) for the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship!

The excitement is building for a repeat of the 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship which drew some of the best rounders on the planet and the prize pool swelled to over $1.8 Million. After a hard fought final table battle, featuring our own Tony Dunst, Scott Eskenazi captured the $361,600 first prize and added his name to the Mike Sexton Champions Cup.

Join Team LearnWPT for a festival full of exciting flops, turns, and rivers as grinders and shot takers descend on Thunder Valley to find out who will be crowned the next WPT Champion.

The friendly and skilled staff at the TV Poker Room are no strangers to hosting some of the most fun tournaments on the World Poker Tour. This year the Rolling Thunder Festival returns featuring a huge slate of new exciting tournaments, epic schedule of satellites, and huge guarantees leading up to the highly anticipated WPT Main Tour Championship Event.

LearnWPT Prepares You To Bring the Thunder!

Team LearnWPT is here to give the tools and strategy you need to win your seat to the $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship. Check out the strategies in this blog (and onsite on March 22nd!) and you’ll be ready to jump in the action.

🌩️ Get In on the Action
🌩️ FREE Satellite Intro Workshop
🌩️ Satellite Basics
🌩️ Keys to Satellite Play
🌩️ Get Inspired for Your WPT Final Table Moment
🌩️ Final Table Tips With Tony
🌩️ Tips To Sharpen Up Your Game for Showtime

Get an edge on your competition with poker strategies from proven winners and prepare to bring the Thunder and dominate the felt!

#TheCupAwaits 🏆

Get In on the Action ...

The 2024 Rolling Thunder Festival kicked off on March 7th with the $300 Opening Night $50K GTD tournament and includes some can't miss events including a $1M GTD Deepstack Thunder Valley on the 14th and the inaugural $570 “Savage Average” event on the 17th

If you are looking to join the action and want to parlay a small buy-in into a life changing score, you’ll definitely want to take advantage of the Championship Event satellites starting as low as $165 plus a $700 Festival package satellite that awards winners buy-ins worth $5,100 including a seat to the $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship!

📅 Festival Dates:
Start: Thursday, March 7, 2024
End: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Click here for the full Festival schedule

Day 1 of the Championship Event is Saturday, March 23rd and allows for unlimited re-entry until the start of level 11 on Day 2 (March 24th), when registration ends - Click for the tournament structure.

The $3,500 Championship Event features the player favorite WPT tournament structure giving you plenty of chances to chip up and build a final table stack.

📅 WPT Championship Event Schedule:
➧ Day 1: Saturday, March 23, 2024 starting at 11 am PT
➧ Day 2: Sunday, March 24, 2024 starting at 11 am PT
➧ Day 3: Monday, March 25, 2024 starting at 11am PT
➧ Final Table: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 starting at 11am PT*
*Final table will be live streamed with 30-min delay

View ⚡ Live Stream on WPT Twitch, WPT YouTube or WPT.com

FREE Intro to Satellite Strategy - LIVE With Team LearnWPT March 22nd!

Satellite poker tournaments are a great way to parlay 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 that may seem strange compared to standard tournament strategy.

To help get you ready for the Rolling Thunder Championship Event we're inviting you to join Team LearnWPT Instructors Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Adrian Naggy for a FREE 30 minute introduction to Satellite Strategy Workshop LIVE at 10 AM PDT on March 22nd prior to the start of the Championship Event Satellites.

You’ll get specific examples of how to change up your play to take advantage of the unique factors in a satellite, including how to adjust for each stage of the tournament, surviving as the shortstack, monitoring stacks and other tables, and navigating the bubble.

The Workshop is free to all and will be held in the poker room tournament area (near the large screen) on March 22nd at 10 AM PDT - look for the LearnWPT banners!

P.S. After the Workshop jump into the $550 Shootout Satellites at 1pm and 6pm or the $100 Step Satellite at 3 pm to win a seat into the $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Event.

Can't make the FREE Introduction to Satellite Workshop? Use the poker strategies below to sharpen your focus and who knows, 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.

Need Help Closing the Deal?

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

These strategy concepts could help you avoid busting on the bubble and secure your seat to the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship!

The Keys 🗝️ to Satellite Play

• Everyone gets paid the same prize
• Make sure you know the rules of the Satellite you are playing and how to secure your seat
• Satellites can be played a number of ways, from traditional freezeout, to milestone, to shootout format
• No incentive to build a large stack once you are likely to win a seat
• As the probability of winning a seat goes up, your ranges in all spots tighten up
• There are times in a satellite poker tournament when players should never continue against an all-in
• Satellites are the only form of poker where it can be correct to fold pocket Aces preflop
• Pay very close attention to stack sizes and level changes!
• Often in the satellite endgame 10BBs may be a big stack that is guaranteed to win a seat

Quiz Time! Test Your Satellite Skills

You are 4-handed at a winner-take-all Satellite Tournament for a seat to the WPT Rolling Thunder $3,500 Championship with blinds at 100/200. The player in the Cutoff folds and you raise to $600 with Q♦J♣. The Small Blind reraises to $1,110 and you call. Your opponent checks the A♠A♣J♦ flop.

Action is on you, what do you do here?

Get Inspired for Your WPT Final Table Moment!

WPT Tournament Director Matt Savage and WPT Champion Tyler Patterson called the Final table action of the 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Event as LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst went for his 2nd WPT Title!

Watch a WPT Championship in Action…

Are YOU Final Table Ready?

To make sure you are prepared to shine for the 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 poker players are unprepared for the pressure that comes with playing in front of an audience with 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 breakdown of a high stakes final table from LearnWPT Instructor and WPT Commentator Tony Dunst to see how this dynamic plays out in real-time.

Can You Stay Aggressive at the Final Table?

Picture yourself as one of 6 remaining players at the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Final Table with big money and a WPT title on the line. How do you play your 30 big blind stack from the Button against a call from a tough chip leader with two short stacks in play?

Play hands from a WPT GTO Trainer Final Table Pack 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 and get expert feedback from the LearnWPT Pros on their play with the 30BB Button Open Vs 70BB Big Blind Call WPT GTO Trainer pack!

Tips To 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 a LearnWPT Member? Join for just $5 your first month to get more Final Table strategy.

Have FUN, Good Luck, and Good Playing!

Will we see you on the felt during the WPT Rolling Thunder Festival? If you see Team LearnWPT stop and say Hi 👋!

Check the LearnWPT calendar to follow Team LearnWPT On Tour as we travel the globe to play WPT Events.

Let us know if you are in the action during the WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Event or side events on the Festival schedule!

Follow and tag us on social media to share your pic with members of Team LearnWPT, show off your chip stack, or celebrate a deep run.

Facebook @learnwpt | Instagram @learn_wpt | X @LearnWPT |

We love to hear how LearnWPT Students are doing and we can’t wait to share your success at the poker table!

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT

We hope you enjoyed these free strategies and tips from Team LearnWPT! Subscribe for more FREE poker content.

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