Who’s ready for a deep run in December? Team LearnWPT is here to help with a FREE strategy series focused on getting you and your game ready to dominate the 2024 WPT® World Championship Festival at Wynn Las Vegas.

To make the most of these gigantic fields and massive prize pools, it's important to have a solid preflop, postflop, and defense game-plan. In this blog we are focusing on Defense Strategy (stay tuned for Postflop, Exploitative Play, ICM Strategy, Mental Game and more!)

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 practicing the typical postflop situations that result from Defense scenarios is essential to growing and protecting your chip stack. Let's Get Started Improving Your Defense Game...

Defense Strategy Warm-Up Webinar

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.

Poker tournaments with excellent structures like the 2024 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 from our WPT World Championship Warm-Up series LearnWPT Instructors Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Michael "Gags30" Gagliano take a deep dive into the specific strategies you can use when facing aggression in common Defense situations at the poker table. We'll also examine the factors that you need to consider when deciding to defend in position vs out of position.

Ready to watch the rest of this series? Members can rewatch the Study Sessions anytime on the Webinars Dashboard.

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 for floating and when bluffing may be an option is valuable. Navigating these spots 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 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.

🔘 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.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes, download the charts, and attend our next live webinar.

🛡️ Defend Your Big Blind

The Big Blind Ante creates more attractive risk/reward and increases 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 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.

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

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.

Not a Member? Join for just $5 your first month to watch the full Episodes, download the charts, and attend our next live webinar.

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

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT