Poker may have been a game of instinct and guts when it started out in the Wild West, but it’s become a sophisticated clash of wits and nerves in which strategy plays a vital role. Learning the most effective poker strategies can be easier said than done, but there are several resources available in the modern age that can help. Online blogs and free poker training websites, for example, are some of the best ways to learn poker online and stay up to date with the latest trends in the industry. And they’re not just for beginner poker players, either.
With poker theory becoming more complex all the time, professional players have to spend a great deal of time on poker training just to keep up to speed. The prestige and cash prizes that come with winning at the highest levels make it all worth it, though. So why not join them? With enough hard work, anyone can advance in online poker. But with so many poker schools and free online poker courses competing to help you up your poker game, how do you choose where to learn poker? Here are profiles for six of the best poker training sites to help you decide.
Run It Once
Players looking for a poker school that covers all the bases should consider Run It Once. Founded by the legendary pot-limit Omaha coach Phil Galfond, Run It Once has courses suitable for both beginner and advanced players. From The Ground Up is a basic course for new players looking for a solid foundation. From The Ground Up: MTT Edition extends this to multi-table tournaments (MTTs) and covers essential topics such as how to play different stack sizes, understanding your opponents, GTO strategy and implementing ICM.
Players who’ve mastered the basics can go all the way with the A-Game Poker Masterclass. The six different modules of this flagship course cover fundamental thinking and advanced poker strategy, laid out in a logical sequence designed to help players become world-class.
Module topics in the A-Game Poker Masterclass include:
- The Difference Between the Mental Game and A-Game Poker.
- The Core Mindset Principles of Mental Operating System.
- The 3 Phases of the A-Game Engine in Poker and Life.
- The Gap in What You Can Do and What You Bring to the Table.
- How You Can Identify and Resolve Tilt to Get Rid Of It.
- The Real Meaning Behind Life Balance.
Pokercode
One of Run It Once’s most famous graduates was Fedor Holz, the 29-year-old German poker player who’s racked up an incredible $32.5 million in tournament winnings. Today, Holz is a top coach at the up-and-coming training site Pokercode. The platform includes poker lessons in a video format that are focused on tournaments and cash games. You can get a wide-angle view of tournament planning from preflop to the river and drill down into specific areas such as positional postflop tournament play. They also look at the work you need to do off the table to secure a high tournament win rate, including the mental habits of a pro.
Players in search of free online poker training websites will be glad to know in addition to a range of free videos, a basic Pokercode membership comes with access to Rangeviewer. This handy poker tool tells you the correct move for a particular situation and its frequency. Paying subscribers benefit from more videos as well as eight-plus live online poker coaching sessions every month.
Raise Your Edge
Have you ever dreamed of dominating multi-table online poker tournaments? Then Raise Your Edge could be the perfect training site for you. Headed up by Benjamin “bencb798” Rolle, the MTT crusher whose notable wins include $1.1 million in WCOOP 2016 SHR, Raise Your Edge’s Tournament Masterclass is designed to train players according to their skills. The Apprentice Class version discusses hand ranges in detail and looks at strategies for every situation, and the Expert Class takes things further with an extra 50 hours of video content. Topics include preflop range analysis, betting from every position, and how to continue against 3-bets and 4-bets. The Tournament Masterclass is constantly updated with the most recent strategies that you can apply directly to the table.
Beyond tournaments, Raise Your Edge has also made a name for itself as one of the best poker training sites for cash games, thanks to its in-depth courses for cash game players. Elementary Cash Game is designed to help you understand poker rules, how to use HM2/PT4, and preflop and postflop strategies. Mastering Live Cash is geared to help you understand your opponents, master preflop strategies, and learn how to isolate, over limp and play deep-stacked.
BluffTheSpot
High-stakes players looking for a thorough poker workout are recommended to visit BluffTheSpot, with its flagship offering, the Ultimate Course by MMAsherdog. MMAsherdog is a high-stakes poker winner with earnings of more than $1,2 million to date. He will take you step-by-step through 12 sessions covering topics such as postflop spots to formulate a solid strategy, how to develop skills to study the game, and how to launch a profitable high-stakes poker career.
Once the course is over, BluffTheSpot’s constantly updated BTS Lab helps you improve your game continuously. BluffTheSpot also has a Coaching for Profits program, which provides access to the site’s training materials and resources as well as one-on-one coaching and group sessions with professional coaches such as Mumucat, Butcher1848, Runchuks, and RunLikePanda. On top of that, the BTS library has over 300 past poker coaching recordings, with analyses of thousands of hand histories.
BTS has a proven track record of helping players, such as Show0fForce, TaxHere, and PopAShush, to move up from low-stakes games and make a living as high-stakes poker regulars.
Upswing Poker
One of the biggest poker schools in the industry has to be Upswing Poker. Co-founders Doug “WCGRider” Polk and Ryan Fee have signed up an A-list of poker star coaches, including Alex “Kanu7” Millar, Matt “Checkmate” Colletta, Andres ‘Educa-p0ker’ Artinano, Jake Abdalla, Nick Petrangelo, Kane Kalas, Chris Wehner, Dylan Weisman and many more.
The flagship product is the Upswing Poker Lab, which breaks Texas Hold’em down into six modules:
- Lab Core Strategy.
- Advanced Lab Strategies.
- Multi-Table Tournaments.
- Live Poker.
- Mini-Courses.
- Plays and Explains.
Included in the Upswing Lab is the hand range viewer, a poker tool that eliminates preflop guesswork by showing you which hands to play from a specific starting position.
Other Upswing Poker courses include Crush the Baron, which breaks down the strategies of Jonas “OtB_RedBaron,” Mols, known as one of the greatest 6-max cash game players of all time. In Advanced Heads Up Mastery, Doug Polk himself takes you through winning heads-up poker strategies and tactics step by step. In Advanced Cash Game Strategy with Kanu7, you get more than 36 hours of content from Alex “Kanu7” Millar, including 286 GTO preflop solutions from his personal poker solver. Play Like LLinus follows up on Advanced Cash Game Strategy with four hours devoted to the strategies of Linus “LLinusLLove” Loeliger, widely regarded as the ultimate 6-max Hold’em cash game boss. Finally, the Short Deck Course teaches the popular Short Deck Poker format.
Advanced Poker Training
Poker training with a bot? That’s effectively what the Advanced Poker Training program is all about. Instead of a poker course, you learn poker online with a virtual trainer who can play up to 500 hands an hour with you. The more you train at pace, the better the program learns your leaks, converting them into useful information that can ultimately help you to improve.
Advanced Poker Training is highly customizable, allowing you to configure the rules and set parameters for the types of opponents you’d like to prepare for. This helps you figure out the best strategy for specific spots and how to exploit different playing styles.
The program has a free version, but the premium version includes extra options for more advanced players, including a “Beat the Pro” feature that matches your skills against the world’s best players.
Tips for Learning Poker Online
Poker training is crucial for both novice and experienced players. If you really want to approach your poker training in the right way, it’s important to remember that reading blogs every so often or watching a few poker videos here and there isn’t going to help you. If you really want to learn poker, there are a few things to know first — you need to start slowly and set clear goals for your poker education. Finding a good poker coaching website is one thing, but truly maximizing its benefits will take commitment, patience, and a well-structured approach. Here are a few tips to help.
1. Pick a Poker Variant
Choose a poker format that you would like to focus on and learn everything you can about it before you try to branch out. Sticking to one variant at a time when you’re learning poker removes some of the complexity of the process. It will make finding relevant training materials a lot easier and give you a strong foundation that can help you when you do choose to diversify your skills through other types of poker.
2. Prepare for Emotional Ups and Downs
Poker is as much a game of psychology as it is of strategy. Be ready for emotional highs and lows, and work on maintaining a level head, regardless of the outcome of a hand. Emotional discipline is a vital aspect of long-term success in poker.
3. Familiarize Yourself With the Poker Rules
Make sure you have a solid understanding of the basic poker rules and gameplay before you try out one of the more complex poker strategies. Develop a solid understanding of how to play the game, hand rankings, pot odds, and positions to set the groundwork for your poker journey and prevent unnecessary and costly mistakes at the table. Building a strong base will also make advanced concepts more accessible and easier to wrap your head around when you’re ready to try them.
4. Try and Test Your Strategies
Experiment with different strategies and tactics in a controlled, low-stakes environment. Find a casual gaming environment, either with your friends or online, where you can practice without risking real money. Use this as an opportunity to refine your skills before moving on to cash games.
5. Remember That Poker Is About Continuous Learning
Poker is continuously evolving, and the strategies that work today may not be as effective tomorrow. Stay updated with the latest trends, strategies, and insights in the poker world. Join forums, read books, and follow professional players to stay ahead.
In your poker journey, discipline, patience, and a well-defined strategy are your greatest allies. By dedicating yourself to consistent learning, you can become a formidable poker player and increase your chances of success in both online and live games.
Play Poker at Your Level at Borgata Online
Aspiring poker pro or casual player? Whether you’ve got your sights on the heights of professional glory or you’re happy with recreational play, you’ll find the kind of poker action that’s just right for you here at Borgata Online. Register to play seven-card stud, Omaha, and Texas hold ‘em (limit and no-limit variants) with like-minded members of a growing online poker community. Try your hand at cash games or push past the bubble in daily, weekly, and monthly poker tournaments. High stakes, low stakes, it’s always your choice at Borgata Online.