Tournament chip sets tend to vary colors more than cash games, but some common themes can still be found across many poker rooms.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• Cash Game Poker Chip Values and Colors
• Tournament Chip Values and Colors

Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used colors and their respective poker chip values.

(Note: If you want advice for distributing chips in your home game, read How to Distribute Chips in a Poker Home Game.)

Cash Game Poker Chip Values and Colors

The four most common chip colors and their values are:

White or Blue: $1
Red: $5 (some casinos use yellow instead)
Green: $25
Black: $100

You will find that these four values are by far the most used by casinos.

Less common chip colors and their values:

Pink: $2.50 (very rare, usually just used in blackjack)
Brown: $10 (some casinos use blue instead)
Purple: $500
Yellow: $1,000 (some casinos use grey or burgundy instead)
Dark Brown: $5,000 (some casinos use red-white-and-blue instead, which are known as “flags”)

$1 Chips – White or Blue

Low-stakes limit hold’em cash games are often identifiable by the endless piles of blue or white chips at the table. These are the colors most commonly applied to $1 chips in live poker rooms.

Cash game players should often have at least a few of these at their disposal. Posting blinds in low stakes games, as well as tipping, requires the $1 chip.

Blue and white are often used for $1 poker chips.

$5 Chips – Red

As cash game veterans know, $5 chips are almost universally red. Live poker rooms will deviate from standard colors for other chip values, but red $5 poker chips are a staple in almost all casinos.

These red chips are at the heart of No-Limit Hold’em games from $1/$2 up to $5/$10.

Note that some casinos, specifically in California, use yellow chips as $5s.

$25 Chips – Green

The $25 green chips usually start appearing in $2/$5 cash games and higher. Much like the red $5 chips, green $25 chips are used at many casinos.

Las Vegas poker rooms like Bellagio, Aria, and many others use green to signify a $25 poker chip value.

Aria uses a standard color code for cash game poker chip values.

Note that some casinos, specifically in California, use purple chips as $25s.

$100 Chips – Black

Black chips at a poker cash game table are usually an indication that the stakes, or at least the maximum buy-in, are getting higher.

Live poker rooms often use black for $100 chips. These chips can sometimes be solid black, but are often striped with other colors. Other poker rooms use large white chips as $100s.

Black $100 chips seen in play at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

$500 Chips – Purple

You’re starting to sit in on some high-stakes cash games when stacks of the purple chips are at the table. Purple is often an indicator of $500 chips, and a standard 20-chip column of these is a $10,000 stack.

$1,000 Chips – Yellow

The next level up from the purples, the $1,000 cash games chips are often yellow across poker rooms that spread high-stakes games.

Assorted cash game chips from the Wynn Las Vegas poker room (image courtesy Jeff Greens).

Tournament Poker Chip Values and Colors

The poker chip values and colors assigned to tournament chips ets vary much more from casino to casino.

Let’s take a look at some of the commonly-used colors for poker tournament chip sets. Note that these are the same values used by the World Series of Poker during their Main Event:

Green: 25 chips
Black: 100 chips
Purple: 500 chips (some casinos use pink or blue instead)
Yellow: 1,000 chips (some casinos use chips that are more like gold than yellow)
Orange: 5,000 chips (some casinos use grey or a different color)
Dark Green: 25,000 (this chip color varies from casino to casino)

25 Chips – Green

Like cash games, tournaments often featured green chips that are worth 25. Don’t get too attached, though, these chips are usually removed from the table during a “color-up” after a few levels of play.

100 Chips – Black

Much like the $100 cash game counterpart, black is often used for 100 value chips. These chips are generally seen in the early stages of a tournament and are the first to be taken out of play as the blinds increase.

500 Chips – Pink/Purple/Blue

Again often matching its $500 cash game equivalent, 500 chips commonly display pink, purple or blue in their color schemes. 

The World Series of Poker uses several different chipsets across multiple tournaments each year. In many of those sets, the 500 chips have the signature pink, purple or blue colors.

1,000 Chips – Yellow/Gold

Poker rooms widely use yellow or gold as the color for 1,000 chips. This color is used for 1,000 chips in several of the WSOP chip sets, and is also commonly seen in live poker rooms around the globe.

Tournament poker chips from Wynn Las Vegas.

5,000 Chips – Orange

Colors used for 5,000 tournament chips and higher start to vary much more from different poker rooms. Orange is used often for 5,000, including multiple WSOP chipsets.

25,000 Chips and Higher

Tournament poker chips at 25,000 and higher vary widely from casino to casino. Even the WSOP uses vastly different colors for high-denomination tournament chips across its multiple chipsets.

The WSOP Main Event chipset uses forest green for 25,000 chips, and lavender for 100,000 chips. For 500,000 and above, bigger chips are used. These chips are often referred to as “mini-frisbees” by WSOP announcer Lon McEachern due to their larger physical size.

Chips from the World Series of Poker Main Event set.

Final Thoughts

It’s critically important to know what color is assigned to each poker chip value. This can get tricky when playing tournaments in particular, as so many different colors are used, and the denominations go much bigger than in a cash game.

Poker Chip Values FAQ

Note: The following section discusses some of the most common chip colors you’ll see for various denominations in poker cash games. Keep in mind that poker tournaments use a wide variety of colors for all of the different tournament chip amounts, without much uniformity among different poker rooms.

How much is a blue poker chip worth?

Blue chips are usually worth $1 in most poker cash games, but you’ll also occasionally see blue used for $10 denomination chips.

Many poker rooms in Las Vegas (Bellagio, Aria, Wynn, and several others) use blue for $1 chips. Be sure you know how much the blue chips (and all of the other colors on this list) are worth at the specific poker room you’re playing at.

How much is a red poker chip worth?

Red poker chips are generally worth $5 in poker cash games across the country. There are some exceptions, but red $5 chips are pretty standard at many poker rooms.

How much is a green poker chip worth?

Green poker chips are usually worth $25 in poker cash games. Green $25 chips are standard at Las Vegas poker rooms, as well as many other poker venues in the U.S.

How much is a black poker chip worth?

Black chips are worth $100 at many U.S. poker rooms. You’ll sometimes see other colors used for $100 chips, but black is very common for this denomination.

How much is a white poker chip worth?

White poker chips are usually worth $1 in most cash games. You’ll also see blue used for $1 chips quite often (especially in Las Vegas).

Some poker rooms in California use white for $100 chips.

How much is a purple poker chip worth?

Purple poker cash game chips are often worth $500, especially at Las Vegas poker rooms. You’ll see other colors for $500 chips as well, but purple is pretty common for the $500 denomination.

How much is a yellow poker chip worth?

Yellow poker chips can represent several different denominations depending on where you’re playing. In Las Vegas, yellow is often used for $1,000 denomination chips.

How much is a red, white, and blue poker chip worth?

Red, white, and blue poker chips (sometimes referred to as flags) are usually worth $5,000. You’ll see the flags on the table in the highest stakes games at Bellagio and Aria in Las Vegas.

How much is an orange poker chip worth?

Orange can represent many different money denominations at poker rooms around the world. Be sure you know the value of your orange chips if you have them in front of you in a poker cash game.

For more on how to distribute chips in your own home poker game, check out the article below:

How to Distribute Chips For a Poker Home Game

The post Poker Chip Values: How Much is Each Chip Worth? appeared first on Upswing Poker.

Both sites offer above-average player traffic and a solid lineup of game formats at a variety of stakes. 

Which is better for poker – Ignition or Global Poker? Let’s compare these two popular U.S.-facing poker sites side-by-side.

Global Poker Overview

Global Poker is a U.S.-facing sweepstakes poker site. Global Poker is one of the most well-known platforms in the U.S. poker scene.

With perhaps the easiest barrier to entry of any poker site in the world, Global Poker features a player pool made up of largely recreational players.

The poker formats you can play at Global Poker include:

Global Poker Formats

• Cash games
• Tournaments
• Sit & Gos
• Jackpot Sit’n’Go  (aka Spin & Gos)

Let’s take a look at what Global Poker has to offer in each of these poker formats.

Global Poker Cash Games

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Crazy Pineapple

Note that Global Poker’s “real money” cash games are found on the Sweeps Coins side of the site. As a sweepstakes gaming platform, Global offers two kinds of games – Sweeps Coins (sweepstakes) games and Gold Coins (play money) games.

The Sweeps Coins games essentially operate as real-money cash games. You can redeem Sweeps Coins (aka SC) for US dollars when you request a withdrawal from Global Poker.

No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At Global Poker

The world’s most popular poker variant, No-Limit Texas Hold’em, runs 24/7 in cash game format at Global Poker. 

Here’s what you’ll find on the NLHE cash game menu at Global Poker:

• Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10 (SC 0.05/SC 0.10)
• Highest stakes – $10/$20 (SC 10/SC 20)
• Six-Max games 
• Full-ring games 
• Short-Stack games (20 Big Blind max buy-in)

Global Poker’s NLHE cash games get plenty of traffic from the micro stakes up to $1/$2 (called SC 1/SC 2 to reflect the site’s “Sweeps Coins” currency). You can generally find at least 1-2 games running for the higher stakes at peak hours as well.

Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At Global Poker

PLO cash games at Global Poker include the following features:

• Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10 (SC 0.05/SC 0.10)
• Highest stakes – $10/$20 (SC 10/SC 20)
• PLO Hi
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Short-Stack games (20 Big Blind max buy-in)

Like most online poker sites, PLO cash game traffic isn’t as high as NLH traffic. However, you can still find PLO games running most of the day.

Global Poker Tournaments

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Crazy Pineapple

Most of Global Poker’s tournaments are No-Limit Hold’em, but you can also find PLO, PLO Hi-Lo, and even a few Crazy Pineapple tournaments on the schedule.

Sunday is the biggest day of the week for the Global Poker tournament schedule. The weekly Sunday Blitz guarantees at least SC 30,000 every week, and Global Poker occasionally increases the guarantee. 

Global Poker also runs seasonal tournament festivals throughout the year. The guarantees for the Main Events in these festivals can reach into six-figure territory.

Global Poker’s tournaments offer some of the juiciest action of an U.S.-facing poker site.

Note: If you want to practice your poker skills and get instant feedback on every decision (both preflop and postflop), get the new Lucid GTO Trainer now. You can also look up situations to discover solver-backed strategies in seconds. Learn more here!

Ignition Poker Overview

Ignition Poker (also known as Bovada) is a fixture of the U.S. online poker scene. Bovada/Ignition is among the top three U.S.-facing poker sites in terms of player traffic.

The brand debuted as Bodog more than two decades ago. The online gambling site is now known as either Bovada or Ignition.

Note that Bovada and Ignition are different skins for the same platform. Bovada/Ignition offers online poker, sports betting, and casino gaming.

Ignition Poker Formats

• Cash games
• Tournaments
• Sit & Gos
• Jackpot Sit & Gos (aka Spin & Gos)

Let’s take a look at what Ignition has to offer for each of these poker formats.

Ignition Cash Games

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Ignition:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
• Zone Poker (fast-fold/”Zoom” poker)

All games at Ignition run as Anonymous tables. While Ignition offers many features similar to other online poker sites, the Anonymous tables are probably the biggest differentiator between Ignition and the competition.

With Anonymous tables, you can’t “bumhunt” or in any way scout your opposition, at least in the long term.

All Ignition cash games use the Quick Seat feature, meaning you’re sat at the next available table when you sit in for a cash game session. You can’t choose a particular cash game table at Bovada.

No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At Ignition

No-Limit Hold’em cash games run around the clock at Ignition. 

Here’s a look at some of the features you’ll find on the Ignition NLHE cash game menu:

• Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
• Highest stakes – $10/$20
• Six-Max games 
• Full-ring games 
• Zone Poker
• Anonymous Tables

Ignition’s NLHE games get solid traffic at the micro stakes, and you’ll often find at least 1-2 games running for higher-stakes games at peak hours.

All of the games at Bovada Poker run as anonymous games (no screen names).

Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At Ignition

Omaha cash games at Ignition include the following features:

• Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
• Highest stakes – $10/$20
• PLO Hi-Lo
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
• Zone Poker

Ignition Poker Tournaments

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Ignition:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Seven Card Stud

Like most poker sites, most of Ignition’s tournaments are NLHE. 

The weekly tournament guarantees and special event prize pools generally aren’t as large at Ignition as they are at Global Poker.

The Verdict

Both Bovada/Ignition and Global Poker give U.S. poker players plenty to like. 

If you’re looking for soft, juicy games, Global Poker is arguably the best poker site in the world. 

New players can sign up at Global Poker with one click through an existing Facebook account. That fact alone means the player pool at Global Poker contains many recreational players.

If you’re a cash game crusher, you might want to play at Global Poker and enjoy the juicy games available there.

The Anonymous tables at Ignition make it a great choice for players not looking too much into tracking opponent tendencies. 

You can get in, play some poker, and get out quite easily at Ignition. Your opponents don’t know who you are, and if you’re a good player that’s likely a good thing.

Ignition gets a slight nod over Global Poker in terms of software. Global has made many improvements in this category over the years, however.

If you’re a tournament player, Global Poker is the better choice, due to better tournament traffic and prize pools.

Watch The Lucid GTO Trainer in Action
with Mike Brady & Doug Polk

There a countless ways to leverage the new Lucid GTO Trainer to improve your poker game. That’s why it’s literally guaranteed to help you get better.

Watch this video to see Lucid GTO in action as Mike Brady and Doug Polk run through 8 tips for using the tool.

Get the Lucid GTO Trainer here!

The post Global Poker vs. Ignition: Which is Better? appeared first on Upswing Poker.

Both sites offer a solid lineup of game formats at a variety of stakes. BetOnline and Bovada each offer their services as offshore gaming sites, operating in the United States in somewhat of a legal gray area.

Which is better for poker – BetOnline or Bovada? Let’s compare these two popular poker sites side-by-side.

BetOnline Poker Overview

BetOnline is a U.S.-facing online poker room, sportsbook, and casino. The brand has offered online poker for more than 20 years, making it a mainstay in the U.S. poker scene.

BetOnline’s poker room ranks in the top three in terms of player traffic among U.S.-facing poker rooms. You can find the following poker formats at BetOnline:

BetOnline Poker Formats

• Cash games
• Tournaments
• Sit & Gos
• Windfall (aka Spin & Gos)

Let’s take a look at what BetOnline has to offer in each of these poker formats.

BetOnline Cash Games

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• PLO 5
• PLO 6
• Open-Face Chinese Poker
• Boost Poker (fast-fold/”Zoom” poker)

No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At BetOnline

The world’s most popular poker variant, No-Limit Texas Hold’em, runs 24/7 in cash game format at BetOnline. 

Here’s a look at what you’ll find on the NLHE cash game menu at BetOnline:

• Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10
• Highest stakes – $5/$10
• Six-Max games 
• Full-ring games 
• Straddle games
• Run it up to three times
• Boost games
• Bad Beat Jackpot

BetOnline’s NLHE games get plenty of traffic at the micro stakes, and you’ll generally find at least 1-2 games running for the higher stakes at peak hours.

The Straddle, Bad Beat Jackpot, and Run It 3 Times options some of the games give BetOnline some unique features that Bovada doesn’t currently offer.

Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At BetOnline

PLO cash games at BetOnline include the following features:

• Lowest stakes – $0.05/$0.10
• Highest stakes – $5/$10
• PLO 5 (five-card Pot-Limit Omaha) 
• PLO 6 (six-card Pot-Limit Omaha)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Straddle games
• Run it up to three times
• Boost games

BetOnline runs NLH and PLO cash games 24/7.

BetOnline Poker Tournaments

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at BetOnline:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo

As you might expect, the majority of BetOnline’s tournaments are NLHE. You can find a few PLO and PLO Hi-Lo tournaments in the mix as well.

Sunday is the biggest day of the week for tournaments at BetOnline. The centerpiece of the Sunday slate is the Main Event, with a $109 buy-in and $150,000 guaranteed.

Look for even bigger guarantees to regularly appear on the BetOnline schedule as well.

Note: If you want to practice your poker skills and get instant feedback on every decision (both preflop and postflop), get the new Lucid GTO Trainer now. You can also look up situations to discover solver-backed strategies in seconds. Learn more here!

Bovada Poker Overview

Much like BetOnline, Bovada (also known as Ignition) is a fixture of the U.S. online poker scene. Bovada/Ignition is also among the top three U.S.-facing poker sites in terms of player traffic.

The brand debuted as Bodog more than two decades ago. The online gambling site is now known as either Bovada or Ignition.

Note that Bovada and Ignition are different skins for the same platform. Like BetOnline, Bovada/Ignition offers online poker, sports betting, and casino gaming.

Bovada Poker Formats

• Cash games
• Tournaments
• Sit & Gos
• Jackpot Sit & Gos (aka Spin & Gos)

Let’s take a look at what Bovada has to offer in each of these poker formats.

Bovada Cash Games

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Bovada:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
• Zone Poker (fast-fold/”Zoom” poker)

All games at Bovada run as Anonymous tables. While Bovada and BetOnline offer many similar features, the Anonymous tables at Bovada are probably the biggest differentiator between Bovada and BetOnline.

With Anonymous tables, you can’t “bumhunt” or in any way scout your opposition, at least in the long term.

All Bovada cash games use the Quick Seat feature, meaning you’re sat at the next available table when you sit in for a cash game session. You can’t choose a particular cash game table at Bovada.

No-Limit Hold’em Cash Games At Bovada

No-Limit Hold’em cash games run around the clock at Bovada 

Here’s a look at some of the features you’ll find on the Bovada NLHE cash game menu:

• Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
• Highest stakes – $10/$20
• Six-Max games 
• Full-ring games 
• Zone Poker (fast-fold poker)
• Anonymous Tables

Bovada’s NLHE games get solid traffic at the micro stakes, and you’ll often find at least 1-2 games running for higher-stakes games at peak hours.

All of the games at Bovada Poker run as anonymous games (no screen names).

Pot-Limit Omaha Cash Games At Bovada

Omaha cash games at Bovada include the following features:

• Lowest stakes – $0.02/$0.05
• Highest stakes – $10/$20
• PLO Hi-Lo
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
• Zone Poker

Bovada Poker Tournaments

You can find the following poker variants available in cash game format at Bovada:

• No-Limit Hold’em
• Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO)
• PLO Hi-Lo
• Seven Card Stud

Like BetOnline, most of Bovada’s tournaments are NLHE. 

The weekly tournament guarantees and special event prize pools generally aren’t as large at Bovada as they are at BetOnline.

The Verdict

Both Bovada/Ignition and BetOnline have plenty to offer for U.S. poker players. 

The Anonymous tables at Bovada make it a great choice for players not looking too much into tracking opponent tendencies. 

You can get in, play some poker, and get out quite easily at Bovada. Your opponents don’t know who you are, and if you’re a good player that’s likely a good thing.

If you’re a cash game crusher, you might want to play at Bovada and enjoy the juicy games available there.

BetOnline gets the nod as the better overall poker client, however. The software is superior to Bovada, as is the selection of available payment methods.

If you’re a tournament player, BetOnline is the better choice. Tournament traffic and prize pools at BetOnline are as good as you’ll find at a U.S.-facing poker site.

Watch The Lucid GTO Trainer in Action
with Mike Brady & Doug Polk

There a countless ways to leverage the new Lucid GTO Trainer to improve your poker game. That’s why it’s literally guaranteed to help you get better.

Watch this video to see Lucid GTO in action as Mike Brady and Doug Polk run through 8 tips for using the tool.

Get the Lucid GTO Trainer here!

The post BetOnline vs. Bovada for Poker: Which is Better? appeared first on Upswing Poker.

There are countless ways to use GTO trainers like Lucid GTO to improve your poker skills.

Upswing Poker founder Doug Polk recently joined Upswing VP Mike Brady to discuss eight tips to help players get maximum value from the Lucid GTO Trainer tool, available now from Upswing Poker.

Let’s dive into the eight tips Doug and Mike shared on Upswing’s YouTube channel:

Tip #1: Play the Leaderboard to Practice Random Situations

Real poker is unpredictable. You never know exactly what type of situation will come up in a session. The leaderboard is meant to simulate the randomness of actually playing poker.

Plus, you get to see how your skills compare to everyone else that’s using the Lucid GTO trainer.

“What I really like about this approach is that it gives you essentially a random situation to look at,” says Polk. “Sometimes we know exactly where we’re leaking in poker, particularly if we have larger samples and we can hone in on it.”

“But sometimes we don’t, especially if we’re a live poker player, or we have a small sample size, or whatever the case may be. So (the Leaderboard) lets us look at some different situations where we get to kind of ask ourselves what we think we should do, and compare in an individual spot. And it might give us a nice starting point for some training that we might not have even known that we need to do.”

You can play multiple tables at the same time with the Leaderboard tool, allowing you to truly simulate the feel of multi-tabling online poker.

Tip #2: Set Up Custom Drills to Hone in on Specific Situations

If you feel like a particular part of your game is weak, you can use the Custom Drill feature to practice a specific situation over and over again.

For example, let’s say you’re super confident when playing in position as the preflop raiser, but you’re less confident playing out of position (let’s say as the CO opener facing a BTN call in a single-raised pot).

You can set up a custom drill to practice that exact spot. You can drill for the first decision, for one street, or for the entire hand through all streets.

If you set up a drill for the first decision in a CO vs. BTN SRP spot, you’ll see a flop, and decide whether you want to check or bet. Once you make that decision, you’ll move on to the next hand.

“I would actually suggest for doing custom drills generally, go with one street or first decision,” Brady says. “For me that’s kind of the point of doing a custom drill, to really hone in on that one situation you want to practice.”

You can filter the Custom Drills for specific flops, allowing you to drill specific situations like jack-high flops, connected flops, monotone flops, etc.

Tip #3: Use the Replayer

You can pull up the Replayer while drilling to see what the entire strategy looks like in a given situation. 

Let’s say you’re drilling for a BTN vs. BB SRP situation. You have A7 on the BTN, the flop comes KQ2 , and you choose between betting small, betting big, or checking.

Once you’ve made your decision, the drill moves on to the next hand. You can pull up any previous hand in the Replayer, and see the Lucid GTO strategy for any hand in the BTN opening range on that KQ2 board.

Check out the strategy for that board on the right side of the screen below:

Tip#4: Discover Bet Sizing Heuristics

The solver work for Lucid GTO includes multiple bet sizes for every situation. On a lot of boards, the solver is going to choose to mix between multiple bet sizes.

We don’t recommend trying to memorize and copy these complex multi-size strategies. It’s way too hard for a human to do that effectively. Instead, you should look for trends in which bet size is preferred in a given situation. Note the general shape of the strategies as you go.

If you make a habit of doing this, you’ll start to internalize heuristics that you can call upon in-game.

Tip #4 segues nicely into Tip #5:

Tip #5: Use the Sim Browser to Click Through the Game Tree

With Lucid GTO, the equilibrium poker strategy is at your fingertips. With the Sim Browser tool, you can click through the entire game, and see how each player is supposed to respond to every action in every situation.

For example, let’s take a look at a CO vs, BB SRP spot, where the flop comes AK2. The BB checks, and the CO strategy looks like this:

The Lucid GTO sim gives the CO the option to Bet 1.5, Bet 3.5, Bet 6.65, or check (pot is 5). With a significant nut advantage on this board, Lucid prefers to either overbet (Bet 6.65) or check. Lucid bets 41% of the time with this size, and checks 59% of the time. It never uses either of the other two sizes.

You can click on any of the bet sizes, or the check for the CO, and see how the BB responds to that choice. 

Let’s see what happens when we change the board to 765:

This seven-high board changes the strategy drastically for both the BB and the CO. The BB, which checks 100% of the time on the AK2 board, now leads 36% of the time. 

If we make the BB check, the CO never uses the Bet 6.65 size, as this board heavily favors the BB. The CO should mix between the two smaller bet sizes, while checking about half the time. You can click on the Bet 1.5 and Bet 3.5 tabs to see the specific ranges for each of those sizes.

You can compare countless boards and countless situations within the Sim Browser. If you want to make it even easier to compare two strategies and/or two different spots, consider our next tip:

Tip #6: Open Multiple Windows

Click the icon at the top left of the Sim Browser screen to open up another browser in a separate window. For instance, you could open the AK2 sim and the 765 sim in separate windows, making it much easier to compare the two spots.

You could also run two separate sims on just the 765 spot, comparing LJ vs BB to CO vs. BB. 

“As the preflop ranges get more specific, there are going to be textures that are just way better or way worse for them,” Polk says. “So you certainly want to think about those preflop ranges. It’s nice to be able to pull them up side by side and see some of the differences in that preflop construction, and then the way that gets executed in terms of strategy.”

You can also compare strategies for 100BB stacks and 200BB stacks with the multiple windows feature in the Sim Browser.

Tip #7: Use the Hand Class Breakdowns

The hand class breakdown feature is arguably one of the most helpful features in Lucid GTO. This feature helps you understand exactly how top pair, or sets, or overpairs, or draws play on a specific board.

Let’s look at a BTN vs. BB SRP example, using a J72 board. We’ll hone in on the BB check-raising strategy vs. a BTN c-bet. Take a look at the top right of the screen below:

Lucid GTO gives the BB the option to call, Raise 4.82, or Raise 8.36 vs. a BTN c-bet of Bet 1.5. You can see how each hand class (set, two pair, top pair, etc.) selects among those three options.

You can click on any of the hand classes to drill down on the specific range and strategy for that hand class. You can use the hand class feature for any sim and any part of the game tree.

Tip #8: Drill Unintuitive Strategies

If you discover an unintuitive strategy inside the Sim Browser, create a Custom Drill for that spot and practice it!

Click the “Create drill from here” button at the bottom right of the Sim Browser to convert whatever spot you’re looking at into a Custom Drill.

Let’s say you’re investigating that BB check-raise strategy we’ve discussed on the J72 board. Click that button on the bottom right, and you’ll immediately go into the Custom Drill setup for that spot.

Lucid GTO Trainer Available Now From Upswing Poker

Lucid GTO is available right now! Click here to get in on the most comprehensive interactive poker trainer ever made, for only $49/month.

The post 8 Tips to Get Max Value from the Lucid GTO Trainer appeared first on Upswing Poker.

Let’s take a look at what face cards are, and discuss a couple of common misconceptions about them.

What Are Face Cards in Poker?

Poker games are played with a standard 52-card deck. The 52 cards are divided into four suits, with 13 cards in each suit.

The lowest card in each suit is the two (aka the deuce), while the highest card is the ace. Depending on the game, the ace can also count as the lowest-ranking card in the suit.

Let’s take a look at how all of the cards in a particular suit look:

Starting with the ace, the cards go through a numerical sequence from two through ten. After the ten, the next-highest ranking cards are the jack (J), the queen (Q), and the king (K).

The jack, queen, and king depict people, members of the royal court. These are the only cards that depict human characters instead of just a number or letter and a corresponding number of suit symbols.

Because most playing card styles depict the faces of the jack, queen, and king, those cards are known as face cards.

Are Aces Face Cards?

Aces are sometimes mistakenly grouped in with face cards, but an ace is not a face card. The ace doesn’t depict a human character (and a human face to go along with it).

The ace essentially acts as the “one” in the cards ace through ten. It mimics the style of the other non-face cards, but with an “A” instead of a “1”.

The cards A-K-Q-J-T are known as broadway cards, and are often grouped together. A ten-through-ace straight is known as a broadway straight, and a broadway straight with all five cards of the same suit is known as a royal flush.

Keep in mind, however, that neither the ace or the ten qualify as face cards.

Is a Joker a Face Card?

While jokers certainly do depcit a face, they’re not considered face cards. Jokers don’t officially count as part of a 52-card deck. When you add jokers to the mix, the total number of cards in the deck goes up to 53 or 54, depending on whether one or two jokers come with the deck.’

Jokers are generally used as wild cards if they’re in use in a card game. When you play poker or blackjack in a casino, you generally won’t see jokers added to the mix.

The 52 cards that are in play in most casino games are the total cards (aka the non-face cards) and the face cards.

For an expanded look at face cards, aces, and playing card styles, check out the article linked below:

Are Aces Face Cards?

The post What Are Face Cards in Poker? appeared first on Upswing Poker.

Putting your opponent on an accurate range of hands is arguably the most valuable skill in poker.

In this video/article, cash game pro Tim Jenkins uses the new Lucid GTO Cash Game Trainer to show you how to practice your ranging skills against a poker solver.

Ranging is when you assign a range of possible hands to an opponent based on how the hand has played out so far. GTO stands for Game Theory Optimal, which refers to the theoretically best strategy in a given situation.

Let’s dive into the hand that Tim breaks down in the video.

Setting Up the Scenario in Lucid

You can set up a “Custom Drill” for any common poker scenario within the Lucid GTO Trainer. The idea is that you can hone in on a specific situation and practice it again and again, which allows you to quickly improve your skills in that scenario.

In the video, Tim sets up a Custom Drill for one of the most common spots in poker: a Button vs Big Blind confrontation in a single raised pot.

Tim chooses to play as the Big Blind. His plan is to play hands methodically and practice ranging his solver-generated opponent after every decision.

Let’s run through the hand.

Preflop

The player on the Button raises to 2.5 big blinds (bb). Tim calls from the Big Blind position.

The stacks to start the hand are 100bb, so each player has 97.5bb behind going into the flop.

Flop

The flop comes with 5bb in the pot.

Tim is dealt for this Drill, so he’s flopped a gutshot straight draw and an overcard.

Tim checks and the opponent bets 1.5bb (30% pot).

Flop Analysis

Before making his decision, Tim guesses that the solver prefers this small bet size because it effectively targets the weak ace-high, king-high, and queen-high hands in Tim’s range.

In other words, when Tim faces this small size, he will be in a difficult spot right away with a hand like or . Those high card hands are ahead of the bluffs in the opponent’s range, but they’re well behind any of the made hands.

With his exact hand of , Tim expects call to be the preferred action.

What is the Opponent’s Range on the Flop?

Think for a moment about what range of hands the opponent might have after betting small on this flop. When you’re ready to see Tim’s guess and the “GTO” answer, scroll down.

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When the opponent bets small, Tim estimates that it is doing so with a very wide range of hands (close to a range bet). This includes strong hands (like ) and bluffs (like . If the opponent is checking with any hands, it is likely medium-strength ones (such as and ).

After calling the bet, Tim brings up the Replayer (clicking the icon in the top left corner of the screen) to see how his guess compared to the solver.

As Tim expected, the solver mostly chooses to bet small (1.5bb into 5bb) on the flop. The solver also overbets (6.65bb into 5bb) some of the time, while checking the remainder of the range.

Here’s the exact frequency breakdown from the solver-based strategy inside Lucid GTO:

(I chose a different color scheme than Tim, but the information is the same as in the video.)

The solver checks 29%, bets small 51%, and overbets 19% of the time on this J-T-2 flop

Click here to see the full visualization of the opponent’s range.

When the opponent uses the small bet size, it does so with a hyper-mixed strategy. In other words, the solver mixes it up with all hands, occasionally betting small with all of them. KTo and QTo do get checked back at some frequency, as well as hands like 99, A9, A8 and A7. But even those hands fall into the small bet category at varying frequency.

Solvers love to use mixed strategies like this. It’s very tough to execute as a human, but it’s worth it if you can pull it off because it makes you very unpredictable and difficult to play against.

Flop conclusion: Tim’s attempt to range the opponent after a small bet was pretty accurate, but the medium-strength hands fell into the bet category more often than he seemed to expect.

Let’s move one street further in this ranging drill and assess the turn.

Turn

With 8bb in the pot, the turn comes the () .

Tim checks again and the opponent checks back.

Turn Analysis

The completes a lot of possible straights and is overall a good card for Tim’s range. Not only can he have turned a straight with a hand like , but he can also have hit two pair with a hand like .

Meanwhile, the opponent’s overpairs (+] are now weaker in terms of relative hand strength due to the threat of Tim having a straight or turned two pair.

What is the Opponent’s Range on the Turn?

The opponent bet small on the flop and then slowed down on this turn.

Think for a moment about what hands the opponent can have given these decisions. When you’re ready to move on, scroll down.

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This check on the turn significantly narrows the opponent’s range.

Tim asks himself a question:

What hands would the opponent never check back on the turn?

He guesses that if the opponent had a straight or a set, it will always bet. He also guesses that two-pair hands will bet or check (another mixed strategy from the solver).

Tim also thinks through all of the top pair hands the opponent can have. He guesses that QJ and J9 will bet at a higher frequency than AJ and KJ. Even though the latter feature stronger kickers, the QJ/J9 hands have backup equity in the form of a straight draw. These hands can withstand check-raises more than AJ/KJ.

Imagine betting on this turn with and then facing a raise. You would feel pretty crappy about your situation — you might even be drawing dead! But if you have a top pair with backup equity, like , you know you have at least a chance.

Tim guesses that any made hands that are worse than top pair (such as or ) will likely check on the turn as well.

After locking in his guess, Tim checks the Lucid GTO Drill Replayer to see how close he is to the solver’s exact strategy on the turn.

Here’s the exact frequency breakdown from the solver-based strategy inside Lucid GTO:

The solver mostly checks (63%) on this turn. When it does bet, it prefers the medium size of 6.4bb into 8bb.

Click here to see the full visualization of the opponent’s range.

The opponent checks back most of the time (63%) on the turn. That checking range includes many of the hands Tim identified, including AJ, KJ, and Tx hands.

QJ and Q9 (both the offsuit and suited varieties) do bet at a high frequency.

Turn conclusion: Tim was on the money here when it came to predicting exactly which hands bet and check on this turn.

If you’re an Upswing Lab member, you are likely not surprised that Tim’s estimations came very close to the “GTO” strategy. Tim crushes in some of the toughest online games in the world, and his Upswing content is some of the highest-level poker education you’ll find anywhere.

River

The river completes the board. There’s still 8bb in the pot.

Left with just King-high, Tim has a clear bet on the river and the opponent folds .

That means we don’t get the chance to practice our ranging skills on the river in this hand.

But you can do this ranging exercise anytime for any scenario inside the Lucid GTO Cash Game Trainer!

Improve Your Cash Game Skills Fast with the Lucid GTO Trainer

Tim’s ranging drill is just one of many ways you can level-up your skills inside the Lucid GTO Cash Game Trainer.

Lucid GTO is out now! Learn more now!

The post How to Practice Ranging Your Opponents (Cash Game Example) appeared first on Upswing Poker.

If you’re familiar with the rules of poker, you’ll quickly grasp the rules of this game.

Keep in mind, however, that Four Card Poker pits all players against the house, and is not the same game that you play in the proper poker room of a casino (which pits players against other players). Four Card Poker belongs in the same category of casino games as blackjack, roulette, craps, and other games where you compete against the house.

Let’s dive into the rules and basic strategy of Four Card Poker:

How To Play Four Card Poker

As the name implies, Four Card Poker is a card game where each player tries to make the best four-card poker hand according to standard poker hand rankings.

In each hand, all players get five cards, while the dealer gets five cards face down and a sixth card face up. If a player’s best possible four-card hand beats the dealer’s hand, that player wins.

Let’s look at the hand rankings for this game:

4-Card Poker Ranking of Hands (Lowest to Highest)

• High card
• Pair
• Two Pair
• Straight
• Flush
• Three-of-a-Kind
• Straight Flush
• Four-of-a-Kind

The Ante Bet and The Aces Up Bet

Sit down at a Four Card Poker table, and you’ll see a setup that looks something like this:

Image courtesy SG Digitial

You can place two possible bets before each hand, an ante bet and an Aces Up bet. You must place at least one or the other, and you can bet both in the same hand.

The Ante Bet

When you’ve placed your bets, you’re dealt five cards. The dealer gets five cards face down and one card face up card.

At that point you have the option to either fold or play, placing an additional bet of 1-3x your ante bet. If you place the play wager, the dealer turns over their five down cards. If the player folds, the ante bet is taken by the dealer, and the hand is over for that player.

Both the player and the dealer make the best possible four-card poker hand. If the player’s cards can make a better four-card hand than the dealer, the player wins.

If you win, you get paid even money on the ante bet and the play bet. The ante bet is also eligible for a premium hand bonus.

A typical ante bet bonus table looks something like this:

• Three-of-a-Kind: 2-to-1
• Straight Flush: 20-to-1
• Four-of-a-Kind: 25-to-1

The Aces Up Bet

The aces up side bet also pays even money, and you win that bet if you make a pair of aces. If you make a better hand than a pair of aces, you earn an automatic bonus and win more money, based on the Aces Up bonus payout table for the game you’re in.

A typical Aces Up bonus pay table looks like this:

• Pair of Aces: 1-to-1
• Two Pair: 3-to-1
• Straight: 4-to-1
• Flush: 5-to-1
• Three-of-a-Kind: 8-to-1
• Straight Flush: 40-to-1
• Four-of-a-Kind: 50-to-1

While the ante wager allows you to play the game with somewhat of a strategy, the Aces Up wager pretty much entirely relies on luck. However, the Aces Up bet offers the opportunity to win a massive return on a single hand.

If the player’s hand can’t make at least a pair of aces, the Aces Up bet is lost.

If you place the Aces Up bet and make a pair of aces or better, you win the bet no matter what the dealer’s hand. If you make a hand that qualifies for the Aces Up bonus pay table, you win the correlating bonus even if the dealer makes a better hand.

The Progressive Jackpot Wager

Some casinos offer a progressive wager on casino poker games, all of which link to the same progressive jackpot. The progressive wager is usually a $1 side bet that correlates to a payout table that looks something like this:

• Royal Flush: 100% of progressive jackpot
• Straight Flush: 10% of progressive jackpot
• Four-of-a-Kind: $300
• Full House: $50
• Flush: $40
• Straight: $30
• Three-of-a-Kind: $9

Many casinos that offer the progressive wager also offer an envy bonus, in which you win some amount of money if any player at the table makes a Royal Flush or a straight flush.

Four Card Poker Strategy

In terms of strategy, you can keep your approach to Four Card Poker pretty simple.

For the ante bet, you win based on the strength of your hand versus the dealer’s hand. The player’s strategy for the ante bet revolves primarily around evaluating your own hand, and also factoring in the dealer’s up card.

If you want to keep it straightforward, you can base your ante bet strategy almost entirely around the strength of your own hand. A basic strategy looks like this:

• Play 3x your ante bet w/ a pair of tens of better
• Play 1x your ante bet w/ a pair of nines or worse
• Fold if you can’t make at least one pair

If you want to add an extra layer to your strategy, you can include the dealer’s face-up card in your evaluation of your ante bet strategy.

For instance, if you have a pair of jacks, queens, or kings, only bet 3x the ante if the dealer’s up card is lower than your pair. If the dealer’s up card is higher than your pair (i.e. the dealer is showing an ace and you have a pair of queens), consider wagering 1-2x the ante.

The Aces Up bet and the progressive bet are entirely based on luck, so keep that in mind before you start playing.

Final Thoughts On Four Card Poker

Like all casino table games, Four Card Poker gives the house a mathematical edge over the player, even if you play an optimal strategy.

The house edge in Four Card Poker comes from the dealer getting six cards to your five, and the dealer automatically winning when you fold.

Four Card Poker and other casino card games can be fun and entertaining, but keep in mind the player always loses in the long run.

The fundamental difference between casino card games (Four Card Poker, Let It Ride, Ultimate Texas Hold’em) and the player vs. player version of poker is that true poker can be profitable in the long run.

If you study poker (using the training resources offered by a site like ours here at Upswing Poker), you can develop an edge over your fellow players and win money. Casino card games might have the word “poker” in the game name, but these games are not beatable or profitable in the long run.

Check out our article on Three Card Poker here:

How to Play Three-Card Poker (Rules & Basic Strategy)

The post What is Four Card Poker? Rules & Basic Strategy appeared first on Upswing Poker.

While No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha are the most popular games you’ll see at poker rooms around the world, they’re just a small part of the total number of ways to play poker.

If you want to spice up your home poker game, or bring a fresh game or two to a Dealer’s Choice mix, consider adding the following poker variants to the lineup:

Crazy Pineapple

Crazy Pineapple plays as a spiced-up version of Texas Hold’em. A Crazy Pineapple hand begins just like a Texas Hold’em hand, except each player is dealt three hole cards instead of the usual two.

After the initial betting round, the dealer puts out the flop. Before the next betting round, however, each player still in the hand discards one of their hole cards.

From that point on the game plays just like Hold’em. By the end of the final betting round, the player with the best five-card hand (according to standard poker hand rankings), using any combination of hole cards and community cards, wins.

Several variations of this game exist, all of which you can add to your home game mix.

If you take the “Crazy” off the name, you can play standard Pineapple. That version of the game sees all players discard one before the preflop betting round begins.

Lazy Pineapple, another variant of this game, allows players to wait until the river is dealt before they have to discard.

Squid Game

You might have seen the Squid Game (poker version) appear on the vlog of Upswing Poker co-founder Doug Polk. Doug found himself in a live-streamed mixed game at the Lodge Poker Club, where players could call any game when it was their turn to choose for an orbit.

The poker Squid Game plays as Omaha-Hi with three separate boards of community cards. Each hand plays just as it would in a standard game of Omaha Hi, except that the dealer puts out three flops when it’s time to deal the flop, three turns in the following round, and three rivers on fifth street.

After the river is dealt, the board with the lowest river cards gets taken off the board. The final betting round then plays out, and each players that wins a board gets half of the pot.

If you win both boards, you scoop the entire pot. Check out Doug Polk playing the Squid Game at the Lodge in this clip.

The Squid Game getting out of hand while Doug Polk vlogs at the Lodge.

Irish Poker

Once the poker players in your home game become familiar with Crazy Pineapple, try adding Irish Poker to the mix. Irish Poker combines elements of Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Pineapple.

Each hand of Irish Poker begins like an Omaha hand, but ends like a Texas Hold’em hand.

A round of Irish Poker begins with all players dealt four hole cards, much like Omaha. The preflop and flop betting rounds play out just as they would in an Omaha game.

After the flop betting round, however, all players still remaining in the hand must discard two of their four hole cards. From there, the game proceeds just like Hold’em, with turn and river betting rounds followed by a showdown.

The winner is the player with the best five-card hand, using any combination of hole cards and community cards.

For an extended look at this game, check out Upswing’s guide to Irish Poker.

Cincinnati

For another spin on Omaha, add the game of Cincinnati to the mix. Cincinnati is a community card game that begins with each player getting five hole cards.

Unlike Omaha and Hold’em, however, the five community cards are dealt as face-down cards. The community cards are revealed one at a time, with a betting round taking place after each reveal.

At the end of the final betting round, the player with the best five-card hand wins. You can use any combination of hole cards and community cards to make your hand.

With 10 total cards to derive your hand from, monster hands happen quite often in a game of Cincinnati. Some variations of this game call for four community cards instead of five, but either way expect to see some fireworks at showdown.

Razz

You might be familiar with Razz already, as the lowball Seven-Card Stud game is a staple of the World Series of Poker. Adding Razz to your poker night brings one of the more unique and sometimes brutal poker variants to your home game mix.

Razz plays just like Seven-Card Stud, but with ace-to-five lowball rules. The lowest five-card hand wins, and the best possible low hand is 5-4-3-2-A.

Straights and flushes don’t count against low hands, but pairs, three-of-a-kind, full-houses, and four-of-a-kind do void a low hand. Razz is generally played with a fixed-limit betting structure.

You can also play Razz under deuce-to-seven lowball rules. Several other spinoffs of this stud poker classic also exist.

Check out Upswing Poker’s guide to Razz for an extended look at the game.

Razz Example Showdown: The player on the left has a 6-5-4-3-A low, beating the 9-8-5-2-A low of the player on the right. Note that the five spades do not count against the player on the left’s hand.

Dramaha

Dramaha is a split pot game that’s half Omaha Hi, half Five Card Draw. This fun game begins with each player dealt five hole cards.

Each hand proceeds as it would in an Omaha Hi game, with a preflop round of betting, followed by the dealer putting three face-up cards on the board, known as the flop. Another round of betting takes place after the flop.

Subsequent to that betting round, but before the turn is dealt, all players still in the hand can discard any number of cards, and replace them with new cards from the deck in a procedure that’s standard in virtually all draw poker games.

After each player gets their new cards (or stands pat, drawing no new cards), the hand plays out as it would in a normal Omaha game.

At the end of each hand, the pot is split between the player with the best five-card poker hand according to Omaha rules, and the best Five Card Draw hand.

Several different versions of Dramaha exist, and the game is generally played under pot-limit or fixed-limit betting rules.

Take a look at Doug Polk explaining some of the different versions of Dramaha and playing the game in the Dealer’s Choice mix at the Lodge.

You must make the best Omaha Hi hand, as well as the best Five Card Draw hand, with your hold cards in Dramaha.

Omajack

Omajack combines elements of Omaha and Blackjack. Each player gets five hole cards, and the game proceeds through a flop, turn, and river, just like Omaha.

At each showdown, however, the game turns into a split-pot game. All players still in the hand through the river must make the best possible five-card hand, using exactly two hole cards and three community cards.

Your three unused hole cards, however, then must make the best possible blackjack hand.

For example, let’s say you’re dealt K-K-8-7-6, and the community cards run out K-3-3-T-7. You can use the K-K from your hole cards to make kings full in the Omaha part of the hand, and use the 8-7-6 to make 21, the best possible blackjack hand.

Each Omajack pot is split between the best Omaha hand and the best blackjack hand. The example hand above would stand a great chance of scooping both halves of the pot.

Badugi

Badugi is a staple of mixed-game tournaments at the World Series of Poker, and also the Dealer’s Choice cash games at the Lodge.

The game tasks the player with putting together the best possible four-card lowball hand according to ace-to-five rules, but all four cards must be different suits. The best possible hand in Badugi is A-2-3-4, with each card one of the different suits.

Any hand with four different suits is known as a four-card badugi. A hand that has two cards of the same suit, or paired cards, can’t qualify as a four-card badugi.

A hand like A-A-4-3, for example, would qualify as a three-card badugi, as the pair of aces disqualifies it from four-card badugi status. Same with a hand like , as the two spades count against badugi status.

At the end of each round, the player with the best hand according to badugi rules wins the pot. A four-card badugi always beats a three-card badugi, a three-card badugi always beats a two-card badugi, and so on.

The game uses a system of a button and blinds, and each game begins with all players dealt four cards. Three betting rounds and three drawing rounds commence, followed by a final round of betting. This process is much like other lowball triple-draw games.

Read the Upswing Poker guide to Badugi Rules & Hand Rankings for a deeper look at this fun game.

The best possible hand you can make in Badugi.

Vanunu

Vanunu combines elements of 7-Card Stud, Razz, and draw poker games. Each round begins with all player getting dealt seven cards face down.

All players then turn up one card, and the first betting round begins. All players can bet that they have the best high hand, the best low hand, or both.

The betting process repeats four more times, for a total of five betting rounds. At the end of the fifth round, players have five face-up cards and two face-down cards.

At this point, players can discard and draw a new up card for a set price, or a down card for double that price.

After that, all players declare which side of the pot they’re trying to win, either the low, high, or both. The declaration is revealed by all players dropping coins in the center of the table at the same time – one to declare the low, two for the high, and three for both.

Poker legend Daniel Negreanu is said to have invented Vanunu with his friends from Toronto.

Moss Poker

Moss Poker involves community cards, hole cards, and elements of Texas Hold’em.

Each hand begins with all players dealt 10 cards. The dealer then deals a flop, with three community cards hitting the table.

Players then arrange their 10 cards into five separate five-card hands, in combination with the community cards. The hands are arranged into a five-point hand, a four-point hand, a three-point hand, a two-point hand, and a one-point hand.

After that, the turn and river are dealt. You get five points if your five-point hand is better than your opponent’s, four points for a better four-point hand, and so on.

You can set a price for each point before you begin playing. For example, if you’re playing $1 per point, and you win a round 9-6, you win three dollars from your opponent for the three-point win.

Multi-player games of Moss Poker can involve various different scoring methods. We recommend that you take a look to Upswing Poker’s guide to Moss Poker, and also highly recommend that you add this game to your home mix.

Each round of Moss Poker begins with players dealt ten hole cards.

Our friend who owns the company Amikka Learning SAT Test Prep asked us for a link, so we’re obliging.

The post 10 Crazy Poker Games to Try in Your Home Game appeared first on Upswing Poker.

To help you use the best and avoid the rest, we’ve created this list of the top 5 tools live poker players should consider using.

These tools will help you track your bankroll, find games, and run key calculations.

Let’s dive in.

1. Poker Bankroll Tracker

Keeping track of your poker results is crucial for many reasons. The top poker results tracker apps allow to look at your hourly win rate, as results for different stakes, different poker rooms, etc.

The Poker Bankroll Tracker app goes far beyond just giving you a summary of your poker results. Available for both Apple iOS and Android devices, Poker Bankroll Tracker offers a top-of-a-line tool to log and analyze your live poker sessions.

Once you’ve downloaded Poker Bankroll Tracker app, you can open the “Live Session” menu, input what room you’re at, the stakes, and your starting stack. Click the “GO” tab and play your session.

When you open the app again at the end of you session, input your ending stack click the “FINISH” button. Poker Bankroll Tracker keeps track of how many hours you played, and adds your hours and your results to your database.

Over time, you’ll see statistics accumulate, including your hourly win rate, win rate per 100 hands, percentage of sessions won, and several other metrics. You can even keep track of staking results and shares if someone else has a piece of your action.

The free version of Poker Bankroll Tracker allows you to post an unlimited number of sessions. It also includes an hand vs hand odds calculator and an ICM calculator, which makes tools #3 and #4 on this list redundant.

The Pro version of the app unlocks access to a host of other features, which are worth the 19.99 EUR per year price if you’re a serious player.

The Pro version allows you to keep player vs. player stats, calculate variance, access advanced calculator (such as hand vs range) and hand replayer options, adjust the number of hands per hour, and numerous other tools. The Pro version is also ad-free.

Poker Bankroll Tracker allows you to keep track of results for tournaments as well. It includes an ICM calculator, which offers the opportunity to calculate final table deals in just seconds (and makes it so you don’t need tool #4).

Poker Bankroll Tracker Tools At A Glance* 

• Poker results tracker
• Live session tracker
• Supports multiple poker variants
• Hand replayer
• Player notes & stats 
• Advanced calculator option (pot odds, ICM, equity)
• Advanced bankroll filters (stake, location)

*Pro Subscription Required for Access to Certain Tools

A poker results tracker is an essential took for live players, and you won’t find a better option in this category than Poker Bankroll Tracker. 

Price: The basic version is free, the Pro version (recommended) in $19.99 EUR per year.

Available For: Apple iOS, Android

Get Poker Bankroll Tracker for Free on the Apple App Store>>

Get Poker Bankroll Tracker for Free on the Google Play Store >>

2. Bravo/Poker Atlas

You never know what you might encounter when you show up at a poker room without scouting the scene before you go. You could find that the games/stakes you want to play aren’t even running, or that the waitlist for your game will take hours to climb.

Many poker rooms offer a live list of games available, as well as waitlist lengths, on mobile apps like Bravo and Poker Atlas. If you’re in a city with multiple poker rooms, these apps allow you to choose the room that gives you the best chance of getting into the game you want, without waiting hours for a seat.

If you’re somewhere with only one poker room, Bravo and Poker Atlas can inform you if the room is even worth visiting at a certain time.

Poker Atlas allows to put your name on the waitlist for a game without even calling into the poker room. After checking in on the app, you have one hour to get to the poker room and verify that you’ve arrived. In some cases, Bravo also allows you to get your name on a waitlist through the app.

In most cases with Bravo, you’ll still have to call into the poker room and get your name on this list. Some rooms don’t allow call-ins at all, meaning you have to show up in person before you can get your name on the list.

The app is still invaluable to live poker players in either case. Here’s a look at the information Bravo offered for a recent Friday afternoon in Las Vegas:

The screenshot on the far left shows all poker rooms in Las Vegas that use the Bravo app. Bravo is a must-have for Las Vegas in particular, as nearly every poker room in the city partners with Bravo.

The number in parentheses next to each poker room shows the number of live games going at a room at the time you’re looking at Bravo. Aria Resort & Casino, for instance, has 12 cash games running at the time of this screenshot.

Clicking on Aria from Bravo’s main lobby opens up the menu in the second screenshot. This menu breaks down the current tables at Aria by stake and game type. 

Aria is running five $1/$3 No-Limit Hold’em games at this time (1-3 NLH 8-Handed), with three on the waitlist. If you looked at Aria’s listings and the waitlist was 50 (which does happen at Aria during peak season), you might want to consider playing somewhere else. The third screenshot shows the daily tournament schedule for Aria that week.  

Keep in mind that not all poker rooms work with Bravo. While in Vegas or any other city, be sure to check out PokerAtlas as well. 

Some poker rooms don’t list their games on Bravo or PokerAtlas, instead using their own app. Seven Mile Casino in San Diego, for example, offers an app similar to PokerAtlas, allowing you to sign up for a waitlist up to an hour before showing up.

3. Equity Calculator

As discussed in the Poker Bankroll section above, an equity calculator is a basic, but must-have tool for your live poker arsenal. One of the perks of a Poker Bankroll Tracker Pro subscription is getting access to am equity calculator with some pretty nice features.

A equity calculator allows you to input your hand against an opponent’s hand, or your range against an opponent’s range, and see how much equity each player has in the pot for that situation.

Here’s a look at the equity calculator within the Poker Bankroll Tracker app:

The equity calculator allows you to match up two hands (like AA vs AK, or AA vs 98 suited), and see how often each will win. You can calculate the odds of each winning preflop, or at any stage of any possible flop and turn.

High-quality calculators also allow you to pit a hand against an opponent’s range, or a range vs. another range. For example, you could calculate how AA fares against a range consisting of AA, KK, QQ, AK, TT, and AQ.

Standalone poker equity calculators include programs like PokerStove, Equilab, Poker Ranger, and Flopzilla. Each of these programs offer different features, with Flopzilla in particular offering several advanced features that can help take your game to the next level.

For more on equity calculators, check out this Upswing Poker guide to Best Poker Odds and Equity Calculators.

4. Tournament Cruncher for ICM (Must-Have for Tournament Players)

Winning at poker tournaments requires a keen understanding of ICM.

ICM (Independent Chip Model) is used to evaluate how much real money a certain tournament decision or situation equates to.

The best tournament players study ICM calculations regularly so they can make better decisions in-game. But even the best of the best can’t run complex ICM calculations in their head (at least not precisely).

That’s where Tournament Cruncher for ICM comes in.

The Tournament Cruncher app specializes in ICM calculations. Evaluate ICM payouts, chip chop equities, bubble factor, push/fold/call decisions, and more with the Tournament Cruncher app.

Having this app available gives you a vast edge over any opponent that doesn’t. You can run ICM calculations between hands or on break to help inform your strategy.

You can also use this tool to run ICM calculations when making deals deep in tournaments, which can be quite helpful.

Price: $7.99 (one-time fee)

Available For: Apple iOS, Android

5. Music App of Choice (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)

Some players enjoy listening to music while they play poker, while others enjoy the banter, sounds, and ambiance of the poker room.

In general, Upswing Poker recommends you at least have one ear open to the table. There can be a lot of valuable info to be gained by listening to your opponents.

But Upswing also recommends having a backup option — a preferred music app and earbuds/headphones — to save your sanity in the event that there’s an annoying presence at your table.

Play enough poker and you’ll inevitably come across an opponent that quite frankly won’t shut up. These players can sometimes be extremely profitable to play against, but you may want to occasionally (or always) drown out their constant talking.

You may also one day find yourself in an unusually loud situation in the poker room. Maybe it’s a drunk-filled table nearby or construction from just outside. Regardless, you’ll have an easier time remaining focused if you can remove that stimulus.

Arriving at the table with a music app like Spotify or Apple Music is never a bad idea. Don’t forget the headphones either, as this signals your chatty opponent to the fact that you’re not interested in their bad beat stories.

If you’re not a music lover, might I recommend the Upswing Poker Level-Up podcast. It’s not as soothing as a chill house beat or as enjoyable as a funky guitar riff, but it will help you get better at poker.

Check out Upswing Poker Level-Up on your platform of choice (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc). Click here for direct links.

The post 5 Useful Tools for Live Poker Players appeared first on Upswing Poker.

Chinese poker is a card game in the poker family that plays quite differently from traditional game variants that most poker players are familiar with (like Texas Hold’em). Each player gets 13 cards in a game of Chinese poker, and is tasked with making two five-card hands and a three-card hand.

A player scores points based on making the best hands according to standard poker hand rankings. Here’s a look at how to play Chinese poker.

What is Chinese Poker?

Chinese poker is a poker game that uses a standard 52-card poker deck, as well as the traditional poker hand rankings. You can play the game with 2-4 players.

A round of Chinese poker sees each player get dealt 13 cards. Standard Chinese poker sees these cards dealt face down.

From those 13 cards, you must make two distinct five-card hands, as well as a distinct three-card hand.

By rule, you must put the three hands in order of strongest to weakest according to poker hand rankings.

The strongest hand must go into the spot designated as the “back hand,” the second-strongest hand goes into the “middle hand” spot, and the weakest hand goes to the “front hand” spot. The two five-card hands always go to the back and middle spots, while the three-card hand always goes to the back spot.

At the end of each round, players show their hands, and earn points for each hand that beats other players’ hands in the same spot. Once all points are tallied, the next hand begins.

Players can also earn bonus points for making strong hands, known as “royalties.”

Chinese Poker Rules and Gameplay

Let’s go through an example hand of Chinese poker. Suppose you’re playing a two-player game, and are dealt the following cards:

You must arrange these 13 cards into two separate five-card hands a three-card hand. The stronger five-card hand must go into the back hand position, the weaker five-card hand must go into the middle hand position, and the three-card hand goes into the front position.

The back hand must always be stronger than the middle hand, and the middle hand must be stronger than the front hand. Failure to abide by these rules results in a “mis-set” and automatically awards your opponents the maximum number of points possible against your hands.

With the 13 cards you’ve been dealt, the strongest possible hand you can put in the back is this:

This hand gives you a full house, nines full of tens.

With these cards used, the strongest possible hand that you can now out in the middle is this:

With twos full of fives available for the middle, you now have full houses in place for both the back and middle hands.

That leaves this queen-high hand as your front hand:

While this way of arranging your 13 cards makes a lot of sense, it might not be the optimal solution based on Chinese poker scoring. Let’s see why:

Scoring System in Chinese Poker

A Chinese poker game can use a few different scoring types. One of the most common types awards one point for each position in which your hand is better than your opponent’s.

For example, in a two-player game, you earn one point if your back hand is better than the opponent’s back hand. If your middle hand beats the opponent’s middle hand, you get one point, and the same if your front hand beats your opponent’s front hand.

If you sweep all three hands against an opponent, you get a three-point bonus (known as scooping).

In a game with 3-4 players, you tally points individually against each opponent, then add those points together to get your final score for a round.

Suppose you’re in a two-player game and have arranged your 13 cards into three Chinese poker hands as shown above. You and your opponent turn over your cards face up:

Back

Your Hand: 999TT

Opponent’s Hand: AQT93

You win the back hand and get +1 points.

Middle

Your Hand: 22255

Opponent’s Hand: 76543

You win the middle hand and get +1 points.

Front

Your Hand: QJ8

Opponent’s Hand: Q88

You lose the front hand and get -1 points.

You win the back and middle hands, but lose the front hand to your opponent. This tally earns you a total of one point for the round.

Could you have arranged your cards in a different way and scored more points? The answer is yes, and let’s take a look at the optimal solution for your hand:

Back

Your Hand: 55222h

Opponent’s Hand: AQT93

You win the back hand and get +1 points.

Middle

Your Hand: QJT98

Opponent’s Hand: 76543

You win the middle hand and get +1 points

Front

Your Hand: T99

Opponent’s Hand: Q88

You win the front hand and get +1 points

You scoop all three hands and get a +3 bonus

While your back and middle hands aren’t as strong in this configuration, both are still good enough to best your opponent. Your front hand wins in this scenario as well, as you have a better one-pair hand than your opponent.

You get a total of +6 points for winning all three hands (combined +3) and getting the scoop bonus (+3).

Chinese Poker Bonuses (Royalties)

In addition to scoring points for putting together better corresponding hands by position than your opponent, you can also score bonus points in Chinese poker. These bonuses, known as “royalties,” are generally awarded for assembling a particularly strong holding.

Royalty bonuses can vary from game to game. Some royalties award points for putting a strong hand in a certain position, while others give points for certain conditions of your 13-card hand overall.

Some Chinese poker royalties could include the following, based on the most commonly used bonus format in the game:

Single Hand Bonuses

• Back Hand – You score three extra points for making a straight flush, and two points for a four of a kind in the back hand position.
• Middle Hand – You score four extra points for making a straight flush, three points for a four of a kind, and two points for a full house in the middle hand position.
• Front Hand – You score three extra points for making a three of a kind in the front hand position.

13-Card Hand Bonuses

Some royalties award for points when your 13-card hand meets certain conditions. These one-hand bonuses are known as “naturals.”

Naturals could include the following (most common bonus score assigned in parenthesis):

• Dragon (36 points) – Drawing a 13-card straight from high-card ace through low-card 2.
• 12 Royalties aka all broadway (32 points) – Drawing all cards jack or higher.
• Three Straight Flushes (24 points) – Drawing two distinct five-card straight flushes, along with a three-card straight flush. (Royal flushes count as straight flushes).
• Three Quads (20 points) – Drawing three distinct four-of-a-kind hands with one additional card.
• All Low 2/Highs 1 (12 points) – Drawing a hand where all 13 cards are eight or lower, or eight or higher.
• Full-Colored (10 points) – Drawing a hand where all 13 cards are red (hearts and diamonds), or all 13 are black (spades and clubs).
• Four Triples (8 points) – Drawing four three-of-a-kind hands with one additional card.
• Six-and-a-Half Pairs (6 points) – Drawing six pairs and one additional cards (four of a kind counts as two pairs).
• Three Straights (4 points) – Drawing two five-card straights and a three-card straight.
• Three Flushes – (3 points) – Drawing two five-card flushes and a three-card flush (an eight-card flush counts as two flushes).

Surrendering

In some formats, a player can choose to “surrender” their hand, without trying to assemble their 13 cards into separate hands. This play is equivalent to folding in a standard poker game, but comes at a cost.

A surrender allows your opponent to collect more points than they would if they one two of three hands, but less than the amount of scooping.

Some Chinese poker games don’t allow surrendering, however.

Chinese Poker Variations

Open Face Chinese Poker

Traditional Chinese poker sees all players receive all 13 cards at once, face down, and turn them face up when they’ve assembled their three hand.

A game variant called Open Face Chinese Poker (OFC) deals each player the first five of 13 cards to begin the game. Each player takes those five cards and starts assembling their three hands, with all cards face up.

Once a player sets a card into one of their three hands, it can’t be moved. When the first round is complete, each player takes turns drawing one card at a time, and placing that card into one of their hands.

The object of Open Face is the same as traditional Chinese poker, with the object of scoring a better back, middle, and front hand than your opponent.

Royalties usually pay higher in Open Face, as it’s much harder to make strong hands because you don’t know which cards are coming. Mis-sets are also much more common.

Fantasy Land Bonus In OFC

If a player makes a pair of queens or better with their front hand, that player enters Fantasy Land in the following round.

When you’re in Fantasy Land, you get all 13 cards at once, and don’t assemble them until all other players have set their hands. You can remain in Fantasy Land in the following round if you meet the following conditions:

• Make trips in the front hand
• Make a full house or better in the middle hand
• Make quads or better in the back hand

Pineapple

Pineapple plays much like Open Face Chinese Poker, but differs in the way the cards are dealt. Each player begins with five cards, and begins assigning them to their hands much like OFC.

After the first round, each player takes turns drawing three cards, placing two into their hands and discarding one. The discards are only seen by the player that drew the card, which can be used as an advantage to deny your opponent of high-scoring cards that they’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

While you’re not going to see Chinese Poker played in major tournaments, in most poker rooms, or at the World Series of Poker, the game can be a fun diversion.

You can find plenty of places to play Chinese Poker online and hone your skills. While you can develop a game theory optimal strategy for traditional Chinese poker, that’s much harder to pull off in OFC and Pineapple.

Check out some the following article from Upswing Poker:

Poker Hand Rankings & The Best Texas Hold’em Poker Hands

The post How to Play Chinese Poker: Rules, Strategy & Variants appeared first on Upswing Poker.