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Video Vibes: Lex Veldhuis Talks About His Role in PokerStars’ New ‘Level Up With Lex’ Feature

Lex Veldhuis spoke with PokerScout about his role with PokerStars new "Level Up With Lex" training tool and the feedback so far.

PokerStars launched the “Level Up With Lex” training option in early December. The feature gives players personalized strategy advice from site ambassador Lex Veldhuis using artificial intelligence and personalized videos.

Level Up WIth Lex offers a high-tech approach to honing a player’s skills. Veldhuis’s tips focus on improvement and education based on that player’s actual playing style. 

After two months, players from around the world have had a chance to check out the feature. Veldhuis recently spoke with PokeScout about Level Up and his role in developing the strategy tool.

A unique PokerStars training development

Level Up With Lex offers PokerStars players their own virtual coach. The technology reads and analyzes hand histories to detect mistakes as players play at the online tables.

Veldhuis believes the feature doesn’t just offer players a chance to improve, but is also an entertaining way for players to work on their skills.

“I think what really sets Level Up With Lex apart is that it’s a player-supporting tool that makes the community’s experiences in poker more pleasurable and fun,” he says, “while giving them highly personalized advice that’s easy to take on board, using innovative technology.”

The option can also be especially helpful to new players and shorten the time needed to see tangible results.

“I think that when you start playing poker it can be very daunting,” he says. “What hands do you play? What’s the strategy for a good starting hand – especially in real money games? I think the learning curve can be quite imposing.”

Veldhuis also likes the personalized aspect – giving players a coach in their corner.

“I think something that can help you not feel alone is getting the video from Level Up With Lex that points out some mistakes,” he says. “It also triggers a little bit of thinking about the depth of the strategy and really shows the depth of the game.”

Lending his voice

As one of the most popular Twitch poker streamers, educating other players is a big part of Veldhuis’s platform. PokerStars thought those aspects made the Dutch poker pro a good fit.

He also likes new players being able to watch one of his Level Up strategy videos and then heading to his Twitch stream to ask for even more advice.

“I think it’s a really cool first step to show them that they can find more information elsewhere, be helped and taught, and that they can share their interest in poker with like-minded people,” he says.

The actual video and voice production was a lengthy process. Beyond recording, he also made suggestions on voice lines and helped work on the wording in certain contexts.

“But all the learning content was done by the wonderful team that has a lot of experience working with the tool, knowing what works best and giving the right information for players,” Veldhuis says.

“I did about 20 hours of voice recording, which was quite funny. I must admit, it felt a little bit awkward at first – being on a Zoom call with four other people and having to say the line three or four times with different types of emotions. It was a fun process.”

The Level Up With Lex host battling it out at the live poker tables. The new toolk has received positive feedback so far. (photos courtesy PokerStars)

A helping hand

Educating other players has always been a part of Veldhuis’s platform. That motivation may come from his own days as a beginner in the game.

Early in his career while playing $1/$2 tables, Veldhuis wrote to a few poker pros asking for some advice. Some actually responded and Veldhuis found that extremely motivational and appreciated their efforts. The Level Up With Lex feature now allows him to extend some of his own efforts to help other players as well. The response may even serve as a springboard for even more strategy content from Veldhuis.

“It was an ‘all in this together’ kind of feeling and I think that’s really powerful,” he says. “I already have that through Twitch because I give people a lot of advice, which I enjoy, but Level Up With Lex is in a more traditional educational way.

“It’s not as reactive as when I’m streaming live, I’m speaking and interacting with the audience. Level Up With Lex is actually something that people use without me knowing and the most surprising thing is that it’s really triggered some sort of creativity for me and a sense of new things I would like to try.



Feedback and leveling up

There’s no shortage of strategy content available to players. However, Level Up brings something new to an online poker platform. Players get a video review of their play right in the software client.

So far, Veldhuis has been pleased with some of the feedback he’s received on the feature. For example, a friend playing Spin & Go’s and watched the video advice.

The player found the option a non-intrusive way of receiving feedback and a nice way to examine his playing habits.

“He said what it showed in the video was that what he was doing was actually a big mistake and he felt the challenge to play better next time,” Veldhuis says. “So that was pretty much the best feedback I could have gotten, so I was glad to hear that, and online in the Twitch chat I’ve had community members who have had experience with it and really liked it too.”

Appealing to new players

Level Up is currently available for players at PokerStars Sit & Go tables. The company continues taking in feedback from players. For now, the tool is meant for beginners looking to improve their experience.

As more operators look to bring in new players and appeal to recreational players, Level Up With Lex offers a unique part of those efforts. The tool is meant to make players’ first poker experiences more pleasurable, safe, and fun.

Those who see improvements have a better chance of cashing in tournaments. That offers operators a chance to keep more players in the game and having fun.

“Generally, the thing I hear is that it’s a playful way to try and get better and I really think that poker should be like that,” Veldhuis says. “I think if you keep it as easy access for people and give them tips and point out bigger mistakes in a playful way, I think that goes a long way. So I’m really glad it’s being received that way.”

Lex Veldhuis encourages players to visit his Twitch channel and offer their own feedback on Level Up With Lex. he notes: “I have a very welcoming, chilled community, so there’s always plenty of advice from them as well.”

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Online Skill Building: Dara O’Kearney’s ‘Endgame Poker Strategy’ – ICM in 30 Minutes

Poker pro Dara O’Kearney offers some ICM advice from his latest book Endgame Poker Strategy with poker author Barry Carter.

Poker pro Dara O’Kearney’s latest book with longtime poker author Barry Carter offers players a guide to success in the later stages of a tournament. Endgame Poker Strategy is the third book in the “Poker Solved” series.

In this excerpt from the book, players can gain some insight into understanding basic ICM (independent chip model) situations. As ICMPoker.com notes, “In poker ICM allows you to convert tournament players’ stacks in chips into their money equity (as percentage of total or remaining prize pool).”

Online poker players can certainly benefit from these strategies. O’Kearney offers plenty of insight.

Considering ICM in later stages

To get the most out of this book we think you should use it as an addendum to further study away from the tables in the form of hand reviews, solver simulations, and coaching.

This is a book you should return to several times and make plenty of notes. Most of the lessons should help you right away but some of them will require additional effort. 

This will take time and you are not expected to read this book quickly, nor stop playing until it is finished. We appreciate that some of you might even have bought this book ahead of playing in a big tournament.

For that reason, we begin with some immediate fixes you can make to your game around ICM that should have an immediate benefit. In this book we want you to learn the why behind the ways ICM changes your game.

But until then if you are happy to trust in the following advice without further explanation, these changes should improve your win rate right away.

Losing hurts more than winning feels good

This is perhaps the philosophy of ICM that you should internalize right away. As you might have worked out in the previous chapter, because there is not a 1:1 ratio of chips to cash like there are in ChipEV cash games, you never win more than you risk in a tournament hand.

You might be calling a 500-chip bet to win a 1,000 chip pot, which is a healthy return on your chips. But you might be risking $50 in tournament equity to win an extra $30.

The immediate adjustment, therefore, is to play tighter in tournaments than you would in cash games. You need to play stronger hands than you would in a cash game because you need to win more often to justify the risk. 

In practice that means shaving the bottom of your range a little, especially when you are calling a bet. If your calling range in a cash game would be 44+, KJs+, ATo+, A9s+, maybe take a few pips off that range to make it 77+, KQs, AQo+, and AJs+. 

In particular you should dramatically tighten up your calling range near the bubble, with at a minimum something like 88+, AQs+, AJo+, but probably something even tighter.

You will not be making a massive mistake, until you have learned more about ICM, by only playing QQ+ and AKs on the literal bubble of a tournament.

You’ll learn what factors widen or tighten your calling range as we progress. But until then, keep it to hands you figure to be ahead most of the time. 

Small pairs lose their value

A specific note on hand selection and that is that small pocket pairs that you would be happy to set mines with in a cash game go dramatically down in value in tournaments as you get nearer the money.

Engame Poker Strategy co-authors Barry Carter and Dara O’Kearney.

It is not a bad idea to remove pairs below sixes entirely from your range when you are near the money and/or with shallow stacks.

This is in part because the hands you will get called by will tend to dominate them or at least be overcards. It is pretty much never a good thing to get in coin flips in the late stages of a tournament, even though they are an aspect of televised poker that is glamorized.

Also, small pairs realize equity poorly. There are so many flops where you will be forced to fold because small pairs are too weak to stand much ICM pressure.

If you have 55 and the flop is 9-T-K you cannot put any more money in the middle and are at best hoping to check it down.

Most of the time the stacks are shallower when ICM influences the action. So you usually won’t be getting the implied odds to play small pairs anyway. 

It feels weak at first to just open fold a pocket pair in a tournament but overvaluing the “best hand right now” is a particularly dangerous leak. There are times when small pairs play well, but until we discuss them, just throw them away. 

Blockers go up in value

On the flip side, you can make up for the small pair removal by adding more hands that block big hands. You will discover that suited Aces and suited broadway hands go up in value in the late stages of a tournament.

This is because when you have an Ace in your own hand it makes it less likely your opponent has one. Because you need a tighter calling range in tournaments, you are more likely to get folds when you have an Ace in your hand because the typical calling ranges are mostly made up of AA, AK, KK, QQ, JJ hands.

If you raise with 22 there are 16 potential combinations of AK and six combinations of AA out there, for example. But if you raise with A2s there are only 12 combinations of AK and three combinations of AA. You will run into a big Ax hand 30% less often in this example with A2s than you will with 22. 

The same is true to a lesser extent with suited broadway hands like K9s and QTs. Think of those hands as having 1/2 or 1/4 of a blocker.

They will play better in late position, if you raise them early you will almost certainly run into Ax. We like the Ax and Kx hands to be suited because it gives us outs when we do get called and we are otherwise dominated. If you get reraised and have plenty of chips behind, just throw the hand away.

When you do get dealt a hand like A5s and you raise with it, don’t tell yourself you are raising because you have a strong hand. Tell yourself you are raising because it is much less likely your opponents have a hand they can continue with. 

Who covers whom is important

The nearer you get to the money, the more significant your risk of elimination becomes in your decision making. You should always pay attention to who can bust you at your table, who is close to busting, and who is somewhere in the middle.

Consider playing a wider range of hands against a player you can bust, because they have to play tighter against you. You can play more aggressively against a player you cover and take them off more pots.

Fold equity becomes very important in the late stages of a tournament when the blinds are high, so maximize your chances of taking down pots uncontested. 

If you are the player who is covered, you should play more passively and take fewer risks. Pot control your hands, avoid thin value bets and be prepared to fold in hands you would probably call in a cash game. Your opponent should be playing more aggressively against you, so a more passive style should earn you more chips overall anyway.

The bigger your stack, the more aggressive you can be. If you only have 5% more chips than your opponent then they represent almost as big a threat to you as you do to them. When you have twice as many chips as them you can take liberties.

Likewise if you have a very short stack do not expect to intimidate many people. But if there is a player whom you can hurt because they are also short, they should be your target for aggression. 

Play tighter as the short stack

This goes against a lot of prevailing wisdom and instincts. Many people believe that when they have a short stack they have to gamble to avoid being blinded out. That is a fallacy.

The fewer chips you have the more each one is worth in terms of equity. 

The few chips you have are worth more to you than they are to the other players, so they need protecting. It may feel counterintuitive but the shorter your stack, the tighter you should play.

How tight is hard to say without further study. But for now just narrow your range as much as you can bear when you get short stacked. 

If you are going to pick a player to steal from while you are the short stack, target the next shortest player. They will not want to become the short stack and they are the player you can threaten the most.

While it is true that a big stack will call you with a wider range of hands you can beat, it is better to take the pots down uncontested wherever you can. 

A complete guide to online poker for April 24-26.

ICM most extreme on bubble & final table bubble

Most of you probably know that you should play much tighter on the bubble, it probably makes perfect sense. It’s the last time you can bust before securing a min-cash.

Even amateur players who have never heard the term ICM realize this and you will see them stalling near the bubble. You need a very strong hand to risk elimination on a tournament bubble. And you will discover in this book there are plenty of spots where Pocket Kings is a fold, and Ace-King suited should be an easy fold.

However, when you have a big stack, this means you can exploit how tight people should fold by being more aggressive. If you have a very big stack you should try and extend the bubble as long as possible to pick up lots of small pots from people hanging on until the money.

The flip side of having to play very tight as the short stack is that you can play very aggressively as the big stack and the bubble is where you can do that the most.

What fewer people know is that ICM is at its second most extreme on the bubble of the final table. This is because most of the money is on the final table and the pay jumps get bigger with each elimination. You should, therefore, play almost as tight just before the final table. 

Although there is the most money on the final table, while ICM plays a big role it does not play as big a role as you think once you get there.

ICM on the bubble

In fact ICM is less extreme with every elimination. ICM is less powerful with four players left than it is with six players left, because the players have secured more money they cannot lose.

What you tend to see on the final table is players playing very tight because they have their heart set on a particular pay jump. The money for third place might represent something significant for them in their real life, but from an ICM perspective they should not be playing like it’s a bubble. 

The quick adjustment before we go further is that with every elimination at the final table you can play looser than the previous pay jump.

Play tighter with flat payouts or micro/mega stack

The other thing that should significantly tighten your range is when the stack sizes or payouts make it more important to lock up second place than go for the win.

One example of this is when the payouts are flatter, ie. second, third, fourth, and so on get a much closer prize to first place than they typically would.

So a typical final table might pay out the final four players like this:

  • 1st: $2,200
  • 2nd: $1,000
  • 3rd: $800
  • 4th: $600

An example of a flat final table payout structure might be more like this:

  • 1st: $1,900
  • 2nd: $1,100
  • 3rd: $900
  • 4th: $700

The same dynamic occurs when there is a runaway chip leader who has, for example, more than half the chips in play, or paradoxically, a micro stack who is going to bust next. 

In all three situations, the advice is to play tighter than usual. We’ll get into the reasons throughout this book but when a micro stack is almost guaranteed to hand you a pay jump it would be a disaster to bust before them.

When the chip leader is almost guaranteed to win top prize, you should be looking at second place prize money rather than taking big risks to catch up to him in chips.

When the payouts are flatter, laddering becomes more profitable. Just take our word for it for now, you will make more money overall by tightening up in these dynamics. 

Play smaller fields

You will learn the most about ICM by playing smaller field MTTs (multi-table tournaments), which we define as 50-200 players online. This is because you will find yourself on bubbles and at final tables more often.

The reason why SNG (sit and go) and MTTSNG grinders have a deeper understanding of ICM than players who specialize in huge field tournaments is more repetitive exposure to relevant spots.

We also think these tournaments are typically softer overall and much easier to handle from a mental game perspective. At an absolute minimum you should play more small field MTTs while you are learning the ropes about ICM. 

There is no ICM heads-up

When there are just two players remaining you have both secured second-place prize money. You are now just competing for the first-place prize difference.

This is the only time when you can play a 100% ChipEV style because there is only one prize being contested.

You will often see players overfold heads up because they have been doing it for the entire tournament. But now is the time to take small edges if you think you are ahead in ChipEV terms.

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Poker Sensei: ‘Level Up With Lex’ Offers PokerStars Players Some Personal Coaching From a Pro

PokerStars is now offering players a chance to sharpen their skills with site ambassador Lex Veldhuis. The new “Level Up With Lex” feature allows players to ramp up their poker strategy and hone their poker skills.

The new offering allows online poker players to receive personalized videos from one of the most well-known faces in poker. The high-tech approach bases advice on a player’s own habits at the table.

“Personalization of our players’ experience and making their time with us more beneficial is at the heart of this innovation,” PokerStars managing director and commercial officer of poker, product, and innovation Severin Rasset said in a news release.

“We wanted to give our players a seamless and interesting way to improve and learn. When people are improving and progressing their skills, they generally enjoy the experience more and this is great for the game. This is the first large-scale, consumer-facing use of artificial intelligence for online poker and we are truly excited to bring this to our players who get the benefit of learning from Lex and one of the most sophisticated tools in online gaming.”  

PokerStars offers players their own virtual mentor

The new feature allows players to have their own virtual poker coach with Veldhuis offering some guidance.

“Lex Veldhuis provides clear, simple and personalized poker advice videos based on a player’s real money Spin & Go game, helping to improve their skills in a safe environment and create more winning moments,” PokerStars notes of Level Up with Lex.

Veldhuis’s tips focus on improvement and education and the entire concept comes after quite a bit of work for PokerStars. Each piece of advice is based on data generated by the site’s proprietary machine learning platform.

The technology reads and analyzes hand histories to detect mistakes. For example if a player struggles with playing on the button, that player might have advice on being more aggressive in that spot.

Each piece of advice is therefore correct and true to that individual player’s actions at the table.

PokerStars officials say the company recognized and invested in the potential of machine learning early on. The site’s proprietary technologies have been active for some time and play a key role in site security.

This technology allows Stars to police poker tables to protect the integrity of the game and ensure a level playing field. The goal is to enhance the customer experience and the Level Up feature now expands the use of this technology.

The personalized videos can be created by opting in on “The Rail” in the PokerStars client. The videos can then be viewed there or received via email or push notification. Players can select their own communication preferences in the settings area.

A quick look at Lex

Those taking advantage of “Level Up with Lex” will receive advice from someone with some real skins on the wall. Veldhuis is one of the most well-known and successful players in poker and has the most popular poker stream on Twitch.

Online, the Dutch poker pro has scored big in major tournaments like the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).

In 2020, Veldhuis’s Twitch stream reached a personal record of 58,543 concurrent viewers watching his SCOOP Main Event High run. He also has $687,955 in the live poker arena as well.

The new skill-building service now adds yet another interesting aspect to his poker resumé.

“Level Up With Lex aims to help the PokerStars community develop their skills in a unique way and I’m proud to be part of this innovation,” Veldhuis said.

“Learning poker strategy as a beginner can be challenging as there’s so many resources out there. But Level Up With Lex gives clear and simple advice that’s easy to take on board, meaning players get the most out of their time at the tables. It’s taken a lot of hard work and effort and I’m looking forward to seeing players benefitting from this technology.”

★★★ Looking to get in the action at PokerStars? Click here for a complete site review and exclusive PokerScout bonus offers. ★★★

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PokerStars Adds German Pro Benjamin Rolle, Deal With ‘Raise Your Edge’ Training Site

PokerStars announced the signing of German poker pro Benjamin “BenCB” Rolle to its roster of poker ambassadors on Friday.

Fresh off adding Argentinian freestyle rapper Papo MC, PokerStars announced another signing on Friday. German poker pro Benjamin “BenCB” Rolle now joins the site’s roster of poker ambassadors and will also be a key poker training addition.

Rolle is no stranger to success on the site and holds WCOOP and SCOOP titles. Beyond his skills at the tables, he’s also the founder of the Raise Your Edge training site. He now adds a PokerStars sponsorship deal to his poker resumé as well.

“I’m thrilled to be working alongside PokerStars to continue to find ways to positively impact the future of online poker,” Rolle said in a news release. “Working together with PokerStars, I’ll be able to work on new content and become even more creative when trying to introduce more players to the game.

“I am very excited and grateful for this opportunity. I see it as a great responsibility to represent PokerStars, to remain a voice of the community, and act as a bridge between them and the platform.”

From successful poker player to well-known poker coach to PokerStars ambassador

Rolle has seen many online poker successes. He won the 2014 SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) main event for more than $250,000. In 2016, he added a WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) Super High Roller title for more than $1.2 million.

At the Sit & Go tables, Rolle was among the top 10 in 2013 and 2014, according to SharkScope. He also placed first in 2015 in the rankings.

Since 2019, Rolle has served poker players through his coaching and streaming on his Twitch channel. As part of his new role with PokerStars, he’ll be streaming his action on the site regularly.

“Ben is arguably one of the world’s top multi-table tournament players and has been crushing high stakes for many years,” PokerStars associate director of communities and partnerships Scott Goodall said.

“On top of that, he and his amazing team at Raise Your Edge have built up and supported a huge community through education, engagement, and a passion to not only play but to learn the game that we all love in a safe environment.”

Raise Your Edge also part of the deal

The signing aligns with PokerStars’ new partnership with Raise Your Edge. The deal with the coaching site goes live next month.

In recent years, more online poker platforms are seeing the benefits of teaming up with poker strategy platforms. Several other operators also have deals in place.

Rolle, Raise Your Edge, and PokerStars will team up to help current and new players improve their game through:

  • exclusive content
  • live training
  • courses to improve poker strategy

PokerStars will reveal more details about the Raise Your Edge partnership in the coming weeks.

“Working with Ben and Raise Your Edge, PokerStars will be able to provide top standard content and gain valuable feedback and input from Ben, the RYE community, as well as our existing ambassadors and partners, to ensure we can continuously improve and provide the best experience for all our players and communities,” Goodall added.

“This partnership is something we are all very excited about here at PokerStars.”

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ONLINE POKER STRATEGY: Advice from PokerStars Streamer and Series Host Lex Veldhuis

Lex Veldhuis spoke with PokerScout about his role with PokerStars new "Level Up With Lex" training tool and the feedback so far.

The “Lex Not Live” tournament series continues through the weekend at PokerStars with buy-ins ranging from $11 to $55. The series is hosted by site ambassador Lex Veldhuis and stresses a community aspect seen on Twitch streams.

One of the most popular Twitch Poker streamers, Veldhuis has almost $700,000 in live tournament winnings and more online. A poker pro for 16 years, he’s been streaming his action for the last five years. He spends about $60,000 a month competing in online tournaments.

As Lex Not Live continues, the PokerStars ambassador spoke with PokerScout this week to offer some strategy advice for online players.

♠♠♠ For a complete preview and schedule of the Lex Not Live series, click here. ♠♠♠

Transitioning to online poker

Online poker exploded over the last year and a half. That has included new players jumping in the game. What are some concepts new and intermediate players should keep in mind when adjusting to online poker?

Veldhuis says live poker is an information game and the same is true for online poker. But the online version features a different sense of information.

“You don’t see people and you don’t have the social aspects,” he says. “In online poker, you try to look much more for betting patterns, for instance, or how quickly somebody acts. So it’s a little bit more of a ‘numbers information’ stream.”

Online poker players can get in the action with PokerStars streamer Lex Veldhuis in the “Lex Not Live” series from May 18-23.

Online poker also features much more action than live poker. Hands move faster and some live players may get caught out of their comfort zone. It’s important not to take on more than a player can handle.

“I think that live players can sometimes be caught out in online poker as they can play too many tables when they play online,” Veldhuis says, “because they get super excited and then all of a sudden they’re playing six tournaments, and they’re not playing their best on all of them. So, I think that’s something they should take into account.”

Avoiding common bankroll mistakes

As players go online, some may be tempted to play bigger buy-in events hoping for a large score. Veldhuis recommends avoiding this pitfall. Stay within your bankroll to gradually move up as a player finds success.

“I think that a lot of people jump in a bit too high because you can play more games and can play games at the same time,” he says. “It’s easier to play a little bit lower and better.

“If you go to a live tournament, you may normally play a $200 tournament. You travel to a live tournament so that’s worth it, right. But if you play online and play a similar buy-in, you don’t get that whole trip for it and you can play multiple ones at the same time for that buy-in.”

Players who may be accustomed to playing $200 events in a live setting may not be at the same level online. Multiple buy-ins at that level may sink a bankroll because the action moves so quickly. A few quick eliminations can deplete those poker funds.

“It’s a new beast that you’re trying to approach, so if I was a new player online, I would definitely step down a few levels,” he says. “See what it’s like, play a few tournaments at the same time and not too many. Online and live are two different games, and I think it’s good to approach that with care.”

Lex Veldhuis battling it out at the live tables of the European Poker Tour.

Strategy advice for playing new games

Lex Not Live features some unique games many players may not have played, such as Fusion and 6+ Hold’em. How should players who have never played them before approach these games?

Veldhuis says many players jumping in these events during Lex Note Live will actually be in the same boat.

“The good thing about these games and these tournaments specifically is that a lot of the players that are playing will be community players that watch Twitch a lot and that go to Lex Live,” he says. “So that means that you’re not going to play against people that grind Six-Card PLO or play Fusion a lot.

“There’s a lot of people in these tournaments that are discovering the game for the first time, so that makes it a little bit more of a level playing field.”

For those completely new, Veldhuis suggests reading through the rules thoroughly. Consider some possible strategies as you adjust to the new format.

“Don’t play too many tables and just play and pay attention to what happens on the table,” he says. “See how other people do and what their strategies are, and see if you can pick up something interesting from that.”

Lex Not Live also features lower buy-in levels with most events priced at $11. This offers players a chance to try something new without breaking the bank.

“Also, new games give you a pretty cool perspective on a different way a poker game can be played,” Veldhuis says, “which sometimes gives you also some inspiration for a No Limit Hold’em game, for instance.”

Moving from No Limit Hold’em to PLO

A few events in Veldhuis’s series feature Pot Limit Omaha (PLO). The game continues to grow in popularity and he offered some advice for Hold’em players looking to play. 

“It’s a completely different game, a lot of people go into PLO with a No Limit Hold’em mindset,” he says. “They check to the raiser a lot or to the person who bet the previous street. But PLO’s a very dynamic game. The board changes a lot. The board favors different players throughout the whole hand.

“A four-card hand in PLO from the big blind covers completely the lower part of the board, so there’s a lot of possibilities there to lead at a pot on the turn or the river if straights get to the board. That’s just a specific example where you normally would check to a raiser in No Limit Hold’em.”

In PLO, bet sizes should also be a lot bigger, he says. Hands have a higher percentage to beat another PLO hand than a random Hold’em hand against a random Hold’em hand. 

“You’re almost never drawing dead,” Veldhuis says. “You have a big percentage to win hands. That also means that when you have a good hand you have to protect those hands. Try to look at the game not with a Hold’em mindset but be open minded.

“Again, look at what you see around you. A lot of times when you’re discovering a new game, if someone does something super annoying to you, that means that you can also try to employ that strategy.”

For example, a player may bet the pot every time there’s a straight on the board on the turn. You continue to fold two pairs in spots like this. That’s something to consider doing yourself.

Veldhuis stresses to play with an open mind and don’t think too much with a No Limit Hold’em brain.

Advantages of playing online and watching Twitch streams

Obviously Veldhuis is a fan of online poker. Those new to the game have a chance to get more experience at a quicker pace.

Players can see more hands, and it’s simpler to just sit down and play immediately. There’s also no need or cost to travel.

Twitch viewers can also learn while watching others play. Watching a stream like Veldhuis’s offers players some new perspectives on the game. Many of the more popular streamers are winning players with experience and have a lot to offer.

“One thing that I think will teach you a lot more when you watch is to try and look at a hand and think to yourself, ‘what would I do here before the streamer explains it?’” Veldhuisa says. “You see a turn card, ‘what would I do? Would I bet here?’

“And be honest to yourself. I think if the Twitch streamer is talking and you’re just listening to the words and you’re like, ‘well, yeah, super logical to bet this turn,’ even though you wouldn’t really be able to form an opinion about that on your own or to come up with a strategy.”

The process can be very interactive. Players should be amenable to new perspectives and strategies, Veldhuis says.

“I think one of the most important things in poker learning is keeping an open mind and not trying to put a label on something immediately if you think something’s good or bad just because you’re not familiar with it,” Veldhuis says. “From an educational point of view, I think that’s a really important thing to keep in mind.”

He believes that advice includes being open to new games. Seeing some strategies and some games may inspire a player to branch out with new ideas in other games.

“If you like to explore new things in poker, going back to No Limit Hold’em after that will kind of reignite your passion for it and your interest in it,” he says. “It’s just fun because there are so many different forms of poker.

“You know the basic rules, you know the hand strengths, and there’s more than one game, and I think it’s important to keep discovering that. And that’s fun with smaller tournament series as well.”

*** Photos courtesy PokerStars/Neil Stoddart

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Ba Da Bing: Nick Binger Talks Solvers, Poker Strategy, and Becoming a Better Player

LearnWPT lead instructor recently spoke with PokerScout about solvers, strategy, and some of his current projects.

The poker film The Cincinnati Kid features a quick scene where the main character is preparing for the big game. Steve McQueen’s character Eric Stoner is studying a handwritten statistical chart and packs it in his bag.

Advanced knowledge like this was held close to the vest among top players of the time. However, today information, data, and charts flow freely online. There are countless YouTube videos, articles, and books to help poker players better their skills.

Poker strategies are constantly changing as the game continues to evolve. Top players currently use programs called “solvers” to help figure out the best optimal outcomes when in certain difficult spots. 

Poker pro Nick Binger knows the ins and outs of solvers and the evolution of poker strategy firsthand. He’s currently the lead instructor at LearnWPT, the official training site of the World Poker Tour. Binger recently spoke with PokerScout about solvers, strategy, and some of his current projects.

Learning the online poker ropes in Europe

A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Binger first jumped into poker while traveling through Europe after college. He began his instruction background by teaching English in a small town in Austria.

However, Binger later needed extra ways to make money after he couldn’t secure a work visa. His brother introduced him to online poker and the game seemed like a nice way to score some funds. Binger found some success and never looked back.

“My brother convinced me that I should get into online poker even though I had never really played poker before, since the boom was just starting,” he says. “This was the end of 2004, so the timing was perfect.” 

Since the days of teaching in Austria, Binger has more than $2.3 million in live tournament winnings. This includes multiple final tables and two World Series of Poker bracelets. He’s one of only a handful of players to win a bracelet online and live. 

Those early days teaching have served him well. Binger now creates content for LearnWPT, helping to instruct the site’s students.

LearnWPT lead instructor Nick Binger with WPT commentator Vince Van Patten.

Growing the world of poker education

LearnWPT works to bring quality training content for online and live players. The subscription-based service offers content to those of all levels.

The platform also partners with the partypoker US Network. Players on the network in New Jersey and Michigan can access exclusive content to work on their skills.

The site sponsored the partypoker Online Series Main Event in NJ on March 28. The final table streamed live on the new LearnWPT Twitch channel.

That included offering strategy advice and commentary from bracelet winners Tony Dunst (also a WPT commentator)  and Andrew Lichtenberger. Both also coach at LearnWPT. The training site tries to be a one-stop shop for becoming a better player.

“You can watch strategy episodes from top players, get coaching, play on the WPT GTO Trainer, and can run your own simulations on a solver,” Binger says.

As far as solvers go, Binger puts the GTO Trainer against any on the market.

“Learn WPT has the largest database of solved hands in the world,” he says. “Students can simply play through hands on the trainer and get instant feedback on every decision they make. We’ve done the work of building the game trees, ranges, and processing the solutions for over four billion decision points.”

Binger uses solvers for his own skills and has seen his own gains. These high-tech programs have become a major part of poker education.

“Solvers have absolutely improved my game and the way we teach poker at LearnWPT,” he says. “They allow you to explore strategy at a level not possible before solvers. This is especially true for the concept of range versus range play.”

Perfecting the game via technology

Players have been trying to put opponents “on hands” since the game’s early days. But Binger explains how solvers took a large network of hands and put them into ranges.

“A long time ago, people played poker hand versus hand, meaning they knew their hand and guessed their opponent’s hand, then played accordingly,” he says. “That’s a very basic way to play and will result in you losing to more advanced players.”

All this also applies to online poker players as well. An online rounder can gauge an opponent’s strength by taking into consideration what that player is likely to have.

“After the beginning of the Moneymaker era, the idea of playing your specific hand against an opponent’s range of hands became prevalent among professionals,” Binger says. “This improved play significantly and good players had a significant edge simply by applying this concept.

“After the advent of solvers a few years ago, tough players now consider their range against the range of the other player and how the board interacts with both in every hand they play. This would not have been possible to truly explore without solvers. “

Binger continues to study the game and produce content to help teach up-and-coming players. He considers solvers and GTO as musts for players looking to get to the next level. 

“I think learning the concepts and principles that underpin GTO strategy are a must for any serious poker player that wants to win in the long term.“

* photos courtesy WPT

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Partypoker MyGame ‘Whiz’ Aims to Help Players Improve, Attract New Players to Game

Partypoker is hoping to help online poker players make fewer mistakes and improve their game with the recent release of MyGame Whiz.

What player hasn’t made a mistake at the table and wished things had gone differently? Partypoker is hoping to help online poker players make fewer mistakes and improve their game with the recent release of MyGame Whiz.

The new feature is an enhancement of the MyGame tool with the goal of helping players boost their poker skills. MyGame Whiz is a poker personal trainer, helping players to hopefully reach a higher level and avoid common errors.

That includes one-on-one communication for a truly personalized experience. Partypoker developers hope this gives players the chance to have more fun and find more success.

“Whiz studies your game style, including each hand and how you play,” partypoker marketing director Vadim Soloveychik told PokerScout.

“Whiz will only assess your own hand history and will not study hands played by opponents. It then uses your personal hand history to create tips and suggestions on how to improve and the overall strategy the player needs to consider.”

How does partypoker’s MyGame Whiz work?

Whiz simplifies MyGame into a small, clean, intuitive package, offering key pieces of advice and targeted messages in real time at the end of a hand after important moments; both winning and losing.

Players receive messages targeted specifically at them based on actions at the table. Not all players will be sent the same messages. Whiz also offers interactive commentary as a player competes. 

The feature also allows players to replay, save, and share hands. The more hands played, the better the advice Whiz can give based on a wider range of situations.

Players can ask MyGame Whiz questions as well. It’s an easy platform for working on skills and learning how to maximize a player’s style.

“Whether a player likes to play aggressively or play tight, whether they are starting with a large or small bankroll,” Soloveychik says, “or even if they are still trying to work out the basics of the game, Whiz will be able to work out the right strategy for that individual player.”

Reachomg out to new online players with personalized learning experience

In recent years, partypoker has worked to increase the number of recreational players entering the online poker player pool. That’s ranged from numerous low-cost major tournament qualifiers to more mobile and social gaming aspects in the platform.

Party now hopes MyGame Whiz adds to those efforts. Major barriers to entry for new players, the company notes, is fear of not understanding the game, losing to pros, and underperforming. 

Whiz seeks to combat these issues with instant feedback. The application is a dynamic tool that works for each player in their own individual way.

“Even the most experienced and successful players had to start somewhere, and we want poker to be an inclusive game,” Soloveychik says.

“That’s why we decided to create something that would help players at the beginning of their poker journey, when they are less familiar with the experience of playing online poker. We want to remove any fear new players may have regarding their skill level and knowledge.”

In essence, Whiz functions as a poker tutor. There are even report cards to help a player track his or her progress.

Soloveychik said the application can help inexperienced players who may have less time to study to improve. New players can gain confidence in the early stages of their poker journey by seeing real analysis by actually playing.

“This is based on extensive player feedback, where players have often told us they feel they might be out of their comfort zone when they first start to play the game,” Soloveychik says.

“Whiz changes that with easy to use, bespoke poker training, eliminating the uncertainty and helping you learn the game and strategy behind it in a faster and easier way.”

A long term partypoker learning tool

With so many bells and whistles, party developers hope players can utilize the feature over a lengthy period of time. Whiz allows players to continually gauge their own play and adjust accordingly.

The MyGame feature already allowed players to see their rankings based on game theory optimization (GTO) in the form of seven levels:

  • Rookie
  • Social
  • Intermediate
  • Solid
  • Advanced
  • Pro
  • Elite Pro

The addition of Whiz is meant to build on that component. The company already has plans to add new features, including social sharing and additional missions. So far, the feature is only available on the software client and not on mobile.

Soloveychik says the company received “overwhelmingly positive feedback” during Whiz’s testing phase. Party plans to continually improve and expand the tips and learning as well as add more animations.

“There are no limits to how players can continue to test themselves, complete missions, and learn tips and tricks, all based on their own gameplay,” Soloveychik says. “This is no ordinary one-size-fits-all tutor; this is bespoke poker tutor training straight from the Whiz to you.

“This ensures the player strides into their next poker game with their head held high and they will be ready to play. We can’t wait for players all over the world to try Whiz for themselves and become the poker player they were born to be.”

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ONLINE POKER QUICK TIPS: Working on Your Game With GGPoker’s Kevin Martin

Some online poker strategy tips from GGPoker rep and Big Brother winner Kevin Martin.

Poker streamer Kevin Martin manned the microphone for the first week of action between Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk. Providing “play by play” on the GGPoker YouTube channel, he brings some nice pipes and an excellent feel for the game.

That comes after many years at the live and online tables. His resumé also includes two appearances on the Canadian version of Big Brother.

Coming out on top brought a $100,000 payday and a new car. The longtime poker streamer is now a member of the GGSquad streaming team. No stranger to online poker, he brings some big skills to the virtual tables.

Martin recently spoke with PokerScout to offer some strategy advice for the new Online Poker Quick Tips feature.

Playing the mental game

Online poker can be a pastime that some players take part in while doing other things. A click here to call, a click there to raise – with some other things in the mix.

Players might be on social media, online shopping, or cooking dinner between hands. Martin says this isn’t a great idea and hinders a player’s focus. For best results, he suggests putting away the phone and closing all other tabs on the laptop or tablet.

“One of the best mental tips I was ever told is that when I’m in a poker tournament,” he says, “I need to treat it as if it is the most important thing happening in my life.”

Hitting the books to rake some chips

Those hoping to improve their poker game and see nice results need to take it seriously, Martin says. There are numerous online resources to check out and work on skills and situations.

Even just small articles and quick concepts (like this column) can help in that regard.

“Work on your game,” he says. “Poker, like life, will give you what you put into it. Actively seek out resources to make yourself better. That’s the attitude I always have.”

That said, Martin says players should go at their own pace and everyone’s game and situation is different. Do what works for you.

“If you want to play five tournaments a month and you don’t really care how you do I respect that as well,” he says. “Everyone is going to have a unique relationship with the game.”

Players who put in less volume can still work on some of their skills. Taking in a few new concepts here and there can pay dividends. Like everything, learning new things and studying can help.

Adjusting to online poker

Some players new to the online game may need to make a few adjustments when making the transition. Those thinking there are only loose players and “donks” online may be surprised at the experience.

There’s a good chance a new online player will find better players than he might experience in a casino. Online players have a chance to see so many more hands and can improve quickly.

“People really do not account for improvement of the quality in play,” Martin says. “Internet players are good. There is a lot of talent and determination out there.

“When I made the transition to online back in 2015, I got smoked but it was a great lesson to learn. It was a wakeup call that I had to improve myself to compete. I recommitted and because of that I transformed myself into a winning player.”

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