The Official Red Chip Poker Podcast

James and Chris discuss how you really need to be thinking about win rate, what's possible in the 'tough' 2020 cash games and how they each have used win rate data throughout their careers.

In this episode, James and Chris discuss what it takes to beat 100NL in 2020. Focus on key aspects of modern-day poker strategy, including preflop ranges, finding bluffs, bet sizing, and analyzing your player pool.

James and Chris are joined by "kenaces" to discuss how you actually get GTO preflop ranges, how you can use them and everything you need to know to get started trying out GTO.

In this episode, James and Chris discuss why GTO isn't as complex as it seems, and why you're going to need it for your poker game moving forward. New to GTO? Learn the concrete steps you can take as a beginner to understand what you're getting out of a solver.

James and Chris discuss what it means to play by feel or by math. How do you actually build your feel for the game? Learn why understanding probabilities is difficult for the brain, and how to find profitable plays with basic math and solver usage.

James and Zac discuss the process of building CORE and what's been added to CORE 2.0, updating every lesson for 2020, the new MTT course and more. A fascinating peak behind the curtain of what goes into creating the most structured poker course available.

Zac and guest Chris "Fox" Wallace discuss transitioning from cash games to tournaments, adjustments to make at different stack sizes and what's included in Chris' soon to be released course in CORE.

James and Zac discuss the many ways fear can impact your poker game and how you can address and manage it.

Very soft games can often be harder to manage and require different strategies than what you're used to. James and Zac go over what you need to know to maximize your winrate in these games.

James and Zac breakdown the most common places you can leverage exploitative play in your game.

James and Zac talk about how you can apply skills you've learned from poker to dealing with a crisis like coronavirus.

Splitsuit (James) and Zac go over the preflop checklist, what considerations should you be using when making preflop decisions?

James and Zac discuss poker workbooks, why they are valuable and how you can use them. They also touch upon the impact of live poker shutting down.

This week James and Zac breakdown balance in poker for newer players, how important is it and how to start bringing it into your game without losing your exploitative edges. James even breaks down how he would approach the active play in Zac's homegame.

Welcome to Season 3 of the Red Chip Poker podcast! Zac and James are back to discuss the topic of folding -- are you doing it too much? Most players are. They cover everything from managing standard ranges to the psychological aspect of the game.

Fausto Valdez returns with critical advice on how to outmaneuver LAGs in your game. He's presenting this month's PRO group coaching session on the same subject, and gives a window into some tactics that are particularly useful in combating loose aggressive opponents.

Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald joins James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney to discuss all things c-betting in preparation for this month's PRO group coaching session. Get a taste of professional-grade c-betting tactics and join PRO to get the complete strategy.

Join us for a very special episode as all three of our hosts get together for a roundtable discussion, revealing all the details from behind the scenes of our podcast. Robbie Strazyknsi, James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney and Zac Shaw talk about the past and future of the podcast, the best guests, the biggest lessons learned, great successes and mistakes, and more. It's everything you ever wanted to know about running a poker podcast!

"w34z3l" joins us to lend his expertise as a pro and coach to make you a better c-bettor out of position. He's hosting a group coaching session for PRO members, and on this episode he shares some of his best advice for OOP c-betting.

Mac VerStandig is known as THE poker lawyer, a prolific protector of poker player rights. The old-school-grinder and gaming law guru gives us a far-ranging verbal tour of the poker legal landscape, touching on many critical legal issues any serious poker player should understand.

Mike Gano is a poker pro, coach and author who's contributed tons of great strategy content to our PRO and CORE premium training memberships. He joins us today to talk about the subject on which he'll be leading a Red Chip Poker PRO group coaching session this month: playing from the blinds.

David Tuchman is one of poker's most beloved commentators, and as a player, he's posted six figures of tournament scores. He joins us to talk about what it's like calling the action -- front and center for the most talked-about hands and biggest pots in the game.

Melanie Weisner is a pro poker player and coach with a long list of high-profile tournament cashes dating back to the golden age of online poker. We spoke with her about the many changes her poker career underwent as games and players evolved, and what her poker present and future look like.

David K Lappin is not just a poker player, he's a prolific creator of content and conversation within the poker world. We spoke to him about his tentacular reach in the poker scene, and took the pulse of poker with someone who's pumped many years of blood, sweat and tears into the game we love.

Kara Scott has been a leading and highly visible figure in poker for a long time, with many an inside story to tell. This week, she joins us as she makes her triumphant return to the poker scene after being on maternity leave. Join us for another great discussion with one of the poker world's primary players.

James Hartigan shares behind-the-scenes stories of his commentator work with the European Poker Tour and PokerStars Carribean Adventure, as well as thoughts on being a recreational poker player amongst some of the biggest events the poker world has to offer.

Dara O'Kearney, Irish pro and satellite specialist, has teamed up with poker media mainstay Barry Carter to literally write the book on STTs. They both drop by for our first double-guest episode to discuss some of the secrets they've sealed in this tome of satellite poker wisdom.

Eli Elezra is a legend in the high stakes poker scene, with tons of TV appearances, 3 WSOP bracelets and countless six- and seven-figure scores at the cash game and tournament tables. He joins us to discuss the English-language release of his autobiography, and reflects on a poker life less ordinary.

John Curry's We Run Bad is an "authentic and darkly comic look at underground poker culture." We spoke with him about underground poker and his gritty take on the dark underbelly of America's favorite card game, and indeed, America itself. It's a great read and this week's episode is a great listen!

Jack Effel, tournament director for the World Series of Poker, drops by this week to talk about what goes into putting together the biggest and most famous tournament series in the game. For their 50th anniversary, the WSOP is pulling out all the stops this year, and we get the inside take on what players should expect this year as they chase their poker dreams.

Zach Elwood has dedicated much of his life to deciphering poker tells so us players could make sense of them. This week, he shares some of his most profitable insights and breaks down exactly what goes into extraction information from verbal and nonverbal tells in poker.

Jeff Platt is famous for his poker commentating and podcasting chops, but he's also a player, with a 60th place WSOP Main Event cash for $113,764. In this wide-ranging interview, we learn what it's like to call the action from behind the commentator's desk, as well as what it's like to tussle on the felt with the best.

Chris "Fox" Wallace is a PLO and mixed game specialist with the WSOP bracelet to prove his poker mettle. His Next Level Poker and iNinja Poker Tour ventures are taking the poker world by storm, and he's on the podcast today to share an exciting behind-the-scenes look at how a major poker tournament tour comes together.

Tommy Angelo has written some of our favorite books on poker, period. He blurs the line between strategy and storytelling, teaching countless players how to succeed through mindfulness and self-reflection. Plus he's damn funny! Hear why 'Waiting For Straighters' might be the most entertaining way to up your game this year.

Greg Vail is a split pot scholar who makes crushing Big O and O8 look easy. As he explains on our podcast, these games are growing in both popularity and profitability. Wondering what these Omaha games are all about? Listen and you'll wonder why you're not playing them.

Ross Glover is author of the upcoming strategy masterwork Unbeatable Poker. He drops by the podcast this week, taking us behind the scenes on the journey of authoring a poker strategy book. He shares his experiences as a serious student and sage of the game. Many winning poker players create their own unique system to dominate the game, and Glover's approach synthesizes the best poker strategy of the last decades into a single fascinating framework.

Joe Stapleton is one of the most-loved and most-recognized commentators in poker media. This week he joins us to entertain and entrance with tales from behind the scenes of poker's biggest stages. Tune in if you've ever dreamed of hearing Stapleton say your name on a broadcast (even if he's telling joke about you!)

Moneymaker. What more do we have to say? Listen to this week's podcast to hear our interview with Chris Moneymaker, 2003 WSOP Main Event winner and man whose storyline gave birth to the golden age of modern poker.

Travis Moss struggled for years to gain a foothold in the game, but his passion for poker drove him to keep studying and competing against the best. Today, he's a solid winning player at $2/$5 taking shots at $5/$10, thanks to his serious study of the game (including being a Red Chip Poker member). Hear how he did it on this week's podcast.

Rich Muny just finished his run as President of the Poker Players Alliance, and he joins us for a behind-the-scenes look at the legal landscape for online poker. Muny shares stories of fighting on behalf of all poker players to banish the legal demons of Black Friday and bring the game we all love back to the masses. It's a fascinating look at the past, present and future of the poker industry.

Doug Hull has been grinding $1/$2 professionally in Las Vegas for years, and now he's ready to share the ugly the truth about going pro. He's seen the poker scene chew up and spit out 'baby pros' who come to town with a few buyins and a dream, and his message is "Beware." His bottom line? If you have the skills to excel in poker, you can profit more by applying those skills to non-poker career pursuits, and then you might have the bankroll to retire early and play poker professionally like Hull does.

Johnny Kampis was your average poker player until he decided to take a shot at the Main Event. The thrilling journey was captured in his book Vegas Or Bust: A Family Man Takes On The Poker Pros, and this week he's on the podcast to give us a behind-the-scenes look at his WSOP Main Event run.

Lee Davy has experienced poker from all sides, as a player, writer and everything in between. Today we discuss how his passion for poker led him to a long a fulfilling career in the gambling industry. In addition to his widely read work with gambling industry site CalvinAyre.com, he hosts The Alcohol & Addiction Podcast, part of a larger mission to spread the word about sobriety. He talks about it all on this week's podcast -- check out the story behind how your average poker player became a larger-than-life personality focused on doing good in the world.

We like looking down at ace king, but there's often the underlying feeling of dread that decisions are about to get tricky. It's true, ace king is arguably poker's most complex hand to play, and that's why James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney and Adam 'w34z3l' Jones wrote an entire book on it. This week, we share an chapter from Optimizing Ace King: The Right Strategy for Playing Poker's Most Complex Starting Hand. Enjoy!

The importance of exploitative play can easily get lost in the modern GTO world. But as Adam "W34z3l" Jones explains this week in an excerpt from one of our PRO Membership videos, the fundamentals of exploitative play go largely unstudied. In this episode, Jones presents a fully integrated strategic framework for approaching exploitative strategies and tactics in poker. It's accessible and advanced, so grab a notepad and get ready to learn!

Recreational, unstudied players love to limp, especially in live games. Us clued-in players know that 'never limp' is an edict best respected. But when is it actually OK to limp? This week, we take a page out of our CORE training platform to give you a quick lesson four very specific spots where limping makes sense.

When faced with a table full of aggression, what is the most effective counter-strategy? James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney joins us to give his answers to your questions on how to beat tables full of players who are unafraid to raise, re-raise, and shove.

What do I buy in for? What stakes do I play for? These may be some of the most fundamental questions in poker, but just like any other fundamental, they deserve well-reasoned, deeply thought-out approach. Luckily, James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney is here to answer your questions regarding how much cash to convert into chips on your way to the felt.

The river doesn't need to be a scary street. This week, get your footing with James "SplitSuit" Sweeney as we answer member questions about thin value, showdowns, and all things fifth street.

Sheree Bykofsky joins us this week to discuss her new book The Kaizen Of Poker: How To Continuously Improve Your Hold'Em Game. We discuss using checklists to make sure you're plugging leaks and playing your A game, as well as the mental and cultural barriers to taking the game more seriously with study. Enjoy another wide-ranging poker strategy discussion on this week's podcast.