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The world's best poker coach, Uri Peleg, shares his five best strategies for dominating soft games. Alongside co-host Mike Brady, he breaks down how to exploit common mistakes without falling into the same traps. Whether you play live or low-stakes online, these tips will help you maximize value and boost your win rate.
View the written version of this episode here.
00:00 Tip #1: Categorize Players
08:46 Tip #2: Adjust for Multiway Pots
15:20 Tip #3: Check Your Ego
19:55 Tip #4: Bad Play Doesn’t Always Benefit You
23:04 Tip #5: Overplay the Top of Your Range
28:29 Bonus Tip: Don’t Copy Bad Habits
In this episode of the Upswing Poker Level-Up, host Mike Brady is joined by world-class poker coach Uri Peleg to share five powerful tips for dominating soft games, whether live or low-stakes online. Uri, who has coached some of the best players in the game and won millions himself, opens by stressing the importance of categorizing opponents to quickly identify calling stations, over-aggressors, and passive players. From there, the discussion moves to one of the most common features of soft games—multiway pots—and how to adapt by tightening up, folding more marginal hands, and resisting the urge to chase every pot.
Uri’s next tip tip focuses on controlling ego and avoiding tilt. In soft games, variance can mask skill in the short term, and chasing losses often leads to disastrous results. He emphasizes patience, discipline, and judging your play based on decision quality rather than short-term outcomes. Next up he flips a common assumption on its head—just because an opponent makes a bad play doesn’t mean it benefits you. Some mistakes, like over-raising or over-calling, can actually hurt your win rate if you don’t adjust strategically.
The final and most important tip is to overplay the top of your range against unpredictable opponents. In soft games, players often act randomly or inconsistently, so hands like overpairs or top pair/top kicker should be pushed aggressively for maximum value instead of overthinking and making cautious folds.
As a bonus, Uri warns against copying the bad habits of weaker players. Just because others limp or splash around with subpar hands doesn’t mean you should follow suit—it erodes your edge and invites unnecessary losses.
Throughout the episode, Uri ties these lessons to the upcoming Lab 2.0 training platform (available soon), which focuses on practical, real-world strategies for crushing live and soft games. Whether you’re a seasoned player looking to refine your approach or a low-stakes grinder aiming to boost your win rate, these insights will help you exploit weaker competition while avoiding common pitfalls.
