The Official Red Chip Poker Podcast

You hear the pros talking about "balancing your range" all the time, but what exactly does that mean in practice? In this episode, coach and cash game grinder Fausto Valdez shares his secrets for thinking about your range and the ranges of your opponents. How do we become less exploitable, while exploiting others at the same time? Valdez walks host Zac Shaw through a $1/$2 hand he played to dissect each decision and coach recreational players to think more like a pro when it comes to ranges.

As poker players, our relationship with pocket aces can be intense. They are a beautiful sight, but we must wait so long for a glimpse. The moment becomes critical. Will our aces get cracked? Will this rare opportunity be squandered? There are a lot of "feels" to be had about pocket aces, and Dr. Tricia Cardner breaks down the science and psychology behind overcoming them. This is a mental game episode you won't want to miss.

Kat Martin has been grinding $1/$2 in Vegas for years, and shares many nuggets of hard-earned wisdom for any poker player looking to take on the sleepless city's live poker rooms. Making a living in a place bent on taking away your money is no easy task, but Martin has made it work by carving out his niche, and perhaps you can too, starting with his tips for doing Vegas as a visiting poker player.

What if everything you thought you knew about pot control was wrong? This week, Adam Jones explains why "pot control" is inherently flawed as a poker strategy concept. Through a series of hand history reviews, he'll show why attempts to keep the pot small through checking can be a big, exploitable leak, and what real profitable "pot control" would actually look like.

When we suspect our opponent is capable of firing double barrel bluffs our way, how do we counter-attack? This week, we take a chapter out of Doug Hull's classic strategy book Poker Plays You Can Use and analyze a hand to answer the question. Hull even illustrates alternate lines, alternate board card scenarios, and dives deep into the math behind his decisions.

If you've never experienced a coaching session firsthand, it can be hard to overstate just how much coaching can change your game. This week, Kris Murray (aka Persaudeo) stops by for a coaching demo that leaves host Zac Shaw floored with new poker strategy revelations. The two review a recent hand Shaw played street-by-street to ask and answer the question, "Why are you making decision X?" Buckle up for an extended episode and a fantastic ride-along with a top coach.

Facing tough river decisions and big bets while holding non-nut hands... it's what no limit hold 'em is all about! Even though this will happen comparitively rarely in your session, these decisions have an outsized effect on shaping your win rate. It's critical you get these spots right. This week, three coaches review three tough river spots and break down each street to detail their strategic thinking.

We've all sat down at the table full of super-tight players and been frustrated by a lack of action. But the key to profiting from these positions is to realize you're in a massively exploitable opportunity, and to get exploiting! On this week's podcast, James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney shares a chapter from his book Unfolding Poker, giving you some solid, specific tactics for crushing tight tables.

This week, we look at the one thing almost no live poker players are doing, yet it could improve their game immediately. And that one thing is taking notes at the table. Host Zac Shaw delivers advice from the Red Chip Team and our member community on how and why taking notes on the hand histories you play can transform your game.

Are you trying to improve your win rate? What about the value of your poker time? This week, James 'SplitSuit' Sweeney joins us to explore the many ways poker players can squeeze more value out of their poker time through simple mindset adjustments. Touching on strategy and mental game, this episode will give you a fresh perspective on how to accomplish your poker dreams and goals.