The Official Red Chip Poker Podcast

Aggression is one of poker's most powerful tools for profit. But with great power comes great responsibility, and as we add more aggression into our game, we'll often be tempted to use it too often or in the wrong spots. In this episode, host Zac Shaw gets coached by James "SplitSuit" Sweeney on ways to tame the over-aggressive tendencies causing a recent downswing. And Sweeney shares a bit about his own struggles with tempering aggression in his poker career development.

Aggressive poker is winning poker. In this episode, join coach & co-founder James "SplitSuit" Sweeney and host Zac Shaw as they discuss how they integrated more and more aggression into their games, with profitable results. SplitSuit shares his personal story as an online player grinding his way up the stakes, while Shaw relates his past year studying aggression to build a bigger win rate at Live $1/$2 NL. If you're looking to win bigger by understanding 3-betting, barreling, bluffing and more, this is a must-listen.

Luke Haward joins us for a discussion all about staking in poker. When a player is staked, their buy-ins are provided by a backer, often for a 50/50 split of profits, or some other agreed-upon revenue share. In return, the player who is staked offloads the risk of losing, gets access to a big bankroll, plus they get coaching and oversight that brings out the best in their game. Staking has steadily grown in popularity and Haward is here to break it down.

People don't enter the card room to make successful c-bets. They come to win stacks. And that happens when there are flop fireworks — both players hit with strong hands and go to war. This week, Doug Hull discusses how he developed and used Flop Falcon to analyze these spots to find an extra edge.

Do I need a poker coach? Am I at the right spot in my game development to get coaching? How do I find a coach? How does coaching work, exactly? These questions and more are answered in this week's episode by James "SplitSuit" Sweeney, a man uniquely qualified to opine on coaching, as he's had over 500 students over the years. 

What does $12,000 at $1/$2 look like? Red Chip Poker co-founder, coach, author and software developer Doug Hull has seen it come to fruition in just 300 hours. He shares his story, starting with moving to Vegas and dealing with non-poker financial challenges. He searched for and found his dream poker room at the Mirage, where he was one of the most over-prepared, over-skilled and over-rolled competitor. This is the story of profiting in top percentile of $1/$2 players. 

Are you learning with the power of a poker mastermind? James "SplitSuit" Sweeney discusses the many merits of regular meet-ups with other poker players to talk strategy. Whether led by coaches or players, the perspective and knowledge gained is invaluable.

This episode is specific and nerdy. Online players listen up. In this episode, James "SplitSuit" Sweeney will teach you how to make optimal decisions vs. isolation raises from opponents by turning their HUD stats into a range. Online players should not miss his tips on which stats to focus on, and how to build an accurate range from them.

Doug Hull is a true poker polymath: co-founder of this site, coach, author, grinder of $1/$2 NL... and now, poker software developer. His new app Flop Falcon gives a more information-dense view of poker's most important street, and gives players new insight into how ranges hit or miss any given flop. In this episode, we talk about how the software works, and how it can be applied to build a strategic edge.

What moves are pro poker players using to beat you? James "SplitSuit" Sweeney joins us to discuss three of eight moves he's assembled into a new 'Professional Poker Plays' free email course, available at redchippoker.com/plays. Classic poker pro moves like bombing over limpers and attacking raisers are only profitable if one understands the strategies behind them, and that's what this podcast delves into.

The most popular poker strategy topics of 2016 are dissected with James "SplitSuit" Sweeney and host Zac Shaw in our first episode of the new year. Get a bead on where poker strategy is going in 2017 by reviewing last year’s successful strategies. The top-trafficked content of the year covered fixing poker leaks, playing more hands, hand reading and moving up. We riff on the strategic nuance to each aspect.

Attacking limpers is a fundamental aspect of playing power poker. Instead of being a passive player trying to smash a cheap flop, we want to be aggressive and apply maximum pressure when our opponents show weakness. James "SplitSuit" Sweeney and Doug Hull discuss the specifics around how to size bets, manage table image, and more regarding raising a string of limpers.

James "SplitSuit" Sweeney and Doug Hull answer the question, "Has 3-Betting Ruined Poker?" on this episode of the Red Chip Poker podcast. You don't need to listen long before you hear that the answer is "no." The "why" is much more interesting. The pair plumb the depths of fear felt by so many amateur and unstudied poker players, and discuss how it can be exploited.

Luke Haward is the newest coach at Red Chip Poker, and in this episode we interview him about overhauling our MTT games. We focus on pre-flop leak-busting, the subject of Haward’s debut Red Chip PRO video, but the discussion reaches wide and far into subjects like staking, ICM, leveraging stack sizes, bubble and final table dynamics, and more. It’s a must-listen for any MTT player.

Hand reading is consistently the most frequently requested topic for our podcast. In this episode, James "SplitSuit" Sweeney answers five questions submitted by Red Chippers on the subject of hand reading. He covers hand reading LAGs and loose passives, and how to study hand reading skills off-table to develop profitable intuition at the tables.

A lot of players wonder what it takes to play poker as a full-time professional. James "SplitSuit" Sweeney dedicates an entire episode to answering the question, "Should I go pro?" Doing the math and being brutally honest with your strengths and weaknesses are just the tip of the iceberg on this challenging endeavor that is not for everyone.   www.redchippoker.com/61

Tommy Angelo’s The Elements of Poker makes many poker player’s top 10 lists for poker books, and it hardly contains any strategy tips. Nonetheless, as coach Doug Hull says, absorbing the poker life lessons it contains will make you an immeasurably better player. He highlights some of his favorite “elements” in this podcast, which may leave you running to pick up a copy of Angelo’s classic.

New Red Chip Poker coach and mid-stakes online crusher Brad Lampman joins us for a discussion on building complete ranges. Learn how Lampman constructs and analyzes his ranges in range visualization and GTO solver software. Hear him walk step by step through his study process. Get to know the ins and outs of how and why we build ranges.

Christian Soto joins us for a lively, wide-ranging discussion of how deviating from conventional poker wisdom can be a source of uncommon profit at any stake. Soto explains the strategy he’s going to expound on in a webinar called “I’ll Name This Strategy Later”. Soto discusses the mindset necessary to be a top-percentile winner, by understanding the state of the game and where other players lie within it.

Can you win online poker without using a HUD? James “SplitSuit” Sweeney answers a forum member’s questions the impact not using a HUD might have on win rate. The key is not to think about whether or not you can win, but whether or not you are optimizing your win rate. As long as your HUD skills are solid, Sweeney generally sees little reason to give up an information edge in a game of information.