THE BEST FREE STRATEGY RESOURCE IN POKER

I was recently advised on a new way to study poker, which I found both very effective and surprisingly addictive.

The advice was simply to watch high-stakes broadcasts, and when a hand comes up that surprised you, study it. The logic goes that when an elite player does something that makes no sense, you have uncovered a blind spot in your own game.

I would add one thing to this piece of advice, which is to simply go into YouTube and type in the words "Final Table Replays". There are a number of dedicated channels that replay online final tables that have recently happened, most of which show all hole cards.

I think this is perhaps the best free resource there is in tournament poker. Even better if you have access to a solver where you can study the hands using it afterwards.

Speed it up and pause the outlier hands

First and foremost, I like watching the online final replays more because, unlike, say, a Triton stream, you can speed up the hands and get through a lot quickly.

This is very useful because one of the great takeaways I have had from watching these final tables is that most hands actually play quite "standard". More often than not, you will see a player like Steven Chidwick or Adrian Mateos play a hand in the same way you would. The difference between those players and the rest of us is more a case of they don't make huge mistakes, but when it comes to more routine spots, like when you have AK and you flop an Ace, the hands play out in a very familiar way.

But you will inevitably come across a number of hands in each replay that make absolutely no sense to you. These hands are really worth studying, especially if you have access to a tool like GTO Wizard. Previously, we would watch Final Tables and just be left to guess as to why the players did what they did, but GTO Wizard will give you some guidance if you ask the right questions.

One final piece of advice, definitely watch some final tables that include our old friend Pads. I always knew he was an excellent player, but I was not prepared for just how creative he is in some spots. Most of the hands that I've marked out for further study and have run by my coach have included him.