Rec Poker

This is part 2 of a two-part conversation with Matt Hunt. Matt is a professional poker player and coach from the UK, currently living in Las Vegas. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in French and a Master’s degree in Transnational Studies, both from the University of Southampton (UK). As a poker coach, he specializes in MTT math and ICM concepts, short-stacked play, exploration of the No-Limit Hold’em game tree through GTO solver research, and the cognitive role of language in poker decision-making. Recently Matt has been active on Twitter (@MntalHlthGaming) and Twitch (Mental_Health_Gaming) discussing his own journey with depression and anxiety, and helping for a community for those also struggling with mental health issues.

This week, Jim Reid leads the panel through a forum post by @Wojami asking about taking notes in online tournaments. While battling it out against each other in the nightly home game, the panel discusses what kind of notes to take, Taylor Maas suggests what info to pay attention to when writing notes, and they talk about different ways to record and review them. Come sign up for a free account at rec.poker today and post a question in the forum for the panel to review!

This is part 1 of a two-part conversation with Matt Hunt. Matt is a professional poker player and coach from the UK, currently living in Las Vegas. Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in French and a Master’s degree in Transnational Studies, both from the University of Southampton (UK). As a poker coach, he specializes in MTT math and ICM concepts, short-stacked play, exploration of the No-Limit Hold’em game tree through GTO solver research, and the cognitive role of language in poker decision-making. Recently Matt has been active on Twitter (@MntalHlthGaming) and Twitch (Mental_Health_Gaming) discussing his own journey with depression and anxiety, and helping for a community for those also struggling with mental health issues.

In our first ever "Forums Edition" Jim Reid (@Jim) leads the panel through a forum post by @Raisy_Daisy asking about hand-ranging tips, drills, and resources. While battling it out against each other in the nightly home game, they discuss using tools like Equilab and Flopzilla, some general rules about hand-ranging, and a new video Chris Jones (@FiveByFive) recently posted in the forums about how to use Flopzilla to do just that! Come sign up for a free account at rec.poker today and post a question in the forum for the panel to review!

Blake Bohn is a professional poker player and the all-time leading tournament money leader from Minnesota. He is in the Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame as well as the Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) Hall of Fame. His $3.1 million in tournament earnings includes a 23rd place finish at the WSOP Main Event. In this episode we cover a lot of ground, including insights for recreational players wanting to improve their game.

Clayton Fletcher is a poker player, comedian, and host of the Tournament Poker Edge podcast. Currently living in New York, Clayton shares about his journeys as a stand-up comedian (they love him in Sweden) and experiences making a deep Main Event run. We chat about a number of things including his epic respond during some verbal banter at the WSOP Main Event. He is easy to find including ClaytonFletcher.com, tournamentpokeredge.com and on Twitter @ClaytonComic

Maria Konnikova is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Confidence Game and Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. Her new book, The Biggest Bluff, was just released in June. She is a regular contributing writer for The New Yorker whose writing has won numerous awards, including the 2019 Excellence in Science Journalism Award from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. While researching The Biggest Bluff, Maria became an international poker champion and the winner of over $300,000 in tournament earnings—and inadvertently turned into a professional poker player. Maria’s writing has been featured in Best American Science and Nature Writing and has been translated into over twenty languages. Maria also hosts the podcast The Grift from Panoply Media, a show that explores con artists and the lives they ruin, and is currently a visiting fellow at NYU’s School of Journalism. Her podcasting work earned her a National Magazine Award nomination in 2019. She graduated from Harvard Univers

Gareth James, known as Gazellig online, has been a tournament poker coach since 2012, teaching the strategies to be successful at multi-table tournaments both live and online. He has worked with all manner of players, from those getting their feet wet in the wonderful world of tournament poker for the first time right up to the high stakes cash game players wanting a tournament poker primer before one of the biggest tournaments of the year. Find out more at https://www.mttpokerschool.com/

Jason Su, author of "Poker With Presence: Unlocking the Final 15%" joins the panel. Also joining the panel is special guest Woody Adams, the most recent member of the RECing Crew. Jason talks about the importance of the mental game of poker, shares some easy exercises, and shares his own personal experiences. He also gives insight into an actual example from Chris Jones of how we can get thrown off our optimal game.

One week ago, rec.poker relaunched with an amazing new website. The crew talks about the website, but with a focus on how it is just a tool to achieve our ultimate vision — the creation of a vibrant and encouraging poker learning community. We love poker; and we love playing and learning in the context of relationship… and now, finally, we have the tool to help us do that effectively. Make sure you check out rec.poker to find out how to join the community for free! If you want to upgrade to Premium or the RECing Crew, use the code RELAUNCH to get $50 off your annual membership.

The RecPoker panel of Steve Fredlund, Jim Reid, Chris Jones, Rob Washam, John Somsky, and Andrew Feist chat with Adam Friedman, three-time WSOP bracelet winner, all in mixed games, including back to back in 2018-19 in the $10k Dealers Choice event. We talk mixed games, WSOP, and advice for recreational players.

The RecPoker panel of Steve Fredlund, Jim Reid, Chris Jones, Rob Washam, John Somsky, and Andrew Feist chat with Chris Moneymaker, winner of the WSOP Main Event in 2003 resulting in the "Moneymaker Effect" that included a tripling of the Main Event field the very next year. We talk WSOP, recreational player strategy, and the importance of learning in the context of community

Every month, members at rec.poker enjoy a seminar put together by the RecPoker Podcast Panel, led by Membership Content Director Chris Jones. For July, the seminar s all about bluffing and we felt this was a great opportunity to showcase the seminars while providing the podcast audience with some great discussion on the art/science of bluffing. Also check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by using the code RECPOKER.

Jerry Yang has an amazing personal story of growing up in Laos, escaping to Thailand, and ultimately moving to the slums of Nashville, Tennessee. He worked hard on his education, which ultimately served to be his path out of poverty. In 2005 he started learning poker and only two years later found himself on top of the poker world having won $8.25 million and the WSOP Main Event Championship… all from a $225 satellite. An amazing story the Jerry wrote about in his autobiography called, “All in: From Refugee Camp to Poker Champ.” Please also check out the National Collegiate Poker Tour by following them on @ncptpoker on Twitter or Instagram. They have their next event, the Summer Series, being held June 21st-August 2. Also check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by using the code RECPOKER. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/08RwkNEjxtw

Carlos Welch is one of the most interesting stories in poker. A player, writer, and coach who decided that to best chase his dreams required living out of his van. Then, the need for overnight A/C moved him to buying a Prius. We talk strategy, game selection, and then dig into a wonderful hand where we face a difficult river shove. Connect with Carlos on Twitter @hiphop101trivia. Make sure to check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by using the code RECPOKER.

Andrew Brokos is a great friend of the RecPoker podcast and he joins us again to talk about the release of his new book, "Play Optimal Poker 2" with a focus on constructing ranges. In addition to discussing the book, we talk a bit about the impact of the pandemic on Andrew's personal approach to poker as well as poker overall. Make sure to check out rec.poker/resources for all the partnerships and bonus RecPoker is offering. Specifically, Red Chip Poker is offering RecPoker listeners a free week of CORE by using the code RECPOKER.

The panel discusses how to handle the situation that comes up often in long re-entry, big field, small buy-in tournaments online; and that situation is having those players that frequently are shoving 30, 40, even 70 big blind stacks over an open raise. It can be frustrating to face, but what do we do?

Ben Hayles & Merv Harvey are the co-hosts of the Postflop Poker Podcast and generally great guys! Ben “gamb64” Hayles is a poker player, coach, author and content provider. At postfloppoker.com you will find the Postflop Poker Podcast (PPP), 13 poker books, the PTP video series, blogs, and information on Ben’s 1 to 1 coaching services. The episode can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/IeLChC4U9LY

Nate Meyvis is the co-host of the Thinking Poker Podcast with Andrew Brooks, a student of ancient philosophy, and an all-around great dude. He joins the panel and talks about a number of things including breaking down an AQ hand in early position. You can also watch the discussion at https://youtu.be/3Vf7E9Su1Q4

Jennifer Shahade is a two-time U.S. Women’s Chess Champion, speaker, host, author and PokerStars Ambassador. The Program Director at US Chess Women, Jennifer is passionate about female empowerment and creative work around the games she loves most, chess and poker. She is the author of Chess Bitch and Play Like a Girl, books that, along with her work for US Chess Women, aims to bring more females into the game. Jennifer believes that thinking inside the GRID, the title of her poker podcast, is a way to organize our thinking in a hectic world, as well as a portal into deep and beautiful thought. The grid is both a reference to the 8×8 chess board, and the 13×13 color coded grid of all possible poker hands, which poker professionals now use to study the game. Jennifer is also an author and host at the Grand Chess Tour and of the award winning podcast, Ladies Knight. In 2020, The GRID won the Global Poker Award for the best poker podcast in the World.