Upswing Poker Lab

Free Poker Resources; The $7 Postflop Game Plan; The PLO Launch Pad.COMING SOON; Upswing Lab NL Hold’em Course; Advanced Training. Winning Poker Tournaments by Nick Petranglo; Cash Game Course by Kanu7; PLO Mastery Course by Dylan & Chris; Heads-Up Course by Doug Polk; Mixed Games Course by Jake Abdalla; Short Deck Course by Kane Kalas. Fortunately, the Upswing Lab offers exactly three in-depth ‘Chart Viewers’ for online cash games, tournaments and live poker. These include detailed range charts that tell you which hands to raise-first-in (RFI), which hands to 3-bet or call with versus a RFI, and which hands to 4-bet or call with after you’ve raised-first-in and then. Upswings Poker Lab is awesome because it starts with the basics and progressively works its way up to the more advanced concepts. Each concept builds upon the next. The course is formatted in a way that is easy to navigate and follow.

1. Upswing Poker Lab Review
2. Upswing Poker Lab Coupon
3. Upswing Poker Lab Ranges
4. Upswing Poker Lab Reddit
5. Upswing Poker Lab Free Download
6. Upswing Poker Reviews

The Upswing Poker Lab is a poker training course taught by Doug Polk, Ryan Fee, and other top poker pros. The Lab is updated regularly with in-depth learning modules, theory videos, and a wealth of information to make you a better poker player.

By Dan Baker

Playing against passive opposition might be easier than you think. It’s very easy to realize equity against these players because of how rarely they bet, and that incentivizes you to use more aggressive strategies both preflop and post-flop.

In this article, we’ll discuss those aggressive strategies, and how to play against one move in particular that is characteristic of most live poker players — namely, limping.

Preflop adjustments versus limpers

When playing live, the most important aspect of our strategy is how we play against limpers. This is due to how often players limp in live games.

When a player limps, there is a very good chance that he a recreational player. However, that doesn’t mean you should iso-raise him with any two cards.

Iso-raising is when you raise preflop after a player limps. The goal of this play is to isolate the limper in a heads-up pot post-flop.

A professional boxer wouldn’t swing wildly against an average non-fighter. Instead, he would carefully outmaneuver and out-punch his opponent until he knocked him out. There’s no reason for the boxer to allow for unnecessary risk.

Likewise, you shouldn’t let down your guard despite being the better player. Your edge comes from knowing how to maneuver through the hand, and how to extract more value with good hands and lose less with bad ones.

Without any prior information, a limp doesn’t mean an opponent has a weak range. His limping range might very well be made of Q-Q or better and A-K for all you know. Or maybe it’s only suited connectors and small pocket pairs.

Whatever the case may be, you need to begin from a conservative position and pay attention to the hands he shows down and to how often he limps. Only then can you make big adjustments.

There are many factors that should impact your iso-raising strategy, such as how often your opponent limp-folds — that is, folds to a raise after limping. For example, if he limp-folds a decent amount, you can loosen your requirements for iso-raising since you have added fold equity preflop, which allows you to profit with a wider range of hands.

Here’s a list of seven factors and how they should impact your iso-raising strategy against an opponent who limps:

1. As they limp-fold more, you should iso-raise wider and vice-versa
2. As they limp-three-bet more, you should iso-raise tighter and vice versa.
3. As their limping range gets wider, you should iso-raise wider and vice-versa.
4. When you are in position, you should iso-raise wider than when you are out of position.
5. The more players there are behind you, the tighter you should iso-raise and vice-versa.
6. As the players behind get looser and more aggressive, you should iso-raise tighter and vice-versa.
7. As the limper plays more aggressively post-flop, you should iso-raise tighter and vice-versa.

As you can see, there are a lot of variables that influence an iso-raising strategy. Unfortunately, there are no fixed ranges that I or anyone can give you to play in these spots. You really just have to adjust and re-adjust as you play and learn more about your opponents.

Here are a few “vs limp” ranges from the live poker section of the Upswing Lab to help you get started:

The red hands are easy: just raise with them every time. The light blue hands should be raised, limped, or folded depending on the factors above.

For example, let’s say you’re in middle position and a player limps from early position. You know the limper is a weak player who often limp-folds. Additionally, none of the players behind are particularly aggressive. So, you should play loose and iso-raise with all of the light blue hands (A-9 suited, A-5 suited, K-10 suited, Q-10 suited, J-9 suited, 9-8 suited, 8-7 suited, 7-6 suited, 6-6, 5-5).

When should you limp behind?

Limping behind (or over-limping) is rarely the correct move theoretically, but that doesn’t mean you should never do it. There are some hands that are not quite strong enough to iso-raise with but are too strong to just throw into the muck. These borderline hands are what you want to limp behind with.

Before I show you some specific hands, you need to know a couple of factors that should make you avoid limping like the plague:

• If you have one or more aggressive players behind, avoid over-limping. These players will iso-raise too often which renders your limp -EV (negative expected value).
• If you are not in late position or in the small blind, avoid over-limping. Limping in earlier positions is usually too risky because one of the many players behind can wake up with a strong hand and iso-raise.

Conclusion

Playing at passive tables can be a relaxing way of printing money with the correct strategy. Make sure you stay disciplined and humble enough and not start spewing chips away just because you are playing against weaker players.

Sign up for the Upswing Poker Lab today for step-by-step instructions and examples to master both the fundamental theories and situational exploits to greatly increase your skill and earnings.

One of the most common questions I get asked these days is: Which poker training program is better, The Upswing Poker Lab or the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass?
Upswing Poker Lab vs Daniel Negreanu Masterclass. Let's find out which one is better for you!

Best Poker Training For Beginners - Daniel Negreanu Masterclass

Alright, so if you are a total beginner to poker, I am going to give the edge to the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass here.

• What hands to play
• How to use position
• When to bet, raise and fold
• How to read their poker hand
• Basic (and a bit of advanced) poker math
• Fundamental strategy for both cash games and tournaments
• How to use table talk
• How to pick up tells

Best Poker Training For Novice and Advanced Players - The Upswing Poker Lab

If this sounds like you, and you are looking for something that is quite a bit more advanced, then I would definitely give the edge here to The Upswing Poker Lab.

The Upswing Poker Lab has been my #1 most recommended poker training program for many years now because it is unequaled in the amount of high level poker theory and cutting edge strategy included.
While The Upswing Poker Lab does have plenty of material for struggling beginners (tons actually), there is so much more for mid stakes and high stakes poker players who are looking to take their game to an elite world class level.
This is something that you will generally not find in The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass.
These are a few of the main instructors for The Upswing Poker Lab:

• Doug Polk (3 time WSOP bracelet winner, One Drop winner for $3.7 million dollars)
• Ryan Fee (world class mid and high stakes online and live pro)
• Fried 'mynameiskarl' Meulders (one of the best mid and high stakes Zoom players in the world)
• Daniel 'Danmerr' Merrilees (nosebleed stakes cash game legend)
• Mo 'MuckCallOK' Dietrich (online and live tournament crusher)
• Matthew Janda (wrote the most famous book ever on GTO poker theory)

In fact, this in my opinion, has always been one of the key strengths of The Upswing Poker Lab.
That is, unlike other poker training programs, they ONLY hire the very best poker players in the world to teach you.

Upswing Poker Lab Review

And there is also new material being added all the time, with tons of new videos every month.
This is also what separates The Upswing Poker Lab from every other poker training program out there.
The advanced poker strategies that you are learning are always the very latest and most effective for today's games.
There countless video lessons made by these coaches teaching you both basic cash game and tournament concepts as well as advanced theory and strategy such as:

• GTO poker theory
• Advanced solver analysis
• How to use blockers
• How to count card combinations
• How to check raise bluff
• How to play a loose and aggressive style
• How to read ranges and crush good players

And tons more. It would actually take you months to properly go through every video lesson included in The Upswing Lab.
There are also 400+ preflop hand charts for cash games, Zoom, tournaments and more which actually tell you exactly what hands to play in every situation imaginable.
You can actually just download these charts on your phone and view them in the custom Upswing Poker app.
Honestly though, there is so much basic and advanced material covered in The Upswing Poker Lab that it is difficult to even scratch the surface in this blog post.
This is why I also made a comprehensive walkthrough video on YouTube for the Upswing Poker Lab so that you can see for yourself exactly what is included inside:
Bottom Line:
If you are a serious poker player looking to take your game to an elite world class level, then there is no better advanced training available today than this.
You can enroll in The Upswing Poker Lab right here.

Which is Better For Tournaments? Upswing Poker Lab vs Masterclass

How about for all you tournament players out there? Which one is better, The Upswing Poker Lab or The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass?
In this comparison, it is honestly really close.
Daniel Negreanu is one of the highest winning poker tournament players of all time with north of $40 million dollars worth of live tournament winnings alone, and countless WSOP bracelets to go along with it as well.
In fact, if you have been around this game for awhile, you might remember Daniel Negreanu crushing the World Poker Tour as well on TV, along with many other prominent tournaments.
Daniel Negreanu has quite literally been the face of poker for the last decade or two, and his incredibly consistent results have a lot to do with that.
On the other hand, The Upswing Poker Lab has some of the best online poker tournament coaches in the world with millions of dollars of earnings in their own right.
And Doug Polk himself is a multiple time WSOP bracelet winner and took down the One Drop a few years ago (beating all the world's top pros) for $3.7 million dollars.
So with all of that said, and despite Daniel's impeccable tournament results, I am still going to have to give the edge for poker tournament players to The Upswing Poker Lab.
And this is simply due to the amount of high level tournament strategy included.
There is comprehensive advanced strategy advice and analysis for every stage of a poker tournament:

• Early stages (80+ big blinds)
• Middle stages (30 big blinds to 80 big blinds)
• Bubble
• Final Table (30 big blinds or less)

This includes a complete breakdown of how to play optimal tournament poker at each stage depending on your stack size, the ICM considerations, solver analysis and more.
There are also complete Final Table analysis (hand by hand commentary) for some of the biggest online tournaments in history such as the $100k WCOOP main event.
You get to see first hand what goes into winning the biggest online poker tournaments, with every hand revealed.
What if you play live poker tournaments though like the World Series of Poker?
In terms of live poker tournaments, you might be able to give a slight edge here to The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass because he is such a well known live poker champion.
Daniel includes his expert advice for example on many subtle details of live poker tournaments such as picking up on physical tells, table talk, how to put people on tilt and so on.
So if your goal is specifically to win the World Series of Poker, then I might give a slight edge here to The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass.
But for an overall primer on how to take your poker tournament game to an elite world class level, I would have to give the edge to The Upswing Poker Lab.

Which is Better For Cash Games and Zoom? Upswing Poker Lab vs Masterclass

If you are a cash game player (and you are not a total beginner), then in this comparison, it isn't very close in my opinion.
The Upswing Poker Lab is a far better poker training program for cash game players, and this especially includes fast fold style games like Zoom, Snap, Zone, Fast Forward and so on.
The Upswing Poker Lab includes some of the best cash game instructors in the world including:

• Doug 'WCGRider' Polk (#1 heads up NLHE nosebleed stakes player in the world online for many years)
• Daniel 'Damnerr' Merrilees (nosebleed stakes 6max cash game legend online)
• Fried 'mynameiskarl' Meulders (one of the best Zoom poker players in the world)

This 8 part 'River Raising' series for example was released by Danmerr recently.
He has millions of dollars in winnings in some of the highest stakes 6max cash games online. And you get to learn first hand the strategies that he uses to crush other world class pros.
This lineup of coaches (especially for cash games) is simply unmatched by any poker training program available today.
And since The Upswing Poker Lab is updated with new videos on a weekly basis, you are always getting the most advanced cash game theory and strategy.
You will learn:

• How to play a cash game short stack, mid stack and full stack
• How to balance your ranges perfectly in cash games
• How to apply basic and advanced GTO theory
• Advanced solver analysis for preflop, flop, turn and river
• How to play optimal poker in 3bet, 4bet and 5bet pots
• Advanced deep stack poker strategy for cash games

And much more.
All of these concepts by the way are taught to you in 10 minute to 30 minute video lessons. Sometimes there is also some additional study material included.
However, as mentioned already, a decent chunk of the course material is also taught in the form of 'Play and Explains.'
This is where you can actually just look over the shoulder of one of these top cash game pros as they explain every single decision they make to you.
This includes fast fold cash games like Zoom, Zone, Snap and Fast Forward poker.
I think this hybrid style of learning is excellent for both beginner and novice level serious students of the game.
Not to be outdone, the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass has plenty of basic (and some advanced) cash game strategy to help you quickly improve your game as well.
Many people forget that Daniel Negreanu is actually a highly successful cash game player as well. And once again, his expertise in a live cash game environment specifically is just unparalleled.
For example, his breakdown of live physical cash game tells and live hand reading is the best I have ever seen in a poker training course.
Also, as a 20+ year poker pro, Daniel is able to break down the mental side of the game (surviving the ups and downs), from a level of experience that is simply unmatched by nearly all other pros.
However, for an overall complete system for crushing today's cash games both online and live, including the latest cutting edge strategies, I am going to have to give the edge here to The Upswing Poker Lab.

Upswing Poker Lab versus Masterclass - Which One Has Better Free Bonus Content?

Both the Upswing Poker Lab and the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass include plenty of free bonus content and coursework to help you absorb all the strategies and begin implementing them in your game right away.
For example, the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass comes with a highly in-depth 120+ page course workbook, which helps you understand every single lesson that Daniel teaches you along with lots of additional insights.
As mentioned, the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass also includes 'Office Hours' where you can personally ask Daniel questions yourself.
However, not to be outdone, The Upswing Poker Lab also includes over 400 preflop strategy charts which basically tell you what hands to play in every situation imaginable in a cash game, Zoom, tournament or a live game.

Enter the preflop situation in cash games, tournaments, Zoom or live games and the Upswing Poker Lab preflop charts tell you exactly what hands to play.

This is literally unheard of in any poker training program that I have ever seen before, because these charts give you almost a 'cheat sheet' for what hands to play in all preflop situations.
And, as mentioned also, you can just download these right to your smartphone using the custom Upswing poker app.
Inside the Upswing Poker Lab you will also find tons of extra worksheets and bonus strategy guides to help you through the mountain of advanced poker content included in this poker course.
Lastly, The Upswing Poker Lab includes perhaps the best private poker study group found anywhere online with it's Facebook 'Engage' poker group.
In this private member's only study group, you can personally ask the coaches your questions about poker situations that are giving you trouble as well as get advice on your poker hands.
You can also benefit from a community of thousands of other serious poker players who are also students in the Upswing Poker Lab and very determined to improve their own game as well.
So in the end, both The Upswing Poker Lab and The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass include plenty of bonus material and study guides to help you improve your game even faster.
But when you include the 400+ preflop 'cheat sheets' into the mix, I am going to have to give the edge once again here to The Upswing Poker Lab.

Upswing Poker Lab vs Masterclass Price Breakdown Comparison

Finally, let's have a look at the price breakdown between The Upswing Poker Lab and the Daniel Negreanu Masterclass.
Which poker training program offers the better bang for your buck?
The Upswing Poker Lab is a monthly based subscription membership starting at $99 per month, although it is cheaper if you enroll for the semi-annual or annual plans.

Upswing Poker Lab Coupon

The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass on the other hand is a one time payment of $90, or you can access the entire Masterclass library (which includes the Phil Ivey Masterclass, Gordon Ramsey, Steph Curry etc.) for $180.
As for which one is a better bang for your buck, I am going to have to give the slight nod here to The Upswing Poker Lab even though it is a subscription based poker training with a slightly higher price.
And this is simply because the amount of high level elite poker instruction in the Upswing Lab is frankly more than any other poker course ever created.
And as mentioned, there are brand new cutting edge poker strategy lessons and live play videos being added every single week.
This includes all the latest GTO poker theory and solver analysis, which is stuff that you will NOT find much of in The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass.
However, Daniel's Masterclass still offers a pretty solid value as well especially for the newer poker player who wants a complete package of video lessons from one of the game's all-time great players, that will help them start winning immediately.
The bottom line is that the price of enrollment for either of these poker courses is literally just a buy-in or two in any micro stakes poker game.
But the poker knowledge that you will learn in either The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass or The Upswing Poker Lab is worth thousands of dollars at the very least for a serious poker player.

Final Thoughts

So what is the final verdict here? Should you enroll in The Upswing Poker Lab or The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass?
Well, I think both of these poker training programs are among the very best ways to quickly improve your poker game these days.
However, they do appeal to different skill-sets and levels of poker experience.
The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass is the best poker training option for poker beginners.
If you are quite literally brand new to poker or you are still struggling to turn a consistent profit in the very lowest stakes games online or live, then I would recommend starting with The Daniel Negreanu Masterclass.
You are learning from arguably the best poker player of all-time and Daniel has a unique ability to explain highly complex poker theory and strategy in simple bite size pieces that any beginner can benefit from.
The Upswing Poker Lab is a much better advanced poker training option for anyone who is not a complete beginner.
However, if you are an experienced poker player, who has perhaps seen a little bit of success, and you are looking for something a bit more advanced, then there is no question that The Upswing Poker Lab wins here.
The Upswing Poker Lab is the most comprehensive poker training program ever created with 250+ hours of video lessons from some of the best poker players in the world today.
This is why it The Upswing Poker Lab has been my #1 rated poker training course for several years in a row now.

Upswing Poker Lab Ranges

Simply put, if you are a serious poker player looking to take your game to a world class level, then there is no better answer than The Upswing Poker Lab.
Anyways, I hope this breakdown and analysis between these two top poker training programs was helpful for you.
Quite frankly, I don't think you could go wrong with either of them. This is why they continue to be at the top of my list for serious poker players looking to quickly improve their game.
Like I always say. This isn't the 'old days' anymore where a handful of poker pros greedily hang on to all the elite poker knowledge.

Upswing Poker Lab Reddit

It is readily available today, and taught to you by some of the best players in the world.
And there is no faster way to skyrocket your poker earnings, than by investing in a world class training progam like The Upswing Lab or Daniel's Masterclass.

Please note: The links in this article are affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you choose to enroll in either of these poker training programs.

Upswing Poker Lab Free Download

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