Postflop Poker Podcast

The final edition of the Postflop Poker Podcast features the return of former co-host Mike, a real PPP fan's favourite. In keeping with the final chapter of Ben's book Poker and Everything, this extra long show focuses on the future firstly of poker itself and secondly on everything else. Topics include nanobots, quantum computing, AI, genetic engineering, space travel, oh and poker as well! We wish our loyal listeners a hearty farewell and continued good luck at the tables. Bye for now!

Merv comes equipped with a Mancunian phrasebook to help Ben feel at home following his repatriation to his homeland. This episode features a discussion on the role of artificial intelligence within the poker world, as well as a strat-chat hand (34:29) from our old friend Pluribus, which you can view on BBZ's video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KwygVOPUyk.

From the origins of poker to the future of the game, Ben and Merv journey through the past, present and future, musing on chapter 9 of Ben's book Poker and Everything. Wherever you are, whenever you are, you should check out the stratchat hand Merv played recently (26:26) featuring one of those devilishly wet flops 345 of hearts. Ben dislikes Merv's play, but is he right? How would you have played it?

Long-time patron of the show, lawyer and social democrat Armin Voss joins us from Germany for an interesting and entertaining discussion about poker and politics, inspired by chapter 8 of the free ebook Poker and Everything. He also brings a strat-chat hand (44:29) from a 5K tournament he played in Punta Cana, the Dominican Republic, after winning a seat through a Party Poker satellite. Our hero Armin is faced by the imposing villain Chris Hunichen.

A male-dominated crew discuss the male-dominated world of poker and search for the causes and solutions. There are two strat-chat hands (31:44) taken from the final table of Vanessa Kade's recent win in the Pokerstars 15th Anniversary of the Sunday Millions.

A recent lack of travel options seems to have sent our trusty duo into a dream-like state, as plans are formed for a 2025 PPP Poker Party Bus Tour. Merv celebrates another live win and after a discussion on chapter 6 of the free ebook Poker and Everything, the strat-chat hand (29:28) comes from the exotic location of Paradise Island, the Bahamas.

Merv returns after a 6-day trip reporting for pokernews.com on the 2021 Poker Palace Summer Championships. Thankfully, he's back in his rightful seat with fresh stories to tell. We talk about chapter 5 from Ben's ebook Poker and Everything, which handles the subject of mental health. The strat-chat hand (32:29) is a real cracker and it comes from the main event that Merv recently reported on. https://uk.pokernews.com/tours/poker-palace-summer-championships/2021-poker-palace-summer-championships/main-event/chips.304934.htm

Triton Poker Tables are announced as our latest sponsors (please check out their website tritonpokertables.com) and we dive into chapter 4 of the ebook Poker and Everything, which is all about emotional control. The stratchat (25:43) features Phil Ivey, who is left seething with anger at the conclusion of the hand.

Chapter 3 from the free ebook Poker and Everything is all about the transferable skills you can develop as a poker player or in working life. Ben even wears a shirt for the occasion. The dynamic duo discuss the new game format Flip & Gos and tackle a hand (37:49) from Postflop Volume 1 featuring a pair of unnamed queens on an Ace Ten Ten flop.

Merv and Ben return for a new year and announce the release of the audiobook version of Poker and Everything, available for free download at postfloppoker.com. We discuss a few themes from the second chapter, transferable skills developed at the poker table, which also help in everyday life. The stratchat hand (34:01) features a river decision, where amazingly the hero chooses not to raise with his straight flush! Was he right?

We begin an 11 episode journey through the 11 chapters of Poker and Everything starting with chapter 1, Poker and Me. Merv asks Ben questions about his poker journey and Ben expands upon the content from that opening chapter. The strat-chat (42:06) features a hand from Postflop Vol 2 Chpater 10, as Ben compares his evidence-based advice with modern GTO theory.

After a short discussion on one of Merv's favourite themes, prime numbers, Ben provides some information about his new book Poker and Everything, which is due for release in early December. Two strat-chat hands follow: one tournament (18:39) and one cash (41:00). We wrap things up with a minor rant from Ben on the 2020 WSOP Main Event hybrid format.

Double strat-chat awaits! First, NIck Oakley from the Fish to Final Table Podcast sends in a colourful hand (11:48) and then we feature a hand from listener Jorden Dobson (43:57). Find out where they sit on the fishiness scale!

Host of the fantastic "Chasing Poker Greatness" podcast and cash game specialist Brad Wilson joins us for an entertaining and informative 76 minutes. He tells us about his future plans working with Jonathan Little and also the development of his website chasingpokergreatness.com. We discuss the current Covid-induced trend towards 6-max and both poser and stratchat are centred around 6-max cash. Enjoy.

Don't miss this fascinating interview with James, a smart young software developer and founder of the exploitative solver, Algoholdem. We discuss the product as well as AI in poker generally, then we launch into a poser, which asks about what recommendations AlgoHoldem has for lower stakes players! Finally, the strat-chat hands (36:32) come from some high stakes online cash games in September.

In this episode we discuss the twelve to twenty big blind zone, touching on some of the things we should be considering at this stack depth. There's a strat-chat hand (26:52) featuring two time WSOP bracelet winner Fedor Holz, which highlights how it is still possible to play some postflop poker even at short stack depths.

To satisfy Merv's preoccupation with numbers, the legend Tommy joins us for a third time, having previously been on the show in episodes 36 and 72. And yes, he's pencilled in for E144! We talk about Tommy's past and future youtube projects, Pokersimple and Poker Words respectively. Watch this space. There are two stratchat hands (12:50 and 40:50) where Tommy provides bountiful nuggets of golden advice, one of which he calls LMIP, but you'll have to listen in to find out what that means! Merv gave him a coveted Merv's medal. I guess I have to work harder if I want awards...

Merv and Ben return with another double down episode featuring two posers and two stratchat hands. Would you call a 4-bet shove with AK suited for your tournament life at 35 big blinds? What are reverse implied odds? The two hands are at 40:48 and 58:57 and both were sent in by listeners.

There's two of everything in this episode, as Merv and Ben tackle two posers from listeners. The first concerns how to construct a preflop 3-betting range and the second features our good friend Ace King. We follow this up with two stratchat hands (24:52 / 48:00) one from one of Merv's post-lockdown live tournaments in Sydney and the other from PPP listener Jorden in Perth.

How often do you stop to consider which games you should be playing? In an increasingly changing world, poker games are evolving rapidly. In this episode we tackle the subject of game selection and how to go about it. To round things off there's a strat-chat hand (26:00) from a home game where our hero flops the nuts, but fails to fold after one of the worst possible run outs.

There has been demand for more hand analysis, so in this episode we celebrated the SCOOP with a hand bonanza. All four hands were taken from the final table of Event 15M, the Sunday Millions (10:43), (23:58, (32:55), (44:10).

Guest Steve Fredlund of Rec Poker joins us for a loquacious lockdown lecture as we all come to terms with the current covid conditions and a lack of live poker. Our topical poser comes from listener John Kent who asks for advice on handling micro cash games with many multiway pots. The strat-chat (46:15) hand features just such a hand when a set is much weaker than it might at first appear.

As casinos close and more and more people worldwide are isolating, online poker enjoys a resurgence. We devote most of this episode to Ben's new project, which involves an extensive study of GTO poker. Find out what he's up to and how it might help your game. There's a strat-chat hand, which features no hole cards and GTO range versus range analysis. In other news poor Merv, struggling to find any poker games, tells us how his business has been thrown into turmoil, forcing him into 16 moves in 6 weeks.

Giving us up to date news from Las Vegas with 10 weeks to go before the start of the WSOP season, Seth Palansky answers questions on some of the possible scenarios for the WSOP this year, following the impact of the global measures to tackle the coronavirus. Then we bring you a strat-chat hand from the WSOP Main Event last year featuring Ensan and Su, 2 huge stacks clashing in an ICM intense spot.

The big one has arrived! Fans favourite Mike makes a guest appearance for a magic trip down memory lane as we reminisce on the podcast's journey. There's a poser on suited aces, a stratchat hand sent in from one of our patrons (34:35) and as a bonus, a double banger (57:20). For our milestone episode we also have some giveaways - tune in to find out more..

The penultimate episode before the big one is all about pot control. Merv is live at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, whilst Ben is back at his base camp in Bangkok after a break in South Africa. There's a strat-chat hand from Ila, the man behind the apps Preflop+ and the new Postflop+. Download them now from your app store. To support Lynn Gilmartin's fundraising efforts for the poor Australian wildlife, visit her page here.

Merv and Ben exit the Delorean to deliver the first episode of 2020, as the worldwide anticipation of the special 100th episode intensifies. They tackle a poser on when leading the betting with a surprising, interrupting bet on the turn could be a good thing, before looking at a stratchat hand (29:25) from a recent live event, which features an example of an effective turn donk-bet. Happy New Year everyone from the PPP team!

Our Christmas Episode features a challenging poser on when to turn a marginal hand into a bluff. Merv "Bubble Boy" Hervey discusses a recent live tournament hand in which he did just that versus one of the "unstudied", a politically correct term for "fish". The stratchat hand (31:58) is from the late stages of the EPT Main Event in Barcelona a few weeks ago and features an unusual river moment where a winning hand is turned into a bluff https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uRLwg7SRqU (follow the action at 03:00)

Inspired by a poser from long-term patron Grant Thomas, we tackle the theme of thin value betting, particularly on the river. It's a difficult and important skill and comes down to your ability to put opponents on ranges and anticipate accurately their future behaviour. There's a strat-chat hand (28:24) from the final table of the recent WPT event in Montreal that features a potential spot for thin value betting on the river.

This episode is scheduled for release just as the Poker Thought Processes video series goes live on November 22nd. Don't forget to join the Postflop Poker email list, so you can get an exclusive discount off that series. We also have more Preflop+ the app giveaways, so listen in to find out how you can get your free copy. Our poser questions how much time should be spent on headsup play and the stratchat hand (25:22) features two big name players doing battle headsup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF8hS1q0UnE

Episode 94 of your favourite poker podcast is devoted to the subject of postflop bet sizing. After news of another 1st place for Merv, Ben offers some practical advice on bet sizing in the poser section. For the stratchat hand (25:11) we bring to the table another hand played by Pluribus, "whose" create postflop bet sizing makes for interesting and challenging analysis.

Jordan Drummond aka BigBluffZinc joins us for a fascinating discussion on game theory optimal poker and the recently unleashed AI bot known as Pluribus. The poser is all about GTO solvers and the stratchat hand is one played by Pluribus, where it makes a hero call on the river. If you're afraid of diving in to the world of GTO poker, listen in and build your confidence. Next year Ben will be working on a video series to make GTO play easier to understand.

Alec Torelli of Conscious Poker joins us for an episode devoted to the tricky subject of hand reading. He also tells us some stories from Macau where some of the highest stakes cash games in the world take place, including the famous Big Game. We ask Alec for some tips on hand reading and information about the Hand Reading System he uses. The stratchat hand comes from one of Alec's high stakes cash games and features some advanced hand reading.

Ben returns from his trip to Western Australia and his meeting with Captain Quayle, but is definitely a bit rusty when asked to explain ICM. Thankfully Merv is on hand to rescue him. Both hosts struggle without their trusty runsheet, which was deleted by Mike "The Eraser". There's a strat-chat hand (38:21) from long-term patron Grant Thomas, who focuses on survival in an ICM intense spot, when he'd have been better off showing more aggression.

As we enter the nervous nineties, Merv & Ben discuss an email from Carl Richards regarding Pluribus, the recent AI bot that seems capable of beating top 6-max opponents. Read about it here. By request we also talk about multiway pots and follow that up with a strat-chat (25:11) hand which fittingly enough, goes multiway.

Keen cat Dean Blatt joins us for a thrilling episode as we debate subjects such as the Nick Marchington staking fiasco. Dean was the guy who made a video of the now infamous shoegate incident at the WSOP Main Event last month. Tune in for some inside information and check out the video here. Our poser today (22:15) is whether to make a hero call in a hand Dean plays where a villain with a wide bluffing range bets big at a river. The strat-chat hand (53:45) from patron Brannen Hough has us squirming on a river, wondering whether a hero fold might indeed be the right way to go. Minor audio quality issues were experienced during the opening 12 minutes only.

Join us for a later than planned episode 88 as Merv pays tribute to his late father, who loved to say “Bye For Now”. There's a poser from Merv on the use of GTO strategy and a strat chat hand (30:47) where the hero tries to play AK very slowly against a LAG villain.

Recorded on day 4 of the WSOP Main Event, this episode features a poser on bomb pots. If you're a live cash game player, you need to know what they are and how to play them, so tune in and get prepared. Our stratchat hand today comes from a hand played on day 1c of the Main Event (26:10). You can follow along on Jeff Gross' vllog on youtube here (16:14)

Merv & Ben are back with a mid WSOP episode and despite Ian from Canberra winning a trifecta of prizes, there are still more to be won. Tune in to find out how. Our poser is concerned with the importance of the effective stack size including how to think about it in multiway pots. The stratchat hand (23:56) features a river bluff that goes wrong, but that doesn't mean it was a bad bluff...

Zach @TimeTraveler524 Gensler joins us to discuss his upcoming world record attempt to play 120 hours straight hours of poker. You can read more about it here, in an interview with Chris Wallace. As the WSOP warms up, we have more giveaways as well as competition results. The poser concerns the differences between cash and tournament play, whilst the strat chat hand (37:12) features a spot from a $1/2 game where just possibly we might lay down a set.

Everyone's favourite poker nerd Kevmath joins us for an episode that tackles the subject of trapping. The stratchat hand (30:26) is from the recent Triton Montenegro High-Roller series 110K Euro Main Event. We have multiple giveaways including a second chance to win the #villaindependent T-shirt and the "phrase that pays". Tune in to find out more. The interval music you may recognize from the youtube series "Stump the Kevmath". Merv also launches a new career as a bingo mindset coach.

Tune in to find out how you could win a new PPP inspired T-shirt from www.fullrangepoker.com. After a memorable tease from Merv, we answer a poser about when to bluff at boards which look likely to be the strongest hand. The stratchat hand (18:48) features headsup action from the final stages of the EPT in Prague in 2016 as Crazy Dutchman Jasper Meijer pulls off a successful river bluff.

WSOP bracelet winner and global poker star Scott Davies joins us from a chilled out retreat in Panama, where he's getting in some study and practice time prior to this year's WSOP. And what better way to test his skills than tackling a PPP poser and strat-chat hand? Scott explains how to handle two contrasting villains at the same time before dissecting one of Merv's hands...literally? Have a hot cross bun Merv...

Merv is selling some of his action in an upcoming Sydney tournament and we wanted to see whether anyone was crazy enough to buy a piece of him. Deathly silence...and then the show really started to pull some punches as Ben proudly posed a poser for himself on knockout tournament strategy. These popular and lucrative games require certain adjustments and there's some groundbreaking new strategy advice buried in this episode. More will be revealed in Ben's Red Chip Poker group coaching session on April 30th and also at pokernerve.com later in the year. The stratchat hand (25:27) comes from a PKO tournament and our new strategy advice is put into practice.

Award-winning pokernews presenter Sarah (Grant) Herring aka AuntyChardonnay adds some zing to episode 80, as she tells us stories from her global exploits. Merv posed her a couple of provocative posers, which set the imaginations alight and culminated in a pet-friendly couples fairytale charity final table event in Sydney next year. There was of course strat-chat (46:04) from a tournament hand featuring a hero defending from the cutoff with KJo versus a UTG+1 raiser.

It's a while since we covered this topic on episode 37, but a recent hand from patron Brannen Hough prompted us to revisit the theme. There's a poser from Your Poker Mastermind Vol 3 and the stratchat hand follows on at 25:53.

Merv is back in Sydney after an exciting time with his press pass representing Postfloppoker at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, so this special episode features a few of his stories and interview clips with the stars and finalists. We have multiple answers to our poser of the week and there's also a hand sent in from a player in action at the end of Day 1c of the Main Event (18:18).

Ben is joined by Merv and Dara who are at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne. Dara talks about his upcoming book release Poker Satellite Strategy which will be available very soon for pre-order at Amazon. We tackle a poser on satellite strategy before delving in to a hand (38:08) from the 6-max Aussie Millions game played a few days ago with Dara as the hero. Find out more about Dara's news at his blog here.

Merv & Ben are recovered from New Year celebrations in Sydney and present an episode about hero calling. They discuss this hand briefly in the preamble, before the traditional poser and strat-chat hand (21:05), which comes from a Belgium listener Kristoff, who wrote: "Hello, G'day and welcome to my email...". After that piece of comedy, we simply had to feature the hand.

In our second episode on AceKing Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald joins us. We are drawn into a variety of fascinating poker discussions including the subject of 3-betting more preflop. Patron Brannen Hough provides the poser regarding the adjustments we need to make when playing really deep-stacked and he also provides us with an interesting AK hand, that sees us contemplating top pair top kicker in a multiway pot.

In the first of two episodes featuring AK, comedian, poker pro and new host of the TPE podcast Clayton Fletcher joins us. The poser hones in on double-barreling AK out of position and the strat-chat hand (29:55) features a turn fold, which was just far too nitty for our liking.