Understanding Poker Jargon: The Essential Terms Every Player Should Know
Poker is a game of strategy, skill, and psychology, but it also has a language all its own. Whether you’re
How to Improve Your Online Poker Game with Training Sites
I started playing poker over a decade and a half ago when my brother taught me the basics in an afternoon. I learned by playing, reflecting on what worked, and talking to better players. I even bought a few poker books (none of which I’d recommend now). In short, I did everything possible to improve at the time.
A few years into my career, I was at the WSOP in Vegas, dodging vendors selling books, card protectors, and even oxygen (yes, really) when I noticed a crowd watching a TV screen. Intrigued, I joined them. It was a training video—a top player explaining his thought process while playing online, promoting the newly launched site, CardRunners. It felt revolutionary. Soon, other training sites followed.
Over time, training methods advanced. Solvers arrived, and for a while, it seemed like we’d never need human coaching again. Tools like DTO turned poker study into interactive decision-making. Yet, despite these innovations, coaches remained essential. Computers could provide answers, but they couldn’t always explain why. To fully benefit from these tools, players had to learn how to use them correctly.
Today, training sites do more than just teach strategy—they help players understand the reasoning behind decisions and guide them toward the most valuable study areas. They offer a cost-effective alternative to coaching, providing many of the same benefits. However, with so many options available, finding the right site for your current skill level can be challenging.
In this article, I’ll share the training sites I’ve personally used and believe offer the most value. If a site isn’t listed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I don’t rate it—it may just be that I haven’t used it yet.
I have worked with several of these sites. That doesn’t mean I’m biased in my assessment; rather, it means I must rate them highly, as I only work with sites I believe provide value for money. I’ve also recently launched my own site, SimplifyPoker, with Barry Carter. We offer courses covering my areas of expertise, including tournaments, ICM, satellites, live play, and mystery bounties. That said, this won’t stop me from recognizing the great value other sites provide.
As mentioned earlier, training sites depend on the quality of their coaches. Just because someone is a well-known player doesn’t necessarily mean they are a great coach. Many lack the communication skills needed to assess a student’s skill level and adjust their teaching accordingly. Some are just going through the motions.
Different sites offer different features, such as hand reviews, video tutorials, and poker HUD (Heads-Up Display) integration. Identify which tools are most beneficial to you and make sure the site you choose offers them.
It’s not necessarily the case that cheaper training is better value, or that a more expensive site is superior. For pros (or serious players looking to improve their win rate), a training subscription that costs $1,000 could be worth it if it increases your profits by more than that. Conversely, a $100 site might not be worth anything if it doesn’t improve your game.
For recreational players with no ambition to go pro, assessing value is harder. Some of my favorite students started out knowing they were significantly losing players, with no expectation of ever turning a profit. Most were right about the first part but wrong about the second. Even if you’ll never be a winning player, improving your game can still be worth it. Poker is a lot more fun when you don’t feel like the fish at the table.
One of the quickest ways to gauge a training site’s value is by looking at user reviews or speaking with current users. The best sites develop a dedicated community of advocates who are eager to share their experiences.
If I don’t know about a site, the first thing I do is ask a user. I’m actually wary of sites with massive advertising budgets unless they are also backed up by genuine user testimonials. We’ve come a long way from the days of simply watching a training video and moving on. The best sites foster active communities where users can interact, form study groups, and support each other.
Without further ado, here are the training sites I recommend, along with their strengths:
Doug Polk’s site Upswing Poker strongly reflects his commitment and approach to poker.
The OG of poker training sites, started by Phil Galfond, Run it Once remains one of the best options available.
My friend Faraz Jaka’s site reflects not only his unique genius but also his deep understanding of players at different levels.
This is the site I typically recommend to aspiring professionals who have reached the limits of self-improvement and are looking for a structured approach.
The brainchild of Chance Kornuth and Alex Foxen, this site specializes in exploiting live poker edges.
While I’m hesitant (but not really) to recommend my own site, I genuinely believe we offer something different and highly valuable. We built SimplifyPoker to fill gaps left by other training sites.
If you’re considering signing up for a training site, I encourage you to explore these options, compare their features, and take advantage of free trials or introductory offers where available. Most sites provide free videos or YouTube channels, allowing you to get a taste of their content before committing.
For example, SimplifyPoker offers a free, no-spam newsletter that delivers key poker concepts and actionable heuristics. Even if you never spend a cent with us, you can still gain valuable insights just by signing up.
It is absolutely crucial to identify which aspects of your game you should focus on improving (e.g., specific poker formats like PLO or satellites, bankroll management, or post-flop play). To determine this, you can:
When it comes to improvement, most players benefit from a three-pronged approach: playing, studying, and training. The exact balance varies from player to player, so it’s important to find what works best for you.
Some players actually benefit from taking breaks from playing to focus entirely on study and training. However, most players see the best results by continuing to play at least a small percentage of the time. Here’s why:
Finding the right balance between playing, studying, and training is highly personal. Some players primarily train by playing, and this works for them. Others, however, just end up reinforcing bad habits if they don’t study alongside their play.
Some players with exceptional pattern recognition can identify heuristics and concepts naturally, requiring little structured study. Others enjoy studying but get too caught up in deep solver work, when they would benefit much more from drilling the most common, high-frequency spots rather than looking for obscure triple-check-raise bluffs.
Just like runners alternate hard and easy workouts to avoid overtraining, poker players should carefully time their training, studying, and playing sessions.
Human progress relies less on individuals figuring things out alone and more on their ability to communicate and share knowledge with others. The same is true in poker—there are concepts we all “know” now that were unknown or even considered incorrect when I started playing. For example, strategies like limping the small blind or calling three-bets more often were once seen as weak plays, but they are now widely accepted as standard in many scenarios.
By participating in forums, group discussions, or coaching sessions, you can accelerate your learning, uncover gaps in your knowledge, and even identify leaks you didn’t realize you had.
One of the best examples of this collaborative approach is Fedor Holz’s study group. His team assigned specific topics to each member, and everyone reported their findings back to the group. This approach drastically accelerated their collective progress and helped shape some of the best poker players in the world.
Implement new strategies gradually and track your results. Don’t be discouraged if your immediate outcomes aren’t favourable—results often dip before they improve when making strategic adjustments.
This phenomenon is common in other skill-based activities. Golfers, for example, often experience a temporary decline in performance when adjusting their swing. The same thing happens in poker.
I remember when I finally realized it was OK to call more three-bets and started doing so—I immediately went on the worst downswing of my life. Some of it was variance, but a big part of it was my lack of experience navigating post-flop spots after calling a three-bet. However, once I learned how to handle those situations properly, my results improved dramatically.
Training sites are a powerful tool for improving your poker game. However, choosing the right site for your current skill level, budget, and learning style is crucial.
Poker training sites are like tools in a toolbox—you can (and probably should) use more than one to get the best results. Unlike relationships, it’s socially acceptable to have multiple training sites at the same time.
Final Takeaways:
By choosing the right training site, structuring your study effectively, and applying what you learn at the tables, you’ll maximize your improvement and take your poker game to the next level.
Poker is a game of strategy, skill, and psychology, but it also has a language all its own. Whether you’re
Playing live poker can be nerve-wracking, especially trying to adhere to poker etiquette standards that so many players expect. It
I started playing poker over a decade and a half ago when my brother taught me the basics in an