Course Poker

Course Poker 4,3/5 4074 reviews

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Looking for a professional course to play better poker but don't want to commit to any of the paid poker training sites people keep talking about?

A majority of poker training courses out there focuses on a particular segment of the game, be it cash games, tournaments, or live play in general. Rarely do we see a course that comes equipped with a kind of knowledge that covers everything in one place.

The new free poker course released by Johns Hopkins University Professor Avi Rubin promises to help you do just that.

With almost 500 PowerPoint slides and hours of video lectures, the Jonhs Hopkins' Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Poker is an amazing new resource now available for free to everyone who wants to put some time into learning how to play poker.

  • The Course is different from other poker books you may have read. It’s written for players who are smart and who know that to succeed, you have to be different. Because in poker, if you play and think like everyone else, you’ll also get results just like everyone else.
  • The poker course is a compact one with 4 hours of video content teaching you the strategies of Linus ‘LLinusLLove’ Loeliger who is generally regarded as the end-boss of 6-max Holdem cash games. Upswing Poker in a nutshell.

The intersession course created by Computer Science Professor at Johns Hopkins University and Technical Director of the JHU Information Security Institute, Avi Rubin aims 'to take students from novices who may know nothing about poker to above-average players in two weeks.'

To reach his goal, Rubin teamed up with 2005 World Series of PokerMain Event runner up Steve Dannenmann.

What to Expect?

Throughout the course, Rubin uses detailed examples to discuss the optimal play of different poker hands and analyses how professional players handle a wide range of situations at the table.

The course focuses on Texas Hold'em poker 'with an emphasis on cash games.'

As the outline of the free poker course shows, Rubin's Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Poker is divided into fourteen parts, each dedicated to a separate aspect of the game.

Parts 1 - 4: the Basics

The first three sections of the poker course are a true introduction to the game. Here, beginners can learn about poker cash games, tournaments, and gameplay.

On the fourth part of the course, you find interesting insights on the psychological side of the game. Here is where the author shares insights on how to read people in poker and how to identify what type of players sit with you at the table.

Elements covered in parts 1 through 4, include:

Parts 5 - 6: the Math

In the introduction of this poker course, Professor Rubin explains that 'math, combinatorics, and game-theoretical aspects of poker' are all elements that will be covered extensively in his lectures — and these are the parts where he begins to do so.

Part 5 is where you get an introduction to poker maths and concepts like outs, hand probabilities, ranges, and Game Theory Optimal (GTO) play.

Elements covered in the parts 5 and 6, include:

Parts 7 - 11: the Play

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Once the most important theoretical aspects of the game are covered, the course jumps right into the action with separate sections dedicated to pre-flop, post-flop, turn, and river play.

Here's where you learn basic concepts like the importance of position and the opening ranges connected to it. These parts cover also more advanced topics like how to respond to various flops and how to bluff on the turn.

Elements covered in parts 7 through 11, include:

Part 12: Tournament Poker

Despite the focus of this free poker course being on cash games, Professor Rubin dedicates one of the closing parts to tournament poker.

Albeit superficial, this part is a good introduction to tournament play. It briefly touches on elements like tournament structures, levels, and deals.

Elements covered in parts 12, include:

Parts 13 - 14: Conclusion

In the last two parts of the poker course, Rubin touches on other poker games to learn once you are done with Texas Hold'em.

The games included in module 13 are:

Before the closing remarks, the course discusses also useful (but slightly more advanced) elements like poker tells, HUDs, and poker bankroll management.

Free Poker Course Download

The poker course and all the videos are available for free. To download the Jonhs Hopkins' Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Poker, please visit this page.

WANT TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW? PLO Poker: A Beginner's Guide to Pot-Limit Omaha

People often ask me what is the best free poker training in 2020. Now first off, I gotta say, like with anything in life, when something is free it is not likely to be of the highest quality.
Most of the best poker training available nowadays (taught by world class pros) is on poker training sites or through coaching which of course is not going to be free.
However, for beginners just getting started in poker I believe that there are a number of good free poker training options these days. And I am going to cover them all in this article.

1. Best Free Poker Training 2020 - Massive Profit at the Micros


The best free poker training in my opinion, especially for beginners, is without a doubt still my free poker guide, Massive Profit at the Micros.
This 50 page poker 'cheat sheet' teaches you all of the basics of how to win at poker at the lower stakes in particular.
I walk you step by step how to:
  • Know what hands to play from all positions at the table
  • When to bet, raise and bluff
  • How to read their hand
  • The best poker sites to play on
  • How to finally stop tilting
  • How to consistently make $500-$1000 a months at the micro stakes

People ask me all the time why I give away all this information completely for free.
And I guess firstly, the answer is that it probably won't remain free forever.
However, I know that a lot of poker beginners read my articles here on my website. And I want to make it as easy as possible for them to get started without having to invest large amounts of money in expensive poker training.
I also have some of the best results in online poker history at the lower stakes and I want to help others struggling at these limits to start turning a profit.
'Massive Profit at the Micros' has now been read by over 100k people and if you are struggling to win at poker at the lowest stakes, reading this free poker training guide will help you finally start winning.
Because that is really the whole point of this free little poker book.
Massive Profit at the Micros won't teach you how to become a poker pro. And it won't turn you into some high stakes crusher overnight either.
This free little poker 'cheat sheet' is instead intended for those who are playing at the lowest stakes and still can't figure out how to win consistently. Follow the strategies in this guide and you will start winning.
It's that simple.
You can go get your copy of my free poker training guide Massive Profit at the Micros, right here.

2. Best Free Poker Training 2020 - YouTube and Twitch


I think some of the absolute best free poker training these days is available on YouTube and Twitch. Because basically you get to watch professional poker players walk you through hands or even play live.
With YouTube in particular there is tons of great free poker training. Once again, I would recommend my own YouTube channel first especially if you play the micro stakes.
I put out brand new poker strategy videos every single week. My 4 part series in particular called 'How to Crush the Micros' has been extremely popular.

Make sure you are subscribed to my poker YouTube channel so you never miss a video.
What if you play higher stakes poker games though? Well, a poker YouTube channel that I find myself watching a lot lately is No Limit Gaming.
This poker YouTube channel features some of the very best online poker players in the world showing you exactly how they crush mid and high stakes games.Poker
This video above for example features some of the best online pros in the world such as Steffen 'Go0se.core!' Sontheimer, 'LLinusLLove' and others at nosebleed stakes ($50/$100).
It is very rare to get such high level free poker training without having to pay expensive membership fees on a poker training site.
As for Twitch, there are countless full time streamers these days who basically play every day and live stream the entire thing.
Not all of them are professionals of course but it is still a good idea to check out some of the up and comers who are trying to beat the lower stakes games just like you.
Probably the most famous poker Twitch streamer these days is Lex 'RaSZi' Veldhuis. I often find myself binge watching his Twitch poker channel.
I would highly recommend checking him out! Tell him BlackRain79 sent you :)

3. Best Free Poker Training 2020 - Poker Forums and Reddit


Now I know I have been a little bit critical of poker forums and Reddit in the past. And I still think they are too often plagued by negative trolls and time wasting off-topic discussions.
However, I think there is still some good value in a few poker forums out there in particular. And poker forums of course are pretty much always free!
The #1 poker forum that I always recommend is CardsChat.
The reason why is because CardsChat has built up a nice sized community of mostly low stakes poker players trying to get better at the game and help each other.
You can post your poker hands or questions on CardsChat and usually get many helpful answers.
Now, people often ask me why I don't have a poker forum myself.
Well, the truth is that I actually do have a poker forum! Yes that is me by the way above answering questions on my poker forum.
However, the big difference between my poker forum (and pretty much every other one out there) is that mine is private and not open to the general public.
This allows me to make sure that I limit the amount of users only to those who are serious about improving their poker game and helping others in a positive way.
You can feel free to post your poker hand histories or you poker questions on my poker forum and you will get a reply often from myself personally or the other pros and semi-pros who post on there.
As for Reddit, I honestly have never been much of a big Reddit user but I do think there is some good poker strategy discussion for the most part in the main poker subreddit which is r/poker.

4. Best Free Poker Training 2020 - Poker Strategy Websites


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Some of the best free poker training these days is on poker strategy websites like the one you are looking at right now, blackrain79.com.
I have written over 700 poker strategy articles for this website now covering how to beat the micro stakes games in particular. And yes, they are all free and they always will be!
For a complete list of all my most popular poker strategy articles in recent years (beginner intermediate, advanced and pro), click here.
There are several other quality free poker strategy websites out there though that I would recommend reading as well.
I often find myself reading the poker strategy articles over at Upswing Poker for instance. Upswing is well known as having some of the best poker courses available in the world today. I have actually reviewed several of them and I regularly recommend them.Course play fs19 mod hub
However, many people do not know that Upswing also produces lots of high quality and totally free poker strategy articles on a regular basis. I have actually even written poker strategy articles for Upswing in the past myself and probably will again in the future.
The last poker strategy website that I recommend is also one where I am a regular contributor. This is the biggest poker news website in the world, pokernews.com
I write a monthly article for this website and they have a whole host of other high level professional poker players writing regular strategy articles as well.

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5. Best Free Poker Training 2020 - Poker Podcasts


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The final free poker training that I recommend is poker podcasts. Many people are surprised to learn that there are many high quality poker podcasts out there these days not only featuring interviews with world class pros, but also in depth poker strategy lessons.
If you have a long commute to work or you tend to workout a lot at the gym like I do, this the perfect way to improve your poker skills at the same time.
I am almost always listening to podcasts while working out. Two birds one stone right?

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For example, I would recommend checking out Smart Poker Study. I was actually a guest on this poker strategy podcast on episode #162.
Sky Matsuhashi (the host of Smart Poker Study) creates high quality poker lessons to help you improve your poker game. He talks about small stakes poker most frequently.
Another good poker podcast that I would recommend is The PostFlop Poker podcast. Again, this is another excellent poker strategy podcast that will help you with your game.
I was also a guest on this podcast on episode #49.
The final poker podcast that I would recommend is probably the most famous one in the world. And that is Joe Ingram's The Poker Life podcast.
While not specifically educational in nature, Joe regularly interviews some of the very best poker players in the world. And this gives you a deep insight into what it takes to get to this level of the game.Course Poker
You can go listen to The Poker Life Podcast right here.
Most of these poker podcasts by the way can be downloaded directly on Spotify or on the podcast app on your smartphone.
You can almost always find all of these poker podcasts on YouTube as well. Joe Ingram for example posts all of his interviews (with video as well) on his Youtube channel.

Final Thoughts


So there you have my list of the best free poker training for 2020. The truth is that high quality poker training does not need to cost you an arm and a leg.
Now of course yes, the very best elite level poker training available these days is often behind a paywall (it isn't free). But this really shouldn't be a huge shocker to anyone.
Information is power in poker and usually the best poker professionals in the world are not going to give that away for free.
If you want my list of the best advanced poker training available today, I have also written an article for that.
But there is also lots of great free poker training options out there these days for beginners in particular, my free poker strategy book for example.
You can also find tons of good high level poker strategy discussion on YouTube and Twitch streams, poker forums, poker strategy websites and poker podcasts.
Make sure you let me know in the comments below what you think the best free poker training is these days.
Lastly, if you want to know how I became a poker pro and poker writer traveling the world, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.