Welcome to Full Tilt Poker's Pro Tips Archive. Here, you'll find a collection of past tips conducted by your favorite Full Tilt Poker pros, including Team Full Tilt members, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Phil Ivey and more. Simply click on a pro's avatar or picture to open the full list of their tips, sorted by date.

Enjoy the Pro Tips Archive and remember to check back regularly for new tips from all of your favorite Full Tilt Poker pros.

Most Recent Pro Tips

  • 192 - Adjusting to Limit Hold’em Tournaments

    Aaron Bartley - July 1st, 2009

    While No-Limit Hold ‘em and Limit Hold ‘em tournaments might look the same to a casual observer, they’re completely different. In a No-Limit Hold ‘em tournament, one big hand can either set you up for a run to the final table or send you home early...


  • 191 - Preflop Play in Pot-Limit Hold’em Tournaments

    Rafe Furst - June 24th, 2009

    To succeed in Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, No-Limit Hold ‘em players need to make certain adjustments to their game. Perhaps the biggest modification you need to make is to ...


  • 190 - The Suicidal End Bluff

    Adam Schoenfeld - June 17, 2009

    Bluffing in Limit Hold ’em is nothing like bluffing in No-Limit Hold ’em. In a Limit game, you can rarely price an opponent out of the pot if he has any kind of a made hand or draw. Sometimes you’ll try a ...


  • 189 - Steaming is bad but pretending to steam isn’t

    Esther Rossi - June 10th, 2009

    I’ve been playing poker for 23 years, and one thing I can say about my play with great pride is that I never steam. In fact, that’s true of a lot of pros. In general, the more experienced a player is, the less likely he or she is to have a steam factor ...


  • 188 - Check-Raising the Devil

    Mike Matusow - June 3rd, 2009

    In the second week of the 2004 Series, I just missed a final table, finishing eleventh in a $2,000 Limit Hold’em event. Daniel (Negreanu) went on to win that tournament for his third bracelet...


  • 187 - Becoming a Complete Poker Player

    Steve Zolotow - 28th April 2009

    If you want to become a complete poker player, you need to learn how to play all the variations of the game. You should do this because...


  • 186 - Adjusting strategy mid-hand

    Johan Storakers - 22nd April 2009

    Most of the time when you’re engaged in a poker hand, you’ll be thinking about what decisions you will make before you have to make them. For example, if you call a raise with K-Q, you’ll think to yourself ...


  • 185 - Climbing on the HORSE

    Ali Nejad - April 15th 2009

    I'm aware that most poker players know me primarily as a poker commentator on shows like NBC's "Poker After Dark" and "National Heads-Up Poker Championship"...


  • 184 - Hand Coordination

    Brandon Adams - 6th April 2009

    Hand coordination is the relative strength of your hand compared to your opponents’ hand, and it’s probably the single biggest factor determining whether you have ...


  • 183 - Selecting Starting Hands in Omaha Hi/Lo

    Chip Jett - 1st April 2009

    I firmly believe that it's impossible to play too tight in Omaha Hi/Lo, especially in a ring game. I'll be the first to admit that it's not especially fun to play the game that tight, but if you have the ...



All Pro Tips - 2009

  • 192 - Adjusting to Limit Hold’em Tournaments

    Aaron Bartley - July 1st, 2009

    While No-Limit Hold ‘em and Limit Hold ‘em tournaments might look the same to a casual observer, they’re completely different. In a No-Limit Hold ‘em tournament, one big hand can either set you up for a run to the final table or send you home early...


  • 191 - Preflop Play in Pot-Limit Hold’em Tournaments

    Rafe Furst - June 24th, 2009

    To succeed in Pot-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, No-Limit Hold ‘em players need to make certain adjustments to their game. Perhaps the biggest modification you need to make is to ...


  • 190 - The Suicidal End Bluff

    Adam Schoenfeld - June 17, 2009

    Bluffing in Limit Hold ’em is nothing like bluffing in No-Limit Hold ’em. In a Limit game, you can rarely price an opponent out of the pot if he has any kind of a made hand or draw. Sometimes you’ll try a ...


  • 189 - Steaming is bad but pretending to steam isn’t

    Esther Rossi - June 10th, 2009

    I’ve been playing poker for 23 years, and one thing I can say about my play with great pride is that I never steam. In fact, that’s true of a lot of pros. In general, the more experienced a player is, the less likely he or she is to have a steam factor ...


  • 188 - Check-Raising the Devil

    Mike Matusow - June 3rd, 2009

    In the second week of the 2004 Series, I just missed a final table, finishing eleventh in a $2,000 Limit Hold’em event. Daniel (Negreanu) went on to win that tournament for his third bracelet...


  • 187 - Becoming a Complete Poker Player

    Steve Zolotow - 28th April 2009

    If you want to become a complete poker player, you need to learn how to play all the variations of the game. You should do this because...


  • 186 - Adjusting strategy mid-hand

    Johan Storakers - 22nd April 2009

    Most of the time when you’re engaged in a poker hand, you’ll be thinking about what decisions you will make before you have to make them. For example, if you call a raise with K-Q, you’ll think to yourself ...


  • 185 - Climbing on the HORSE

    Ali Nejad - April 15th 2009

    I'm aware that most poker players know me primarily as a poker commentator on shows like NBC's "Poker After Dark" and "National Heads-Up Poker Championship"...


  • 184 - Hand Coordination

    Brandon Adams - 6th April 2009

    Hand coordination is the relative strength of your hand compared to your opponents’ hand, and it’s probably the single biggest factor determining whether you have ...


  • 183 - Selecting Starting Hands in Omaha Hi/Lo

    Chip Jett - 1st April 2009

    I firmly believe that it's impossible to play too tight in Omaha Hi/Lo, especially in a ring game. I'll be the first to admit that it's not especially fun to play the game that tight, but if you have the ...


  • 182 - Playing a Medium Stack in Early Position

    Allen Cunningham - March 23rd, 2009

    For obvious reasons, we’d all rather have a medium stack than a short stack. But there is one advantage to being short-stacked: your decisions are easy. With a medium stack, almost every decision you make is ...


  • 181 - Pre-Game Online Tells

    Taylor Caby - March 19th, 2009

    When most poker players think about tells, they visualize physical actions that occur at the table. For example, the way an opponent’s hands start shaking whenever he has the nuts or the way he handles his chips in certain situations. Online players don’t have this...


  • 180 - Finding the Right Game and the Right Mindset

    Ben Roberts - March, 2009

    For me, poker is a game that is meant to be played joyfully, and the path to playing the game joyfully begins with finding the game that’s right for you and entering it in the right frame of mind.

    If you’re going to be an emotional prisoner when it comes to your...


  • 179 - Playing Big Hands on the Button

    Team Full Tilt - February 26th, 2009

    No matter what poker variant you’re playing, it’s vital to constantly think about the players left to act behind you and what their tendencies are. Too often, when facing a raise, poker players think only about how ...


  • 178 - The Sneaky Check

    Jon Turner - February 2009

    At every stage of a Multi-Table Tournament, your stack size relative to the blinds should be crucial to how you approach different hands and situations. You may start a tournament with anywhere from...


  • 177 - Learning to Win at Final Tables

    John Phan - February 4th, 2009

    Anyone who’s ever come close to winning a poker tournament – only to fall short – can tell you how much it hurts. It’s disappointing. It’s painful. In 2006, I finished 2nd in a $1,000 No-Limit Hold ’em event at the World Series of Poker, and then in 2007, I was the runner-up in a $2,500 Hold ’em event at the WSOP. So I came into 2008 ...


  • 176 - Playing Fifth Street in Seven-Card Stud

    Keith Sexton - January 29th, 2009

    Fifth Street is the big decision point in Seven-Card Stud because that’s the critical juncture in the hand when you have to put in your first big bet. While it’s nice to have a made hand at this point...


  • 175 - Semi-Bluffing

    Andy Bloch - 22nd January 2009

    The semi-bluff is one of the most powerful weapons in any poker player’s arsenal. If there’s a decent chance you can steal a pot by semi-bluffing, you should usually take it. But, as with any play you make at the table, the semi-bluff is always most effective when...


  • 174 - The Pros and Cons of Being Active Early

    Aaron Bartley - 14th January 2009

    Deciding how active you want to be at the beginning of a tournament depends heavily on what type of tournament you’re playing in. If it’s a standard Sit & Go, I always recommend playing tight and conserving chips early...


  • 173 - The Rebuy Tournament Game Plan

    Michael Gracz - 7th January 2009

    Going into  any rebuy tournament, you should know before the first cards are dealt how much money you’re willing to invest. Whether you’re playing with a single bullet (not planning to rebuy at all), enough money to rebuy 50 times, or somewhere in between, you should have...


  • 172 - Taking Online Notes on Opponents

    Paul Wasicka - 1st January 2009

    When you’re at the table playing live poker, the only notes you can take - at least inconspicuously - are mental ones. Online, however, you’re granted a tremendous opportunity that doesn’t exist in live play. It’s important to...