And I have been itching to have a closer look at this course for awhile now because Nick Petrangelo is currently one of the best tournament poker players in the world with over $16 million dollars in live cashes and two WSOP bracelets.
Perhaps more remarkably though is the fact that he is also an online tournament beast (most can't do both). He has impressively won both the Sunday Million on PokerStars and the WCOOP $25k High Roller.
So in this article I am going to give you my complete walkthrough and review of Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo.
This includes the good and the bad.
I want to be clear that this course is for high level professionals only and that is why it has a very high price tag (which I will discuss at the end).
This poker course is NOT for beginners.
Alright, let's jump into it!
Is Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Worth It?
Here is the short answer:
Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo is a decent option for tournament poker players. However there are many significantly better tournament poker training options these days at a much lower price.
This is why Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo did not make the list of my top recommended poker training programs.
Also, at a price of nearly $1000 this is just difficult to swallow in an era when there are countless totally free or much lower priced options for serious players available.
For example:
If you just want to know the basic strategy to start winning consistently, without spending a dime, you can just grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
So, in the vast majority of cases I would recommend just keeping the $1000 in your bankroll and having a pass on this one.
But let's get on to the full review now so you can decide for yourself!
1. Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Review - Introduction to Pio Solver
The Winning Poker Tournaments course starts off with an introduction to the solvers that were used throughout this course including Pio, Monker, PokerSnowie and others.
If you have never heard of a "solver" before this is a highly sophisticated piece of poker software that offers "optimal" solutions to a specific scenario and range of hands that you enter.
If you are curious to know more, I have already reviewed PokerSnowie on my website before, right here.
In order to succeed at poker at the very highest stakes these days many players are making use of solvers in order to augment their exploitative strategies with mathematically sound decision making.
Since Winning Poker Tournaments is a very high level poker course, Nick uses solvers frequently throughout in order to create many of the preflop and postflop ranges and frequencies.
PioSolver is used most frequently in this course. And so therefore in this section Nick provides a complete breakdown of what this solver can do and exactly how to use it.
I should note however that it is not necessary that you invest in a PioSolver (or any other solver) in order to understand this poker course.
However, even if you do not plan on using one to augment your poker study any time soon I would highly recommend paying attention to this section of the course in order to understand exactly how these poker tools work and how they can help you in your games.
In order to succeed at poker at the very highest stakes these days many players are making use of solvers in order to augment their exploitative strategies with mathematically sound decision making.
Since Winning Poker Tournaments is a very high level poker course, Nick uses solvers frequently throughout in order to create many of the preflop and postflop ranges and frequencies.
PioSolver is used most frequently in this course. And so therefore in this section Nick provides a complete breakdown of what this solver can do and exactly how to use it.
I should note however that it is not necessary that you invest in a PioSolver (or any other solver) in order to understand this poker course.
However, even if you do not plan on using one to augment your poker study any time soon I would highly recommend paying attention to this section of the course in order to understand exactly how these poker tools work and how they can help you in your games.
By the way, I have already written a comprehensive article on all the best poker software tools used by pros today if you want to know more.
The preflop section of Winning Poker Tournaments is the real heart of this poker course in my opinion.
And the reason why, is because if you have even dabbled in poker tournaments the slightest bit before, then you know how important the preflop game is.
In the middle and late stages of a poker tournament the average stack size is typically between 10bb and 50bb. This means that decisions made on the earlier streets have a far greater level of importance then they do in a typical 100bb+ cash game for instance.
So Nick starts off this section with an introduction to the Preflop Mastersheet.
This is literally a full on "cheat sheet" for what hands to play and how much to raise in a poker tournament from every position at the poker table and with every stack size (15bb, 20bb, 25bb, 30bb, 40bb-50bb and 60bb-100bb).
Basically, you click on any of the buttons on the chart above and choose your scenario (RFI, vs 3Bet, Blind vs Blind etc.) your stack size, table positions (EP, MP etc.) and a popup gives you the exact ranges of what hands to play and how much to bet/raise.
There are 250+ charts covering what hand ranges to play in pretty much every preflop poker tournament situation you could ever find yourself in.
2. Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Review - Preflop
The preflop section of Winning Poker Tournaments is the real heart of this poker course in my opinion.
And the reason why, is because if you have even dabbled in poker tournaments the slightest bit before, then you know how important the preflop game is.
In the middle and late stages of a poker tournament the average stack size is typically between 10bb and 50bb. This means that decisions made on the earlier streets have a far greater level of importance then they do in a typical 100bb+ cash game for instance.
So Nick starts off this section with an introduction to the Preflop Mastersheet.
This is literally a full on "cheat sheet" for what hands to play and how much to raise in a poker tournament from every position at the poker table and with every stack size (15bb, 20bb, 25bb, 30bb, 40bb-50bb and 60bb-100bb).
Basically, you click on any of the buttons on the chart above and choose your scenario (RFI, vs 3Bet, Blind vs Blind etc.) your stack size, table positions (EP, MP etc.) and a popup gives you the exact ranges of what hands to play and how much to bet/raise.
There are 250+ charts covering what hand ranges to play in pretty much every preflop poker tournament situation you could ever find yourself in.
By the way, if you aren't ready to invest $1000 in a high level course like this yet, I do have a free poker "cheat sheet," which offers several Preflop charts showing you which hands to play also.
And of course the best part is that it is 100% free.
You can grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet, right here.
If you are wondering where these ranges come from, as mentioned, most of them come from the use of solvers and also Nick's considerable experience as a 10+ year high stakes poker pro.
So most of the preflop section of this course involves Nick explaining the ranges in these charts and how to use them. For instance, what hands to defend from the blinds with a 25bb stack.
I don't think I have ever seen such a comprehensive answer to the preflop tournament game. Nick also has a well balanced limping range in certain spots that I found particularly interesting.
I think for a beginner or novice tournament poker player these charts are literally going to be worth their weight in gold. Because it takes all the guesswork out of preflop tournament poker for them.
Now it is important to point out that No Limit Hold'em is by no means a "solved" game. And therefore, I like how Nick also points out when and why you should deviate from these charts.
But all and all, the preflop section of Winning Poker Tournaments is exactly what I had hoped for. An almost textbook like approach of what to do in every conceivable scenario in a poker tournament.
If you are wondering where these ranges come from, as mentioned, most of them come from the use of solvers and also Nick's considerable experience as a 10+ year high stakes poker pro.
So most of the preflop section of this course involves Nick explaining the ranges in these charts and how to use them. For instance, what hands to defend from the blinds with a 25bb stack.
I don't think I have ever seen such a comprehensive answer to the preflop tournament game. Nick also has a well balanced limping range in certain spots that I found particularly interesting.
I think for a beginner or novice tournament poker player these charts are literally going to be worth their weight in gold. Because it takes all the guesswork out of preflop tournament poker for them.
Now it is important to point out that No Limit Hold'em is by no means a "solved" game. And therefore, I like how Nick also points out when and why you should deviate from these charts.
But all and all, the preflop section of Winning Poker Tournaments is exactly what I had hoped for. An almost textbook like approach of what to do in every conceivable scenario in a poker tournament.
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3. Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Review - Postflop
The postflop section of the Winning Poker Tournaments course is a series of 23 videos where Nick explains how to play elite level tournament poker in every situation imaginable on the flop, turn and river.
Once again, extensive use of solvers is used in order to ensure that the ranges, betting, bluffing and folding frequencies that he suggests are mathematically sound.
Nick's analysis of how to play postflop in poker tournaments begins with the fundamentals of good CBetting strategy.
Then there is a series of videos on how to approach specific flop board textures such as:
- Ace high boards
- Dynamic boards
- Wet boards
- Monotone boards
- Paired boards
Once again I like the attention to detail here. I think it is important to break down flop textures in particular into bite size chunks.
Because the correct strategy is often going to differ greatly depending on if the flop comes:
- A♥K♣Q♦
- A♠7♣2♥
- 9♥8♠7♥
- J♣6♣3♣
- Q♦Q♥5♠
You really need to understand the key differences between these board textures and how that impacts both our range and our opponent's range.
I think Nick does a good job of explaining that and using solvers to offer optimal betting, raising and folding strategies in each situation.
The postflop section of the Winning Poker Tournaments course continues on to talk about how to play on the turn and river including probing bets, when to check/raise and optimal bluffing strategies.
Then Nick goes into a deep analysis of how to play in single raised pots OOP and IP, 3Bet pots OOP and IP, SB vs BTN and finally, Blind vs Blind.
I found Nick's explanations of what to do in each of these scenarios to be easy enough to understand even though many of the concepts and strategies that he suggests are highly advanced and include the use of complex GTO math and solvers.
Other topics Nick covers in the postflop section of this course include bet sizing adjustments on various board textures versus specific players, understanding how to use combos and equity distribution, how to use blocking bets effectively and when to overbet.
Overall the postflop section of the Winning Poker Tournaments course does not disappoint. There is enough in here to get you playing postflop tournament poker at a very high level no matter where your current skill-set is at.
I would recommend re-watching many of these videos again and again to really learn and then more importantly implement the strategies that Nick is discussing at the poker tables.
This is how I approached all sections of this poker course in fact. There is way too much information here to be taken in all at once.
In fact, this is how I recommend consuming all advanced poker training courses these days.
Study, take notes and apply right away.
The final section of Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo is the much anticipated "Play and Explains."
Now for those of you who have never studied an Upswing Poker course before this is essentially a series of videos which includes hand analysis and live play from some extremely high stakes poker games.
As I mentioned off the top, Nick Petrangelo is currently one of the best poker tournament players in the world and he regularly plays in the biggest games both live and online.
In fact at the time of this writing he is currently #32 on the all-time live poker tournament money winnings list including a $2.9 million dollar 1st place finish in the WSOP 100k High Roller just 6 months ago.
So in this section you get to essentially look over the shoulder of a world class pro as he tells you why he made the decisions he did in some of the very biggest online tournaments (several of which he won).
Such as, the WCOOP $25K buyin and SCOOP $10K buyin on PokerStars.
There is also a Sunday Live play video in this section where he plays on 6 poker tables at once across several different poker sites with tournament buyins all above $5K.
So you essentially get to see the nuts of bolts of how Nick plays every single hand in some of the biggest online poker tournaments around.
Lastly, this section also includes a 3-part video series from this summer's WSOP $1,000,000 One Drop where Nick reviews some big hands he played versus well known poker pros Brian Rast and Dan Smith.
The Play and Explains section of any premium level Upswing Poker course is almost always worth the price of admission alone because they only sign the very best poker players in the world to teach their courses.
The Play and Explains section of Winning Poker Tournaments is no exception to this. This is one area where I think some other poker training sites have been catching up in recent years though.
4. Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Review - Play and Explains
The final section of Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo is the much anticipated "Play and Explains."
Now for those of you who have never studied an Upswing Poker course before this is essentially a series of videos which includes hand analysis and live play from some extremely high stakes poker games.
As I mentioned off the top, Nick Petrangelo is currently one of the best poker tournament players in the world and he regularly plays in the biggest games both live and online.
In fact at the time of this writing he is currently #32 on the all-time live poker tournament money winnings list including a $2.9 million dollar 1st place finish in the WSOP 100k High Roller just 6 months ago.
So in this section you get to essentially look over the shoulder of a world class pro as he tells you why he made the decisions he did in some of the very biggest online tournaments (several of which he won).
Such as, the WCOOP $25K buyin and SCOOP $10K buyin on PokerStars.
There is also a Sunday Live play video in this section where he plays on 6 poker tables at once across several different poker sites with tournament buyins all above $5K.
So you essentially get to see the nuts of bolts of how Nick plays every single hand in some of the biggest online poker tournaments around.
Lastly, this section also includes a 3-part video series from this summer's WSOP $1,000,000 One Drop where Nick reviews some big hands he played versus well known poker pros Brian Rast and Dan Smith.
The Play and Explains section of any premium level Upswing Poker course is almost always worth the price of admission alone because they only sign the very best poker players in the world to teach their courses.
The Play and Explains section of Winning Poker Tournaments is no exception to this. This is one area where I think some other poker training sites have been catching up in recent years though.
Downsides to Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo
Alright, so with all of that out of the way let's discuss the one major downside to this course.
And that is the price.
At $999 this is simply going to be well out of the price range for many small and mid stakes poker players who regularly read my poker blog.
I certainly didn't have this kind of money for a good advanced poker training course like this when I was first starting out either.
In fact, I literally only had a $60 bankroll when I started my professional poker career.
And so sadly, as good as I think this course is, I can really only recommend it to wealthy high stakes pros who are looking for an edge.
Luckily though, there is tons of other good poker training available for small and mid stakes poker players these days, at more affordable prices.
And if you literally have no money at all to invest in poker training right now, then I also have a free poker "cheat sheet" which shows you the exact strategies to start quickly beating low stakes games right away.
You can grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet, right here.
The Preflop Mastersheet was a big standout for me. This is a game-changing tool in my opinion for poker tournament players looking to improve their preflop game in all scenarios.
The postflop sections and the play and explains also provide tons of high level analysis and instruction from one of the best poker tournament players in the world.
While the use of solvers throughout this poker course can perhaps be a little bit off-putting to some traditionalists of the game, I found Nick's explanations to be easy enough to understand and follow.
If I have one gripe about this poker course, I wish there was more content focused on the mental game. Particularly how to handle the insane levels of variance that poker tournaments are well known for.
This would be especially helpful for any current or aspiring pros who will be studying this poker course. However, as far as I know this course is being updated regularly so Nick may add this in at a later date.
I also want to stress that this is a not a poker course that was meant for beginners. The instructor, Nick Petrangelo, is a world class poker pro with nearly $23 million dollars in cashes throughout his career, both live and online.
Therefore, this is a premium poker tournament course that is was made for very serious players looking to take their game to a world class level.
Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo Review Final Verdict - Is Worth It For You? (3/5 ★★★☆☆)
Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo is a decent option for tournament poker players, but there are many significantly better poker training options available these days for serious players.
This is why it did not make my list of the top poker educational tools.
Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo is a comprehensive high level course for poker tournaments.
The Preflop Mastersheet was a big standout for me. This is a game-changing tool in my opinion for poker tournament players looking to improve their preflop game in all scenarios.
The postflop sections and the play and explains also provide tons of high level analysis and instruction from one of the best poker tournament players in the world.
While the use of solvers throughout this poker course can perhaps be a little bit off-putting to some traditionalists of the game, I found Nick's explanations to be easy enough to understand and follow.
If I have one gripe about this poker course, I wish there was more content focused on the mental game. Particularly how to handle the insane levels of variance that poker tournaments are well known for.
This would be especially helpful for any current or aspiring pros who will be studying this poker course. However, as far as I know this course is being updated regularly so Nick may add this in at a later date.
I also want to stress that this is a not a poker course that was meant for beginners. The instructor, Nick Petrangelo, is a world class poker pro with nearly $23 million dollars in cashes throughout his career, both live and online.
Therefore, this is a premium poker tournament course that is was made for very serious players looking to take their game to a world class level.
In order to truly get the most from Winning Poker Tournaments With Nick Petrangelo you should expect to spend several weeks at a bare minimum studying each module and video one by one, taking notes and applying the information at the poker tables right away.
And that is why there is such a high price tag on this course, $999.
I would suggest keeping this in your bankroll instead and taking advantage of many other cheaper or totally free options online.
I would suggest keeping this in your bankroll instead and taking advantage of many other cheaper or totally free options online.
But that is up to you to decide.
If this is too much for you right now, and you just want a simple step by step guide to beat small and mid stakes games consistently, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
If this is too much for you right now, and you just want a simple step by step guide to beat small and mid stakes games consistently, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.