Posts Tagged ‘poker player’
Posted February 22, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
Every year, I like many other writers come up with a 'Players to Watch' list, and while there are a number of "Poker Players to Watch" it seems like every year these lists have a batting average somewhere around the Mendoza Line thanks to the incredible variance in tournament poker. So this time around I've decided to change it up a bit and take a look at five poker players who have already made their mark in the world of tournament poker, and should be moved from the "Players to Watch" to the "Rising Stars" list. So without anymore fanfare, here is my list of five Rising Stars in tournament poker.
In Part 1 of this series I looked at a couple of fairly unknown poker players and now in Part 2 of this series I will look at three fairly well-known commodities in the poker world. For free Titan Poker software please do check out our Titan Poker Download section.
Martin Jacobson
Martin Jacobson has been cashing in major tournaments since 2026, but you wouldn't know it by how little fanfare the young Swede gets. With nine six-figure scores and nine WSOP/WPT/EPT final tables the only thing Jacobson is missing is a win. But considering his consistency (five years on tour and five years of earning at least $260k, with over $100k already booked in 2026) it's only a matter of time before he takes one of these events down.
Dominik Nitsche
Up until last year Dominik Nitsche was quite overlooked considering he was competing with a slew of talented young German players for headlines, but that all changed when Nitsche took-down a WSOP tournament and a WPT Main Event in 2026. Now he has a resume to rival any of his German peers with over $2 million in career tournament earnings, as well as an LAPT title, a pair of big wins in Cyprus, and 2nd place finish at the 2026 WPT Marrakech High-Roller tournament.
Jason Somerville
Jason Somerville has the distinction of being the first big-name porker player to come out, and with over $2.5 million in career tournament earnings he definitely qualifies as a big enough name for that honor. Somerville has been around the poker world for well over five years now, and in that time he has racked-up an impressive list of accomplishments:
- 1st place in the $1,000 NLHE event at the 2026 WSOP
- 3rd place in the 2026 One Drop mega-satellite ($400,000)
- Five (including his win) Top 5 finishes in WSOP tournaments
- WPT Final table at the 2026 LA Poker Classic
Posted February 12, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
When I got into poker in the early 2000's the game was relatively easy to beat, and as the Poker Boom hit its stride in the mid 2000's the game was even easier to beat. But that isn't the case anymore, the general skill level of the average poker player is much higher than it used to be, and the study aids are far better and far easier to find than they used to be. Because of this, I would caution anyone who thinks poker is viable way to make a living in 2026 and going forward. 
The beauty of poker in 2026 was that a good player was so superior to their competition that winning was almost guaranteed month-to-month and perhaps even better, variance was extremely low –the idea of a 300 big bet bankroll for limit games was almost laughable. The downside was that games were hard to find and game selection wasn't about which Limit Holdem table to choose, but whether you should play in the one $5/$10 Limit Holdem table or play $5/$10 Seven Card Stud.
By 2026 the game was even more profitable thanks to a huge influx of new player, but it also became a lot more swingy as aggression was ramped up and even the newer players started coming in with some sort of knowledge on the game's strategy.
By 2026 the game had already started to take a monumental shift. The gap between winners and losers had shrunk dramatically as more and more books were published and poker forums grew in prominence, not to mention the new training methods like online poker training sites and software like PokerStove, PokerTracker, and SitnGo Wizard readily available.
In today's poker world the new players entering brick & mortar cardrooms and depositing on online poker rooms has grinded to a halt, and the chasm between the winners and losers has shrunk even further. With less of an edge players are making less profit and players have cut-back on the stakes they are playing. The final problem for the players who are trying to make a living at the poker tables are facing is that with less of an edge there is much higher variance. Player used to beating the game for 3 or 4 Big Bets an hour have seen their win-rates reduced to under 1 big bet an hour, while at the same time they have had to drop down in stakes, sometimes drastically.
So if poker looks like a fun and exciting way to make a living (hey, look at guys from five years ago who made millions; I CAN DO THAT!) you might want to rethink that assessment. Poker has undergone a radical change in the past decade or so, and even another mini-poker-boom is unlikely to bring about another 2026 poker world, where money was ripe for the picking. Players are simply to educated and to close in skill level for the poker economy to sustain as many pro players as it did just five years ago. Try the new bonus from Titan Poker. Introducing the new loyalty program Rakeback Titan Poker! Click the link for more information.
Posted January 29, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
This seems like a weekly update, and I'm starting to suspect that the media relations guy for the Epic Poker League has landed at iveypoker –the Epic Poker league was notorious for sending out weekly press releases with news and updates—as the site has made two separate announcements regarding the signing of four new players to their team, Dan Shak in the first announcement, and on Friday the signings of Jackie Glazier, Griffin Benger, and Christian Harder.
The quartet joins a roster that is growing like a Gremlin in a swimming pool since the site came online just a few months ago –the site is still in beta-mode and hasn't officially launched yet.
The iveypoker roster now includes the following names:
- Phil Ivey – USA
- Patrik Antonius – Finland
- Jennifer Harman – USA
- Greg Merson – USA
- Cole South – USA
- James Dempsey – UK
- Josh Brikis – USA
- Jonathan Tamayo – USA
- Gillian Epp – Canada
- Matt Giannetti – USA
- John Eames – UK
- David Peters – USA
- Balazs Botond – Hungary
- Mike Leah – Canada
- Matias Gabrenja — Argentina
- Justin Pechie — USA
- Alex Bolotin — USA
- Dan Shak – USA
- Christian Harder – USA
- Jackie Glazier – Australia
- Griffin Benger – USA
According to recent press releases and a new tagline on the site itself, iveypoker will be a training site of sorts, with some type of social media online poker room. The site is expected to launch within the next few weeks according to a press release from a few weeks ago:
IVEYPOKER ANNOUNCES UNPRECEDENTED SOCIAL GAMING EXPERIENCE
Las Vegas, Nevada – (DECEMBER 13, 2026) – Phil Ivey officially announced today the development and upcoming launch of IveyPoker, a new free-to-play online social game designed to entertain and teach the world winning poker. Set for release in early 2026, IveyPoker will be available on Facebook, iOS and Andriod.
IveyPoker is the first social game that gives poker fans an opportunity to play for fun with top professionals while learning how to play winning poker. The game will feature exclusive training video content that will resonate with both novice and experienced players.
Phil Ivey, winner of eight World Series of Poker bracelets and considered by many to be the greatest all around poker player in the world, has built a roster of the world's top poker professionals to be part of Team Ivey and have an active role in the game. Team Ivey members include Patrik Antonius, Greg Merson, Jennifer Harman, Cole South, James Dempsey, Matt Giannetti, Balazs Botond, Gillian Epp, David Peters, Josh Brikis, John Eams and Jonathan Tamayo.
"I've traveled the world playing poker and people always tell me how they would like to learn how to play but have no idea how or where to begin," said IveyPoker Founder, Phil Ivey. "IveyPoker was created to give anyone interested in poker, whether they have ever played the game before or not, the opportunity to play for free and learn winning poker from some of the best professionals in the world."
For more information, visit iveypoker.
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Posted January 8, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
I get it, believe me I really do. As a poker player myself, and a pretty damn good one when I played day-in and day-out, I understand that confidence is an important part of being a successful poker player. That being said, there is a point where A PLAYER'S confidence morphs into something else entirely, and this seems to be a line that more and more poker players have been crossing lately.
Now, when I talk about overconfidence I'm not even talking about the boisterous ramblings of Phil Hellmuth, or even the overconfidence of your average player, what I am referring to are the players who have had some success but are not accounting for the role of variance – whether their success is due to good variance or if they are unprepared to handle a downswing doesn't really matter.
In addition to straight-up variance there are a number of reasons that this can befall a player, from the game passing them by to sponsorship dollars running dry, and for whatever reason these players simply don't seem to see the writing on the mirror until it's far too late.
A recent example of this is Russ "Dutch" Boyd; one of the original darlings of ESPN. Boyd has been a polarizing figure in poker since well before ESPN cameras found him in 2026, and without going into too much of his back-story, let's just say that there is more to Dutch Boyd than ESPN would ever want you to know (just Google PokerSpot or 2+2 Cybersquatting) and considering a recent note he left on Reddit, it seems that Boyd has been believing his own headlines in recent years.
Apparently Boyd is basically busto (or at the very least busto in terms of being a poker pro) and is looking for a real-world job. This is probably hard for many poker fans to fathom considering Boyd has amassed some $2.1 million in career tournament earnings during his career, including a couple of WSOP bracelets. And Boyd's tale isn't some outlier either, just look at all of the big names that ESPN covered back in 2005-2026, and where many of this players are now: The Bryan Micon's, the Scott Fischman's, or the WPT and Tuan Le, or Mark Seif. Or the worst of the worst, people like Brad Booth. Even huge names like Erick Lindgren, Layne Flack, and Mike Matusow have seemingly been hit by this overconfidence bug.
I'm not blaming these players entirely, since they were propped-up and probably believed that there was always going to be a monster payday right around the corner, but they do provide a good lesson for today's up-and-coming poker players, who like to throw their money around: Things change and you better have a contingency plan. Don't let the lessons of Brad Booth, Erick Lindgren, or Dutch Boyd go unlearned. If you had asked Scott Fischman back in 2026 where he would be in 2026 his answer would not match reality, but neither would the answer of anyone in the poker world at the time; Fischman seemed to be a lock to be the next big thing.
Nowadays, I wonder if the Isildur's or Jens Kyllonen's of the world have learned this lesson, or if it can be even taught –perhaps to reach the level they have you have to be willing to go broke?—and where they will be when we look back on their careers in five or ten years. Earn a stop on the VIP seat when you start playing poker at Titan Poker and get a chance to join its VIP Titan Poker Club!
Posted February 14, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
Back in the day, bad poker players were called fish. Now the poker fish has been replaced by the poker donkey.
Poker donkeys are gamblers – they are not afraid to make wild bets based on incorrect odds. Often they’ll hit their miracle card and go on good runs at your expense. Although poker donkeys don’t know any better, with a run so good they could be mistaken for skilled poker players.
Poker donkeys will blame the cards if they lose, not their lack of poker skill. In the long run, the mathematics of the game will leave the poker donkey on the rail while you emerge as winner. You need to recognize the donkeys on the table and adjust your play accordingly.
Apart from donkeys, there are also poker maniacs and poker rocks. Learn how you can beat these three different types of bad poker players.
How do you beat a poker donkey?
A poker donkey is Loose-Passive. Poker donkeys love to play more starting hands than they should. They love calling bets, without the cards to justify the action. They will chase after their flush and straight draws, hoping that the flop will bring them their miracle card.
How do you beat them? When you make a good hand, act relentlessly and keep betting. Get as many chips out of the poker donkeys as you can. You know that they’re going to be calling a lot, even if they haven’t yet made their hands, so you can bet big. Don’t bother trying to bluff, because poker donkeys aren’t going to fold.
You can win big against poker donkeys when you have good hands. Bet them for all they’re worth.
How do you beat a poker maniac?
A poker maniac is Loose-Aggressive. Poker maniacs bet a lot of hands and they bet them aggressively. Yes, it's possible to win money with this method, but it's also possible to lose a lot. They are wild players, and you can use this recklessness to your advantage.
In order to beat poker maniacs, you must not be afraid of them. When you have good cards, don't hesitate to make pre-flop calls. And when your cards connect on the flop, the likelihood is that you have a better hand than the maniacs. You know that they're betting speculatively, while on your side you have based your bets on good cards.
The pots will be bigger when you play against poker maniacs and you won't always win. But knowing how these players play will, over time, leave you ahead with more chips.
How do you beat a poker rock?
A poker rock is Tight-Passive. Poker rocks are extremely tight with their bets. These are the kind of players that just sit there and fold, waiting to hit the big hands. This obviously means that they are highly unlikely to bluff, which is why it's easy to determine how to beat them.
You can beat a poker rock by bluffing or raising to steal the blinds. However, if this type of player responds with a call or a re-raise, he's probably sitting on a very good hand. You will know when to fold against this player.
In every poker game, ring or tournament, your goal is to finish with the most chips. It can be very profitable to play against bad poker players so make it a part of your game etiquette to make them feel wanted. If you're playing with them at a live game, encourage them to stay at the table. The rewards can be huge if you know how to play against poker donkeys.
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Posted February 10, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
In Part 1 of this series I discussed how it's the uncommon, difficult, decisions that separate the best players from their peers, in this installment the focus will shift to adjustments. I concluded Part 1 with the following statement, "Your average player has a good grasp of the basic strategies of the game but may not be able to adjust to each opponent as a separate entity," which is where I'll pick-up the discussion.
Decent players may be able to implement an optimal strategy but they often have a hard time switching to an exploitive strategy, finding and exploiting the leaks in their opponents' game and adjusting accordingly –they will have an even harder time switching to a different exploitive strategy for each opponent.
Perhaps the best example of using an exploitive strategy in recent times was Phil Hellmuth's massive over-bet pre-flop in the Big One for One Drop tournament with Pocket Aces. From a game theory standpoint the raise is utterly foolish (and the laughter at the raise proves this) but against the specific opponent the play worked; Hellmuth brushed aside the optimal play in favor of using an exploitive strategy.
The ability to read your opponents, understand what each individual thinks of your play, and rationalize all of the table dynamics is usually lumped into the term "Meta-Game". Meta-game is the game within the game of poker, and the above factors are what go into the meta-game.
Reading your opponents
The ability to read your opposition, whether it's betting patterns, physical tells, their current mindset, or any other factor comes from experience. The best players in the world have an uncanny ability to find the one crucial piece of information needed to make the rest decision, while their lesser brethren miss these cues; are overwhelmed by conflicting information (maybe a players betting pattern is to bet big when bluffing but their mannerisms are screaming they have a strong hand); or perhaps they read too much into these cues and over-think the situation.
Your own table image and individual history
An often overlooked aspect of poker is how your opponents view you, especially your thinking opponents, and what type of history you have with certain players.
It doesn't matter how well you think you have your opponent sized-up if they have you sized-up just as well or better; in fact, a player that knows you know precisely what they have, and knows you don't know they know this –fun isn't it!– has a big advantage as they have won the meta-game war. They can now deviate from the optimal strategy into an exploitive strategy even though you have correctly read their hand. In this case you are unaware of your own table image as it pertains to this particular opponent.
You can also fall into the trap of forgetting your history with certain players. Maybe you have shown this player a river check-raise bluff twice in the past; the question is now whether a river check-raise for value is the best play or if your opponent will realize you are using your past experiences to now switch your strategy. The balance between betting patterns, personal history, and meta-game is perhaps the trickiest in poker.
In the series finale I will talk about the final piece of the puzzle that goes into being a winning poker player: Mental Toughness.
Posted February 3, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.
For years I have espoused the theory that 90% of your decisions in poker are fairly straightforward, and while debates can rage over proper bet-sizing in situation x, and whether to check-raise the flop or check-call and lead the turn in situation y, in the end a competent player is going to make roughly the same amount playing these hands as an extremely skilled player. So why does Phil Ivey win millions while you grind out your yearly $60,000 at the $1/$2 NLHE tables? The answer lies in the other 10% of your decisions.
I call this the 90/10 Rule (I know, not very creative or original!) and I'll focus solely on pre-flop play to explain the 90/10 rule since it's the most basic decision you will generally make.
Generally you will just be tossing your hand away pre-flop (likely in the neighborhood of 80%+ of the time), so when it comes to bad hands really good players and decent players will play virtually the same way. Terrible players will lose money trying to play these hands, while everyone else just tosses them into the muck.
Then there are the top 10% or so of your hands, which will pretty much play themselves and show a solid profit. With these hands a decent player may miss a bet here or there, or fail to extract maximum value, but the randomness in these minor mistakes (sometimes betting too small, sometimes too big) will often make up for this gap. In the end, a really good player is going to make slightly more with these hands than their lesser skilled opponents; hell, even bad players are going to show a profit with these hands.
Ok, we've accounted for about 90% of your decisions at the poker tables, and so far the difference between an average player and a good player hasn't really presented itself. So the answer must lie within the final 10% of hands right? Of course it does, because it's the decisions that are difficult that separate winners from losers, and slight winners from the best players in the game. Virtually every player knows that betting the nut flush is a given, as is folding when your continuation-bet is raised by the tightest player at the table and you have 6-high. While these are extreme cases, 90% of your decisions at a poker table are going to be close to automatic and take less than a few seconds to process.
Your average player has a good grasp of the basic strategies of the game but may not be able to adjust to each opponent as a separate entity to extract maximum value. They may raise A5 on the button against all of their opponents, where the skilled player chooses to sometimes raise, sometimes fold, and sometimes even call, based on the entire dynamic of the hand –which will be the focus of Part 2 of this series.
It's the calculations and information that goes into your decision-making process for these difficult decisions that separate the best from the rest. It's not what you do with your best hands or your worst hands it's the hands in between that matter.
Posted February 10, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCode in Poker Strategy.
This present year millions have proven through statistical data, thanks to Pokerstars, that a players expertise in poker matter the most in the game.
One informal kind of proof has been shown during the 2026 WSOP which told us that top players not only triumph for an event but with several ones.
Continue reading Expertise In Poker As Shown By Top Notch Poker Players »
Posted February 22, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCode in Poker Strategy.
As you play the game of poker you will encounter different kind of personalities as you go along. Here are some of the most common profiles of poker players that you might come across.
Ally or Enemy?
Continue reading Understanding Poker Personalities : The Bookworm »
Posted February 22, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCode in Poker Strategy.
Do you know that those who scouts for new talents in baseball use 5 factors in selecting their prospects? These factors are also called ‘the 5 tools’, and that’s the reason why do good all around players are commonly known as "5 tool players". Here are the basis of this principle:
Continue reading How To Be A ’5 Tool" Poker Player? »
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