When Poker Hands Don't Go as Planned (w/ Uri Peleg)

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Learn how to stay calm and make smarter decisions when your poker hands take unexpected turns. The world’s best poker coach, Uri Peleg, gives you practical strategies and mindset shifts to quickly reevaluate, adapt, and protect your bankroll in tough situations.

View the written version of this episode here.

00:00 Hand Example Breakdown

01:47 Range vs. Hand Thinking 

03:21 Betting Structures and Exploits  

04:28 Adapting When Plans Change 

05:58 Reassessing Hand Strength in Action 

In this poker strategy podcast, Mike Brady and elite coach Uri Peleg explore one of the most important but overlooked skills in poker: knowing what to do when hands don’t go as planned. Every player has experienced the frustration of seeing a strong starting hand or a favorable flop turn into a tough spot after unexpected action, but Uri breaks down how to handle these moments with clarity and confidence. Using a real hand example and practical analogies, he shows how focusing on your range rather than just your hand strength leads to smarter decisions and prevents costly mistakes. 

Listeners will learn how to adjust betting strategies, recognize when their plan is no longer working, and quickly reevaluate based on changing dynamics. This poker strategy podcast also dives into the importance of flexibility — whether it’s shifting from aggression to caution, or accepting that folding a big hand can sometimes be the most profitable move. By reframing these situations as opportunities to adapt rather than failures, players gain a mental edge that carries across every stage of the game. 

If you’ve ever struggled with letting go of a strong-looking hand or found yourself stubbornly sticking to a plan that no longer makes sense, this poker strategy podcast delivers the perspective shift you need. Whether you’re a beginner wor

Episode Transcript

Mike (00:00):
Hey poker players,
Mike Brady here with a very quickepisode to help you level up your game.
I was reviewing some of the contentin the New Lab 2.0 course over on
upswingpoker.com, whichis amazing by the way,
and I came across this video fromUri Peleg that is all about when
poker hands don't go as planned.

(00:21):
This is something that happens to allof us at the poker table all the time.
We might have a pie-in-the-sky visionfor exactly how a hand is going to play
out and oftentimes the dealer orour opponent just doesn't cooperate.
This is just a quick three minutesegment from Lab 2.0 where Uri
talks about this kindof in an abstract way,

(00:42):
but I think it's some prettyhelpful general advice that you
can take right to the table.
So I'm going to kick it overto him and let him explain.

Uri (00:52):
Sometimes poker hands don't go according to plan. Case in point..

Brad (00:55):
We've got Queen Seven offsuit in the small blind.
We've kicked up the blindsat twenty-five fifty.
I raise to two hundred to win the bigblind a decent amount of the time.
The big blind calls to spoilour plan. We're heads up.
The flop comes Queen Eight Fourrainbow, I bet one fifty, he calls.
The turn is the Deuce of diamonds,I bet four hundred for value.
He raises to sixteen hundred.I call for twelve hundred more.

(01:19):
The river is the Seven of spades, I check.
He goes with a giant sizingof fifty-six hundred, I call.
It turns out the river wasn'tas good as we thought...
Wow, you hit the three outer.
How much is it? fifty-six. That is gross.

(01:42):
Big blind calls to spoil our plan... tospoil our plan... to spoil our plan...

Uri (01:47):
Alright guys, so let's break down this hand from Brad.
I think a few things are going on andthey all kind of circle back to the
difference between thinking about yourhand and thinking about your range.
So preflop,
when we say that we're going to raisewider and Queen Seven offsuit isn't
generally a small blind open,
this implies we think our opponent isgoing to fold too much and so he's going

(02:09):
to defend tighter.
That means we arrive to the flop with awide range on our side and a tight range
on his side.
And range versus range that's going tomean that you want to play a more passive
strategy and check a lot andlet the other guy take the lead.
A bit on intuitive,
since we're used to having the bettinglead when we raise small blind versus big

(02:29):
blind. But this dynamic changes thatand if you don't acknowledge it,
you end up giving the money that youstole preflop due to him being nitty
back on the flop by betting too muchwith a weak range into a strong one.
So that's kind of number one. Bethat as it may, we make a c-bet.
Can't be wrong with Queen Seven on QueenEight Four. Get called, turn the Deuce.

(02:52):
And here Brad says he thinkshis hand is worth another bet.
And this is another instance of focusingin on your hand rather than your range.
And one of the things we teach you inLab 2.0 is the general structure of
betting strategies. So after you betsmall on the flop if you get a brick turn,
we're generally looking to catch up withour really big hands because everything
bets small.

(03:13):
We go for really big bets and this fourhundred into seven or seven fifty bet
isn't part of the strategy. Now,you're not supposed to do it.
Queen Seven is supposed to check,you go more big, more polarized.
That's kind of the structureyou're playing within.
And there are players against whom youcan step out of the structure and say,
"I'll just lead for this size.

(03:34):
It makes sense for my hand with QueenSeven." Specifically more passive
opponents. And this doesn't seem to beatthat type of player. On the contrary,
it does look like this player's raisemight even have been triggered by the fact
that Brad shows this weakin face upsizing. So that's a dangerous game to play.
You have to know who you're playing itagainst and that's another one of the
things that we teach youto do in the Lab. To me,

(03:58):
betting this size with this hand shouldbe a conscious exploit and not something
I would ordinarily do.
After getting raised I agree Brad's handis probably too strong to fold and on
the river when he improves,it's really unfoldable.
This is what's known as avalue catcher on the river.
So you actually beat some value bets.
And so it is in theory unfoldable barringa very extreme read and that's kind of

(04:21):
unlucky there. But yeah,
that is my opinion and my thoughtson the hand. Hope you enjoyed that.
What does it mean when ahand doesn't go as planned?
I think this is a very important subjectand one that has to do with both poker
and life.
So let's say you have a datewith a girl and you talk to her
before you really like her.

(04:43):
You go on a date and suddenly youare planning on going to the park.
It's stormy weather, it's raining,it's starting to snow, there's thunder,
there's lightning... But you areplanning to go to the park, right?
If it was a beautiful day, you have yourpicnic basket, everything planned out.
What do you do when things don'tgo as planned? Fairly simple.

(05:05):
You change your plans,right? No going to the park.
If you do go to the park as a date,it's not going to end well for you.
This story is how poker works. Sowhen a hand doesn't go as planned,
the first and most importantthing to do is to recognize, "oh,
this isn't going as planned."Let's slow down, let's reevaluate.

(05:26):
Let's consider my optionsand let's understand that things are not going to pan
out the way I thought. For example,
you look down at Pocket Queensunder the gun and your plan
is to raise and have anadvantage and win a nice pot,
and you do raise and the guy on thecutoff three bets you and now your plan is

(05:47):
maybe to re-raise himback and start playing,
but then the guy on the button re-raiseshim and the guy on the small blind
re-raises him and you're like, "ohwow, this isn't going as planned".
Then suddenly you have to reevaluateyour Queens and you realize,
given the context of everythingthat happened, Queens,
with every action shifted.
So it started out being a top-two-percenthand and anyone can have anything.

(06:11):
And then it was a two-percent hand facing,
maybe an eight-percentthree-betting range.
And then it was a two-percent hand facingan eight-percent three-betting range
and a three-percentcold-four-betting range. And now,
another cold-five-betting rangeadded, which is probably like one,
one and a half percent of hands.And suddenly you're like, "oh wow,

(06:32):
Queens is actually terrible here.This is a really easy fold".
But you have to follow the weather,
you have to follow the signs andkind of see his plans change.
And the same is true for after the flop.
So say the board comes King Five Six,
and you have King Jack orKing Queen or Ace King,
you make a bet and your opponent makesa big raise and puts a big bet in on the

(06:55):
turn. It's very,
very important that you reevaluatehow strong your hand is and there
able to recognize at whatpoint plans have changed.
And rather than having ahand that wants a big pot,
it's your opponent that's telegraphinga bigger pot than your hand is
appropriate for, then foldingsuddenly becomes an option for you.

(07:15):
So, whenever things don't go as planned,the most important thing is slow down,
reevaluate, consider all your options.
And there's always another hand,there's always another date with a girl.
You're going to have a good weather.It's fine to fold good hands in poker.
That's part of the game.
I hope you found that bite-sizedcontent helpful. And if you did,

(07:37):
might I recommend going over toupswingpoker.com and checking out Lab
2.0, Uri's new course.
I worked closely with him on it forthe better part of the last year.
He was really the strategic mastermindbehind the entire learning path,
the entire curriculum of that course,
we're really proud ofwhat we put together.
No matter where you are in your pokerjourney, whether you are a beginner,

(08:00):
intermediate, more of an advanced player,
this course will help youget to that next level.
This segment that you just heard is fromone of the earlier parts of the course,
definitely more beginner focused.
The content gets a lot more advanced asyou go and it really gives you a clear
path from wherever youare now to poker mastery.

(08:22):
So if you do want to take your game tothe next level, and I assume you do,
given that you're listeningto the Level Up Poker podcast,
I'd highly recommend going over toupswingpoker.com and checking out that new
course. Take care.