Joy of the Game Is the “Utmost Important” Factor for Success: Frankie Carson AMA

Strategic Tips & Advice from Frankie Carson

Q: If somebody was coming to you for advice in 2026 looking at playing online poker from scratch what format recommendation would you give?

Frankie: I’ve always played cash because 1) it fits my lifestyle, 2) and I love it. I believe all formats will be around for many years to come.

Q: A strategy of ABC poker and a tight/aggressive style seems to help greatly with mastering $1/$3. What should players looking to move up to $2/$5 or higher expect?

Frankie: Eh, regs are slightly better but still littered with big errors. $2/$5 plays similar to 50nl online. The way you beat either of these games is increasing your aggression vs regs and executing proper adjustments vs recs.

Q: What is the single biggest misapplication of theory/GTO you see regs making in today’s games?

Frankie: I’d say CTLR + C, CTLR+ P.

Q: Any advice for a tournament player trying to play more cash?

Frankie: It’s a very different game. MTT players are usually not very aggressive and are very uncomfortable in bigger pots on later streets given a lack of volume in these spots due to the nature of MTTs. So I guess I’d start your studies there.

Q: What is the best single question you can ask someone to gauge their abilities?

Frankie: Interesting question. Is your question gauging my abilities? haha

Q: What’s the optimal split between study and play for someone that is serious about improving their game?

Frankie: The higher the ratio, the more you will improve. I like to tell people if you have ambitions to play a much higher stake then your current, don’t worry about playing millions of hands at the stake you don’t want to be. Invest your time in studying.

Q: What is the best way to find the most costly leaks in our game?

Q: What are some underestimated strategies and approaches to studying that would give the most significant increase in win rate?

Frankie: Stop always studying big pot decisions and find leaks in small pots. The per pot destruction to win rate is tiny, but small pots occur a ton.

• So x * y = leak cost; where x = EV loss, y = # of times occur.

Personal Poker Experience & Insights

Q: What kind of coaching/studying did you get before becoming a great player? And how are you getting better today?

Frankie: I’m still working on becoming a great player 🙂

I started just watching videos, posting hands in forums. Then I began solver work, which opened my eyes to a whole new world. Then the fun stage. Finding good deviations from theory.

Q: When grinding up what was your worst downswing and did you ever go broke? What insight do you have for surviving downswings as a full time player?

Frankie: I lost my bankroll many times when I was younger. My prior bankroll busts were driven by tilt, which I learned to manage as I matured.

Phil Galfond recently talked about the pitfalls of shot taking which is worth a look. Basically discussing how shot taking can be mentally difficult as probably of failure and thus confidence destruction are high if you do the strategy enough.

Don’t obsess (not saying you are) over one off’s that you hear about moving from 100nl to 5knl in like a year. Those are anomalies, not realities.

Q: What mental game hurdles did you have to overcome and how did you work on them?

Frankie: When I was younger tilt was a problem for me. Part of it was being young and immature with my emotions. I learned the best solution for this issue was thinking about hands not in terms of money lost/won but instead thinking was my decision good or poor? If the latter, I convince my brain that this was an opportunity to learn and get stronger. To close leaks and mistakes to become a better poker player.

Q: How did you know when to move up stakes? More importantly, how did you know when to move back down, if you had to do so? How did your mental game change in either scenario?

My kind of general checklist I always went through when deciding was;

1. Skill. Not obsessing over winrate and statistically significant sample size (which is rarely truly achieved), but a reasonable win rate for a reasonable amount of data. The amount of hands and win rate are inversely related, meaning the higher the win rate the less hands needed for a reasonable sample size.
2. Bankroll. Not just money sitting in my poker account, but outside too. Today, money is very fungible. In terms of numbers, again I try not to be too precise or overly obsess about 0’ing out my risk of ruin. As a general guideline, 30-50 buy-ins should be more than enough.
3. Mental/personal health. Underrated part of moving up stakes. You could have very high skill and a sizable bankroll but if you’re going through difficulties off the table that will catch up to you as your competition and absolute money increase.

Q: What level (stakes) did you find hardest to get through?

Frankie: 200nl was a huge step up in my opinion. It was the first level I ran into resistance. This is when I bought my first solver and began to completely change my game.

Q: What’s the biggest leak a live $1/$3 reg has?

Frankie: Convincing themselves to believe fictional stories. Meaning, some guy folding AK on Kx disconnected, dry board because he puts his opponent on one particular hand vs thinking of ranges and probabilities.

Q: What are the most essential skills away from the tables that poker has taught you?

Q: Is there any widely-accepted advice you followed early on that you now think was actually slowing you down on your climb to the mid- and high-stakes?

Frankie: Not necessarily one thing. It took me many years to realize that all our brains operate differently. When I would watch a pros video I would try to copy the way they played, the way they thought about poker, thinking it was the right way. I realized that I needed to play poker my way.

Q: How important is the joy of the game to be a successful poker player?

And a Few Funny Questions for Frankie Carson

Q: What’s the optimal amount of days to decline showering to ensure your stench tilts your opponents?

Frankie: For live poker, 7 days. This is optimal, because over this number then people leave the table and you have no one to play with. Below, and it’s not smelly enough.

For online, we need a new strategy.

Q: Poker players always say that women are the rake.  If I have a wife AND a mistress, which one should I keep?

Frankie: I don’t know how to answer this. I have a wife who has been pivotal to my success.

Q: Why are so many courses focused on solver outputs?

Q: What are your go-to snack choices for long sessions?

Frankie: I don’t snack. I’m kind of a health nut job.