On Tour: 2023 World Poker Tour® Rolling Thunder Festival

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The WPT Main Tour is Rolling Into Thunder Valley!

This year, the beautiful Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California will kick off the 2023 Main Tour Season, as WPT Rolling Thunder returns featuring a huge slate of exciting tournaments leading up to the highly anticipated $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event.

The festival features an epic schedule of satellites, huge guaranteed events, and closing with the player favorite Bounty Confidential.

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The Thunder Valley festival headliner is the $3,500 buy-in WPT Main Event that features 50K in starting chips and is sure to deliver an unparalleled player experience. The friendly and skilled staff at the 😎 TV Poker Room are no strangers to hosting prestigious events with the World Poker Tour.

Whether enjoying the fabulous amenities or relaxing in the spacious and modern rooms, players On Tour rave about Thunder Valley as a can’t miss stop and Team LearnWPT will be there in the action.


LearnWPT Prepares You To Bring the Thunder

WPT Rolling Thunder

Get ready for your shot at a WPT Title with FREE expert poker strategy from the Championship roster of Team LearnWPT!


🥇 Main Event Seat Winner!

ClubWPT and LearnWPT recently teamed up to give players a chance to win a seat to the WPT® Rolling Thunder Main Event.

The exciting bounty tournament was live streamed by WPT anchor and LearnWPT Instructor Tony Dunst and LearnWPT Team Member Adrian Naggy.

With a lead, raise, and reraise all-in on the J♥Q♣2♦ flop, the 1,729 player tournament came to an exciting conclusion and the winner crowned. Watch the winning hand...

ClubWPT Stream Team Member Ray (aka kingofmordor) secured the victory after over 5 hours of play when his top pair with J♦6♣ held over joemessina's K♣9♦ straight draw and now he is on his way to Thunder Valley! Click here to watch the full stream.

Along with the seat, Ray also received private coaching from Team LearnWPT to get ready for Rolling Thunder. He’ll be welcomed by Tony and Adrian who will be onsite for the Main Event to cheer Ray on.

Check the WPT live updates to follow the action and cheer on Ray!


Get In on the Rolling ⛈️ Action ...

The 2023 WPT Rolling Thunder Festival kicked off on March 22nd with the $300 Anniversary Opener. There are plenty of lower buy-in events and a ton of satellites into the Main Event, so you don’t have to stretch your bankroll to join the fun!

📅 Rolling Thunder Festival Dates:
Start: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
End: Tuesday, April 4, 2023
Click here for the full Festival schedule

Highlights of the festival include the DEEPSTACK THUNDER VALLEY $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament starting on March 23rd and the $500 buy-in ACTION8 $100K guaranteed prize pool tournament starting March 27th.

The action packed series is capped off with the popular (and secure 😎) $1,100 BOUNTY CONFIDENTIAL on April 2nd.

The headlining WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event begins Saturday, April 1st and features unlimited reentry through level 11 (the first two levels of Day 2) - Click for more information.

📅 WPT Main Event Schedule:
Day 1: Saturday, April 1, 2023
starting at 12 p.m. PT
Day 2: Sunday, April 2, 2022 starting at 12 p.m. PT
Day 3: Monday, April 3, 2023 starting at 12 p.m. PT
Day 4: Tuesday, April 4, 2023
starting at 12 p.m. PT - Final table will be live streamed with 30-min delay

Final table streaming on:
📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/worldpokertour
📺 Twitch: https://twitch.tv/worldpokertour

The $3,500 event gives players 50K in starting chips and the player's favorite WPT structure giving you plenty of chances to chip up and build a final table stack.


Satellite Your Way Into the Main - Free Tips!

Satellite poker tournaments are a great way to play a larger buy-in event at a lower price so you don’t need to have big bucks to be in contention for a game-changing score. Strategies for Satellites can be very different from a normal Tournament. LearnWPT is here to help increase your edge with key adjustments for satellite play.

Should You Play a 🛰️ Satellite Differently?

Yes! Approaching satellite play with the same strategy used in a regular poker tournament will often result in you busting when you would otherwise have a seat to the target tournament locked up.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger as he discusses the key strategic adjustments you need to make when playing Satellite Poker Tournaments.

Check Out These Keys 🗝️ to Satellite Play

  • Everyone gets paid the same prize
  • No incentive to build a large stack once you are likely to win a seat
  • As the probability of winning a win a seat goes up, your ranges in all spots tighten up
  • There are times in a satellite poker tournament when players should never continue against an all-in
  • Satellites are the only form of poker where it can be correct to fold pocket Aces preflop
  • Pay very close attention to stack sizes and level changes!
  • Often in the satellite endgame 10BBs may be a big stack that is guaranteed to win a seat


Use these strategies to sharpen your focus
and maybe you’ll turn a few bucks into a huge payday.


3 Tips for Bounty Poker Tournament Play

Bounty Poker Tournaments are a fun way to add variety to your poker tournament schedule. The real money bounty awarded for knocking out each player creates extra action plus it gives entrants a chance to win cash in most cases without needing to finish inside the bubble.

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The hottest innovation in bounty poker that is causing great excitement amount players is the Lottery Style Bounty Tournament.

In this type of event (more commonly known as a Mystery Bounty or Bounty Confidential) players who make Day 2 and eliminate a player draw an envelope with the bounty amount hidden inside. Bounty amounts range from slightly less than a buy-in, all the way to 50 times the buy-in based on the total number of tournament entries.

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To maximize your chances at grabbing a massive bounty there are specific strategy reminders you should keep top of mind during your next Lottery Style bounty event. Check out LearnWPT Instructor and Poker Legend Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger’s 3 key lessons for Lottery Style Bounty Tournaments below:

➧ Lesson #1: Making Day 2 in a Lottery Style Bounty Tournament is very important, but getting there with a big stack is critical to maximizing return on investment. Take thinner edges on Day 1 and focus on spots to accumulate chips before you reach the money so that you can have a better shot at accumulating bounties once you are in the money.

➧ Lesson #2: Bounties usually make up roughly one third of the prize pool. They are of most value when the average bounty amount in dollars is larger than the minimum cash and quite a bit larger than any pay jumps. Keeping track of which larger bounties have been won already is essential to making the highest expected value decisions in these types of events.

➧ Lesson #3: As the average bounty value decreases and you get deeper in the tournament where the prize money and associated pay jumps in the actual prize pool are larger than the average bounty amount, winning a bounty should be much less of an important factor in your decision making. Where previously you might have made a thin call to potentially win a huge bounty, you should instead evaluate this spot in terms of your overall tournament.

For more information and strategy on the different types of Bounty Poker Tournaments visit www.learnwpt.com/bounty


Ready for the Final Table? Test Your Skills!

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To make sure you are prepared to shine for the cameras and show off your skills, we’ve got some important strategies to share to help you get ready. Final Table Strategy can differ dramatically from the early stages of a tournament, especially with huge pay-jumps and the prestige that only comes with winning a World Poker Tour title.

Often players are unprepared for the pressure that comes with playing in front of an audience and for potentially life-changing money at stake. When you are facing the pressure of big pay jumps and the studio lights seem just a little too bright, it’s important to stay focused and make objective decisions.

Can You Stay Aggressive at a Final Table?

1053-118 30BB Button Open Vs 50BB Big Blind Call-optimzd


You are at the $3,500 WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table. You min-raise 2BBs on the Button with a 30BB stack and the Big Blind with 50BBs calls. Click below to play a free Final Table sample pack of this spot from the WPT GTO Trainer to see firsthand how decisions change at the final table.


See how close you get to 0 EV Loss and high percentage plays. After playing, get YOUR score and read the strategy and theory behind the correct plays from the LearnWPT Pros.

Tips To Sharpen Up Your Game for Showtime

  • Be aware of stack sizes and pay jumps at all times, even the slightest changes in stack sizes can shift strategy dramatically
  • When short stacks exist, there is extra pressure on the bigger stacks to avoid busting out
  • The chip leaders can use this extra pressure to win many pots while the short stack is in play
  • As a medium stack vs larger stacks be cautious with any bets and raises and try to take marginal hands to showdown passively
  • Preflop ranges shift quite a bit at final tables due to this effect with big stacks playing much wider ranges and medium stacks much narrower ranges
  • Do not be afraid to ramp up your aggression against players that are playing tight in the hopes of laddering up


Have FUN and Good Luck at Thunder Valley

Are you playing the Rolling Thunder Festival? Team LearnWPT will be on site and in the action. Stop and say Hi 👋 to Tony and Adrian!

Check the LearnWPT calendar to follow Team LearnWPT On Tour as we travel the globe to play WPT Events.

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Let us know if you are in the action during the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event or side events on the Festival schedule!

Follow and tag us on social media to share your pic with members of Team LearnWPT, show off your chip stack, or celebrate a deep run.

Twitter @LearnWPT | Facebook @learnwpt | Instagram @learn_wpt

We love to hear how LearnWPT Students are doing!

Good luck and good playing,
-Team LearnWPT


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In 2022 alone LearnWPT Instructors won a 2 WSOP Bracelets and WSOP Circuit Ring, a 25K buy-in WPT High Roller, a 25K PokerGo Masters title, a 50K buy-in WPT High Roller, and a combined $5.2 Million in tournament winnings plus made appearances at several high profile final tables.

In 2023 we’ve already got 1 WSOP Circuit Main Event win and a 5th Place Finish in the EPT London Main Event to add to the totals!

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