LiveHands Blog

Strategy guides, hand tracking tips, and insights for serious live poker players.

guides19 min read

The Live Tournament Player's Guide: Everything You Need Before, During, and After the Event

A comprehensive guide covering tournament selection, bankroll management, logistics, and building routines that keep you performing at your best through long tournament days.

March 14, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy22 min read

How to Improve at Live Poker Tournaments: A Data-Driven Approach

A comprehensive framework for improving at live poker tournaments through hand tracking, structured study, and data-driven leak identification.

March 13, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy10 min read

Best Poker Books for Live Tournament Players

Seven poker books that sharpen your live tournament game — from satellite strategy and short stack play to bluffing, mental game, and theory.

April 16, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy10 min read

The 7 Most Common Leaks in Live Tournament Poker

Spot the 7 most common leaks in live tournament poker and learn how hand data reveals each one. Fix your biggest weaknesses faster.

April 1, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy8 min read

Hand of the Day: How to Learn from Notable Tournament Hands

Learn how to break down tournament poker hands for maximum study value. A step-by-step hand analysis example covering preflop decisions, stack depth, and bet sizing.

April 24, 2026Tom Sullivan
guides11 min read

Bankroll Management for Live Tournament Players

How many buy-ins do you need for live tournaments? Practical bankroll rules, variance reality, festival budgeting, staking, and when to move up or down.

March 25, 2026Tom Sullivan
guides8 min read

Money Movement for Live Poker: BravoLive, LuxonPay, and How to Fund Your Buy-Ins

Poker tournament buy-in payment options explained. BravoLive, LuxonPay, cage procedures, wire transfers, and security tips for funding your live events.

April 2, 2026Tom Sullivan
tournament13 min read

How to Read Tournament Structures Like a Pro

Learn to evaluate poker tournament structures before you register. Analyze starting stacks, blind levels, escalation pace, and plan your strategy by stage.

March 24, 2026Tom Sullivan
opinion12 min read

What Are You Really Buying Into?

Joe McKeehen argues rising rake is quietly breaking the economics of small buy-in tournaments. The math backs him up — and points to a structural fix that benefits the players it affects most.

April 23, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy15 min read

Tournament Poker Preparation: How to Use Hand Data from Past Events to Play Better

Learn how to prepare for poker tournaments using hand data from past events. Review by stage, position, and opponent to find your edge.

April 8, 2026Tom Sullivan
tournament22 min read

WSOP 2026 Complete Player's Guide: Schedule, Travel, Structures, and Tips

Everything you need for the 2026 World Series of Poker — 109 bracelet events, schedule highlights, Main Event structure breakdown, Las Vegas travel and lodging, dining options, and practical tips from experienced attendees.

April 5, 2026Tom Sullivan
strategy10 min read

WSOP Main Event Structure Analysis: What the Blind Levels Tell You

A detailed breakdown of the WSOP Main Event blind structure — starting stacks, level duration, escalation pace, and what each phase means for your tournament strategy.

April 22, 2026Tom Sullivan
opinion11 min read

Shaun Deeb Thinks the New POY Format Is Broken. He Has a Point — and a Problem.

The WSOP overhauled its Player of the Year scoring for 2026. Shaun Deeb says it overweights big fields. The math says his real complaint is that it stopped underweighting them.

April 21, 2026Tom Sullivan