Poker Questions: 13 Things 578 Players Asked an AI Coach

Where should you start if you want to know how to get better at poker? Instead of following a textbook table of contents, look first at where real players get stuck. We analyzed 19,008 poker questions that 578 players asked the DEEPFOLD AI coach: the 3-bet is asked about most, followed by c-bets and river decisions, and the worries of cash game and tournament players barely overlap.

People learning poker often feel their questions are unique, but when you lay out more than ten thousand questions side by side, the places where players get stuck overlap heavily. This article covers the questions real players actually asked after playing sessions and studying material, and where to start with each one.

About the data: 19,008 messages sent by 578 players to the DEEPFOLD chat coach between February and October 2026 (excluding preset buttons, link-only messages and pasted full hand histories). All statistics are anonymous aggregates. Rankings are based on the share of players who asked about something, so a few heavy users cannot dominate the results.

Key Takeaways

• The most asked-about topic is the 3-bet: 41% of players asked about it. Second and third are flop continuation bets (c-bets) and river decisions, at 36% each.
• Half of players bring a hand: 48% of players posted at least one hand they played. Among first messages, 42% were some version of "Did I play this hand right?"
• Cash game and tournament players care about completely different things: cash game players asked most about exploiting opponents (43%); tournament players asked most about push/fold (48%) and ICM / final tables (43%).
• One in five players asks "How good am I, really?": 21% of players asked the AI to assess their level or style, and 11% talked about mindset, downswings or tilt.

How Players Ask: Half Come With a Hand

The most common format is: "6-max, 100BB effective, I have a certain hand in a certain position, the flop comes like this, villain bets this much: should I call or fold here?" Questions like this share two traits:

1. They ask about "the decision right now" and rarely about a plan for the whole hand. But most mistakes are actually set up on an earlier street (see our other report, The Leaks the AI Coach Flags Most).
2. Most include a read on the opponent ("he is very loose", "he is a reg"), which shows that what players really want is an adjustment for that opponent, not just the theoretical solution.

💡 To review your hands more systematically, see Hand Reading Step by Step and How to Find Leaks in Your Database.

The 13 Most Common Poker Questions

The percentages below are "among the 494 players who asked a substantive strategy question, the share who asked about this topic." A single question can touch several topics.

Below we pick out the top few, explain why players get stuck, and where to start.

1. 3-bet: Asked About Most, Often in the Wrong Direction

The 3-bet is the only topic that ranks first both in "first questions" and in "all questions." Player questions fall into roughly three types:

• Is this hand good enough to 3-bet? (for example A5s, KJs or small pairs in late position)
• How big should my 3-bet be? Especially out of position, or when someone has already called.
• What do I do after my 3-bet bluff gets called?

The third type deserves the most attention: many players learn that "you need 3-bet bluffs" but have no plan for postflop, so 3-bet pots become the place they lose the most. When choosing 3-bet bluffs, first ask whether the hand is playable after it gets called: hands with blockers that can make straights or flushes are far better than pure trash.

Further reading: 3-bet Strategy Guide, Defending Against a 3-bet, Squeeze Play Tactics

2. Flop C-bets: From "Always Bet" to "Read the Board"

The c-bet questions show a clear progression: beginners ask "should I c-bet?", while slightly more advanced players ask "what sizing and what frequency on this board?" The most commonly asked situations include:

• Whether to bet small on both dry ace-high boards and wet, connected boards
• Whether you can still c-bet in multiway pots
• Whether to check first as the out-of-position preflop raiser

A simple starting point: the more a board favors your preflop range, the more you can bet small at a high frequency; the closer the board is to your opponent's calling range, the more you should check. In multiway pots, cut your bluff c-bet frequency significantly.

Further reading: C-bet Strategy Guide, Board Texture Analysis, Range Advantage Explained, Multiway Pot Strategy

3. The River: The Most Expensive Decision

River questions are almost always one of two: "Is my hand good enough for a thin value bet?" and "Villain bets big on the river: should I call with this?" The river is where the pot is biggest, so each mistake costs the most. This matches what we see in the leak data: calling too wide on the river is one of the mistakes the AI flags most often.

When deciding on a river call, ask yourself two things first: What bluffs does villain have on this line? Does my hand block his bluffs? If you cannot name any bluffs he could have, the answer is usually fold.

Further reading: River Decision Making, Bluff-Catching Principles, Blocker Effects Guide, MDF: Minimum Defense Frequency

4. Exploitation: What Cash Game Players Most Want to Learn

"This opponent is very loose / very passive / calls everything: how should I adjust?" is the topic cash game players asked about most (43% of cash game players asked it). Common settings are low-stakes online games (such as GGPoker Rush & Cash) and live games.

The most useful principle is just one: bluff less and value bet more against calling stations; bluff more against players who fold too much. Many players do the opposite: firing three barrels at someone who never folds.

Further reading: Exploitative vs GTO, Value Betting Mastery, Table Selection and Game Choice

5. Opening Ranges and Blind Defense

Opening ranges (32%) and blind defense (28%) are typical "I want a chart" questions. But when you dig deeper, the real problem is often that the hands in the chart feel awkward to play in practice, for example how to play the A5o or K9s from a GTO range after several players call in a live game.

A range chart is a starting point, not the answer. In live games, where open sizes tend to be large and many players call, tighten up your marginal hands; in regular online games you can stay closer to standard ranges.

Further reading: Preflop RFI Guide, 6-Max Preflop Charts, Blind vs Blind Battles, Common Preflop Mistakes

Cash Games vs Tournaments: Completely Different Worries

When we separate the questions that stated a game type, the two topic rankings barely overlap:

A few things worth noting:

• Deep stacks (25%) and live game adjustments (20%) are cash-game-specific questions. Live players often ask, "Opens are usually 5–10BB, so how should I even count effective stacks?"
• Tournament players' questions are concentrated preflop: push/fold, ICM and blind defense are all preflop decisions. This is consistent with our leak data: nearly half of tournament mistakes happen preflop.
• Bounty tournaments (PKO) were asked about by 14% of tournament players, mostly "Is the bounty worth calling for?"

Further reading: Push/Fold Complete Guide, What Is ICM in Poker, Final Table Strategy, Deep Stack Strategy, Moving from Online to Live Poker

Chinese-Speaking vs English-Speaking Players

• Chinese-speaking players asked most about exploitation, 3-bets and river decisions; 56% of Chinese-speaking players posted their own hands for review.
• Players asking in English and other languages had opening ranges as the largest share of their questions; a lower share of them posted hands for review (35%).

This may be related to the games each group usually plays: in live games and private clubs, opponents have more distinct images, so players need adjustments aimed at "this specific person," not just a standard range chart.

Less Technical Questions That Many Players Care About

• "How good am I, really?": 21% of players asked the AI to assess their level, style or improvement.
• Downswings and mindset: 11% of players talked about things like "I keep losing lately," "I cannot build an edge over recreational players" and "How do I deal with tilt?"
• Choosing sites, stakes and bankroll management: 13% of players asked about these, for example which site has the softest low stakes, or how much you can make playing NL10 for 8 hours a day.

Poker is not only a technical problem. If you are stuck here too, start with Mental Game and Tilt Control and Bankroll Management Essentials.

How to Use This List

1. Check yourself against it: among the 13 topics above, are there any where you cannot state the principle? That is where you should start.
2. Make your questions specific: instead of asking "How do I play 3-bets?", post a real hand along with the opponent type and effective stacks.
3. Review the whole hand, not just the last decision: a tough river spot is often caused by a choice on the flop or turn.

The DEEPFOLD AI coach can read GGPoker hand histories, X-Poker replay links or screenshots directly and analyze your decisions street by street. Try it free.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do poker players ask about most?

The most asked-about topic is the 3-bet (41% of players asked about it), followed by flop c-bets and river decisions (36% each), then exploiting opponents (34%) and whether to keep betting on the turn (33%). In addition, 48% of players posted a hand they played to ask "Did I play this hand right?"

How are cash game and tournament questions different?

Cash game players most often ask how to exploit opponents (43%), and they also ask more about deep stacks and live game adjustments. Tournament players concentrate on preflop questions: short-stack push/fold (48%), ICM and final tables (43%), and blind defense (33%).

What should I learn first in poker?

Based on the data, the spots where most players get stuck are preflop 3-bet ranges, flop c-bets, and calling or folding on the river. Getting the principles of these three decisions clear pays off fastest. Tournament players should start with push/fold and ICM.

Where does this data come from?

From 19,008 messages that 578 players sent to the DEEPFOLD AI coach between February and October 2026, aggregated anonymously and ranked by the share of players who asked. The sample skews toward players who study actively, so it does not represent all poker players.

Methodology and Limitations

• Data source: 19,008 messages sent by 578 players to the DEEPFOLD chat coach between February and October 2026. We excluded preset interface questions (1,787 messages), link-only or very short messages (1,066 messages), and pasted full hand histories.
• Classification: a language model tagged each message with a question type (12 categories) and poker topics (24 categories, multiple allowed), with manual spot checks.
• Calculation: rankings are based on the share of players who asked about a topic, not message counts, so a few high-volume users (the top 5 account for about 30% of messages) cannot sway the results.
• Limitations: the sample is players who use an AI coach, skewing toward players who want to improve and study actively, so it does not represent all poker players. Game type is counted only when a message states it, and for more than half of messages it cannot be determined.
• Privacy: all numbers are anonymous aggregates. Examples in the text are paraphrased and do not quote any player's original wording.