Beyond the Cards: What a High-Stakes Poker Pro Really Thinks About the Game

So you want to be a poker pro. You’re spending hours with solvers, watching training videos, and trying to figure out the perfect GTO-approved check-raising frequency on a paired board in a 3-bet pot. But what if you’re focusing on all the wrong things?

That’s one of the big takeaways from a recent deep-dive with Alex Theologis, one of online poker’s most respected and consistent winners. According to him, one of his biggest “Aha!” moments didn’t come from some complex solver output. It came from a hand history review years ago, when he learned he should be defending his big blind with hands like J5 suited against a hijack open. It sounds almost silly, right? A basic preflop decision. But it was an eye-opener that showed him just how much he didn’t know about the fundamentals.

You're Probably Studying Poker All Wrong

Here’s the thing: most aspiring players get lost in the weeds. They obsess over obscure, low-frequency spots because they seem more advanced. Theologis suggests a different approach, one that’s almost frustratingly simple: get ridiculously good at the spots that happen all the time. Think button versus big blind in a single-raised pot. That’s your bread and butter. Mastering those common scenarios will do more for your win rate than knowing the perfect strategy in a 4-bet squeezed pot that you might see once a month.

It’s also about knowing your battlefield. Are you a live cash pro? Theologis says your focus should be on exploits. Study player types, figure out their tendencies, and learn how to adjust. Most of your value in a live game comes from playing against weaker opponents, not from perfectly balancing your ranges against another pro. The online world, with its massive volume of hands, is a different beast entirely. That’s where a solid, GTO-based foundation becomes way more critical, because your patterns and leaks are much easier to spot over thousands of hands.

For live games, focus on exploits. For online games, a solid GTO-based foundation is critical.

It’s a Head Game, First and Foremost

Let's talk about the mental side, because that’s where most poker careers go to die. Ever gone on a nasty downswing and found yourself desperately trying to “clear makeup” or bink a big score to get even? Theologis has seen it a million times, and he calls it a mentality leak. His advice is to focus only on what you can control: your study habits, your volume, and your emotional state at the table. Makeup, he says, is just a number that will eventually go down if you focus on what really matters: increasing your EV.

This ties into his whole philosophy on goal-setting. He avoids setting monetary goals. Why? Because you can’t control short-term results. Variance is a monster. Instead of saying, “I want to make $50,000 this year,” he’d rather say, “I will study for 500 hours and play 2,000 tournaments.” That’s a goal you can actually achieve, and one that naturally leads to better results over time.

Instead of setting monetary goals, set process-oriented goals you can control, like: “I will study for 500 hours and play 2,000 tournaments.”

Perhaps his most potent piece of mindset advice is about where to direct your anger. He says you should be “critical of yourself more than critical of others.” That means when your monster bluff gets called by jack-high, you shouldn't be mad at your opponent for making a terrible call. You should be mad at yourself for making a bad bluff. It’s about taking complete ownership of your decisions, good or bad.

The Myths and Realities of High-Stakes Poker

What’s it really like in the nosebleeds? Even a legend like Daniel Negreanu popped in to ask Theologis about randomizing in live games. Alex’s answer was nuanced. It’s less important live than online, because you have so many other sources of information (live tells, player tendencies) and you play far fewer hands. Any small read can sway a decision that a solver might see as a 50/50 mix. But, he adds, it's still useful in common spots where you have no reads, especially on televised final tables where your tendencies can be exploited.

And what about the edge? How much better are the top regs than each other? The shocking answer is… no one really knows for sure. Theologis shared a story about a discussion in a €100k High Roller where, based on everyone’s perceived ROI, some players would have to be losing an impossible amount for the math to work. The conclusion? A lot of pros overestimate their own abilities. That overconfidence, that ego, is what keeps a lot of the high-stakes, reg-filled games running.

The Path Is a Grind, Not a Shortcut

So how did he get there? It wasn't one massive score. It was a slow, deliberate climb. He struggled to transition from mid to high stakes until he joined a poker stable. Being surrounded by hungry, like-minded players and getting high-level coaching was invaluable. It wasn't a magic pill, but it was a shortcut that helped him filter out the noise and focus on what mattered.

For those of you grinding part-time with a day job, he has some good news. You can actually be more aggressive with your bankroll management. Since you have an outside income to fall back on, you can take more shots. The key is to decide on a percentage of your income you're comfortable dedicating to poker and plan accordingly.

But make no mistake, it’s a job. Theologis is brutally honest about his work ethic. He tries to take breaks but often finds himself working all the time. If he plans to play on a certain day, he plays. He doesn't listen to that little voice that says, “I don’t feel like it.” As he puts it, work isn’t always supposed to be super fun. That discipline is the engine that drives his long-term success.

Work isn’t always supposed to be super fun. That discipline is the engine that drives long-term success.

In the end, the journey to the top of poker isn't about finding a hidden secret. It’s about an obsessive dedication to the fundamentals, building a resilient mind, and showing up day after day. It's about incremental progress, a thousand tiny “aha” moments, and the realization that the real opponent is, and always will be, yourself.