In Poker, You Don’t Have to Be the Favorite to Make a Profitable Call
Why a profitable call does not always need to be the favorite: pot odds, an A♣T♥ bounty model and the limits of our assumptions.
Read article →Denys Chufarin / Poker & perspective
Denys Chufarin.
Poker, live streams, and life beyond the table.
My story, hands worth discussing, and notes along the way.
From Kyiv. Based in Vancouver. Still at the table.
Next stream · Sunday, November 8
Family time first. A packed Sunday at the tables.
Today, November 6, is my son’s birthday. Tomorrow is family Saturday, so the next stream will be on Sunday, November 8. And it’s going to be a packed one!
The lineup includes GGMillion$ with a $10,000 buy-in, GGMasters High Rollers and the Bounty Hunters HR Main Event, plus more Sunday tournaments.
New in Thoughts
Give Me a Little Quest
A new story about little quests, family Saturdays, video games and the XP that stays with you.
Read the article →November 1, 2026
An Accidental Omaha Satellite and a $57K APT Win 🏆
I played fewer tables today, made a great final table in the $1,050 APT Sunday High Roller, and managed to win it! First place out of 337 entries, with $57,224.01 in prize money.
Personal session result: +$40,871.88
Ticket accounted for on both sides; rakeback excluded.
Read the full recap →Stream recap
October 30: Session Recap
The session finished in the red. Tournament cashouts came to $225, and I also played 20 hands of Short Deck. Thanks to everyone who joined the stream and our community freeroll.
- Tournament buy-ins: $12,073
- Tournament cashouts: $225
- Proceeds from first-entry action sales: $1,456.36
- Investor payouts: $0
- Personal tournament result after shares: −$10,391.64
- Short Deck: actual result over 20 hands: −$751.92
- Poker total: −$11,143.56
- Separate community freeroll expense: −$500
- Total including the freeroll expense: −$11,643.56
Both bounty cashouts came from re-entries, so there are no investor payouts on the sold first-entry shares. The $500 freeroll is counted separately as an expense, not as poker cashouts.
The next stream is Sunday, November 1. I’ll post the announcement later. I’m also planning a monthly recap this evening, so stay tuned for an update.
Latest session · October 28, 2026
Four final tables in one session 🔥
A win in the $400 Forty Stack, second in the $1,050 APT, third in the $250 Daily Main and ninth in the $1,050 Double Stack. My personal net result after accounting for action sold and markup: +$10,947.41, excluding rakeback.
Articles
Latest articles
October: 128 hours live and a month in the red
October 1–30 comes to approximately −$28.1K, including the current week’s expected Rewards. A losing month, but there was plenty of poker, 16 streaming days and a community freeroll with 683 players. Here is the whole picture.
Why My River Call Started Preflop
How a small-blind limp shaped my river call at the APT High Roller final table: preflop ranges, human reads and ICM pressure.
Read article →
One board, four strategies: why raising does not oblige you to bet
The same Q♣ J♣ 6♣ monotone flop, four different situations and very different betting frequencies. Why ranges and position matter more than an automatic c-bet.
Read article →
Want to Play Better Tournament Poker? Start Out of Position
Understand preflop: button versus blinds, 3-bets, squeezes and EV, with original GTO Wizard examples and practical adjustments.
Read article →
One goal down and eight days left
The weight goal is complete: 79.70 kg (175.7 lb). Poker stands at $103,256, with eight days left on the other goal.
Read article →
4-Betting Kings Is Easy. What About the Rest of Your Range?
Non-all-in 4-bets, jams and complete ranges at 40 BB. With original GTO Wizard screenshots.
Read article →
Why I call with eight-high but can fold top pair
Why eight-high can continue against a wider betting range: an 86o hand, a solver experiment and the human patterns behind the decision.
Read article →
Why the turn range starts on the flop
Pocket kings against Larin in GG Millions. How a small change in the flop betting range can change the turn decision.
Read article →Away from the noise
Thoughts.
Poker, life, and the process in between. A little room to think beyond the next hand.
Thoughts / Denys Chufarin ·
Give Me a Little Quest →
I sat down at a computer when I was about seven, and I don’t think I’ve ever really left the game.
Thoughts / Denys Chufarin
Winning is a process, not an event →
Poker is life, concentrated.
Thoughts / Denys Chufarin
To win, you must be willing to lose →
After many years in poker, you start to notice something that has very little to do with the cards.
From $65 to the long game.
Kyiv, Vancouver, and poker in between. My story, from the first tables to the streams.
Live Poker
Trips, tables, and notes.
Videos, stories and plans for live series, with tournament figures kept in their own archive.
The trip journal →
SALOS — Monoline Dad Hat
View on Fourthwall ↗Occasional updates
New posts, streams, and poker trips. An email now and then.
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