Reviews

Whether you're a poker pro, an aspiring poker player, a casual player, or just enjoy watching poker, and anything in between, this podcast will improve your understanding of the complex game of poker. Between the two of them, Grant and Denison aka the Poker Guys' sphere of knowledge envelopes all aspects of Poker, from the math to the leveling, from the tells to psychology, and from the gameplay to the meta. They do a great job of getting into the heads of players whose plays they break down in insane detail at these podcasts, and leave no stone unturned. As a long-time fan of both the podcast and the videos, which are shorter more concise breakdowns of the same hands, it's a joy to watch them improve their content week after week, offering longer better podcasts at an increasing frequency. As if the in-depth analysis wasn't enough, they're also smart and funny and their banter is Hilarious! Nothing puts me to sleep like the millions of monotonous hand review videos and podcasts out there. Like I literally put them on to sleep, but the Breakdown is my morning podcast, when I'm at my most sober and focused. One of the main reasons behind their success, apart from obviously putting more time and effort into it constantly, is that they are very attentive to their audience, who determine a lot of what they do, and they continue to interact with the audience, which not only makes for even more in-depth analysis, but also makes them more popular among the pros and amateurs alike. Anyway, I'm not selling a house here. This podcast is free. So if you like poker, and aren't allergic to humor, this podcast is for you!

Just got into poker and I love listening to this in the car

These guys really know what they're talking about. Their analysis of poker hands is typically spot-on. Listening to them should elevate your poker game.

Johnathan and Grant go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. They not only play off of each others creativity and thought patterns, but adapt to insight together like a neuropathic venn diagram, where the middle is represented by their fundamental agreements on sound poker doctrine. If one has theoretical explaination of great value, he attempts to bring the other person towards his side. The consistent building of knowlege upon itself done in real-time is consistent across all of their episodes. Both are extremely open-minded to one another, respecting each others opinions greatly, while still being assertive in one's own views of the game and stances on player's actions. As the Poker Guys learn and grow together with a fast-moving improv approach to breaking down hands, listeners reap the benefits of their insanely successful synergistic style.

If it’s superlative, incredibly detailed poker analysis you seek, The Breakdown delivers. Hand choices are consistently excellent, often featuring game-theory intricacies on every street. (Even when that’s not the case, a “thought experiment” will sometimes grapple with intricacies that might have presented themselves had one or more players taken a different line at some point.) And with anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour devoted to each hand, even seasoned semi-pros will hear ideas and theories worth grappling with. If you’re into deep hand analysis, this is the podcast for you. That said, the main reason I listen to The Breakdown is to enjoy the relaxed, highly entertaining chemistry of hosts Grant Denison and Jonathan Levy, who are close friends and enjoy lightly needling each other. Their poker chops are solid, but I’d actually listen to them argue about movies or politics or some other random topic*—this is the rare, cherishable podcast that’s both informative and just a pleasure-of-their-company good time. Whether it’s Jonathan ranting about the misuse of the term(s) “the stone/stone cold/mortal/immortal nuts” or Grant repeatedly referring to players who innocently fold their rags as “garbage humans,” there’s always something to keep comprehensive discussions of ranges and combos from getting overly dry. Try one episode and see what you think. * I originally wrote this review almost a year ago, in March 2016. (I’m just moving it from their old feed to their new one.) Since then, Grant and Jonathan have started another podcast, about sports—originally called Drunk Sports, now retitled Sportnado! With Grant and Jonathan. And I do indeed listen to that podcast religiously as well, despite having zero interest in either football or basketball, which is 95% of what they discuss.

I've listened to Grant & Jonathan for several years. They ease the drive home. They are big goofs, they have great rapport, and excellent and enjoyable poker content. I've got lots of questions, so I hope to win the contest! Keep up the good work.

If you are going to listen to one Poker Podcast be sure to listen to "Full Contact Poker" with Daniel Negreanu... HOWEVER if you are going to listen to two Poker Podcasts then be sure to listen to the Breakdown!

In-depth, thoughtful, commentary and analysis that definitely helps improve your game, all while being hugely entertaining. Highlight(s) of my week. They have even crammed "thought experiment" into my daily vocabulary. Highly recommended

If like me, you love playing poker, but are whipsawed by playing 20 hands per hour in a live game, then this is the podcast for you. Each hand takes 45 minutes to an hour to discuss! The thrill of discussing potential turn donking ranges for players who never donk... long drawn out arguments about what types of fish famous poker players might like to eat... interminable soliloquies about preflop micro tells... find it all on the breakdown. (I'm not really kidding about any of those specific things, but also seriously this podcast is very entertaining and a must listen for me every week)

After listening to the Poker Guys I won my first MTT. I couldn't be happier. Grant and Jonathan take a poker deep dive every podcast. Dissecting every (possible) move. GTO. Balance. It's all in there. Nothing is left out. Don't be a garbage human listen to these guys they really know what's up.

This show is the best. It's truly in depth poker analysis.

I learn more from this poker podcast than any other. It's helped me read hands and think about lines. Thanks guys.

This podcast is far and away the best poker related podcast I have heard. In addition to the great information and strategy provided by the guys, they bring great humor and entertainment value to each episode. Also, I can truly say that listening to this podcast over the past couple years has helped me become a winning player at 1/2 no limit. It has really changed the way I review my own hands and think about difficult spots.

Grant and Jonathon crush other poker podcasts with their combination of light-hearted humor and in depth hand breakdown. This podcast will greatly improve an amateurs understanding of proper poker play and understanding how the elite pros play. Keep up the good work and I hope some day to be a garbage human on the podcast!!!

I like the long form style, but some of the episodes get off-topic too much in the middle and it makes it hard to follow the action and breakdown of each street. Mostly listen while driving or doing other things. Maybe you guys can do a breakdown with Doug Polk.

Add the hands in the notes of the episode if possible. It would be nice to double check as you guys are reviewing. Great job guys! Keep it up!

Grant and Jonathan are great, in depth poker thinkers who make the advanced concepts easier to understand for players of all levels. They have a great rapport and have a good balance between jokes and strategy. Listened to every episode, and has definitely improved my game.

Grant and Jonathan offer a variety of great things for the serious poker player with this podcast. Their hand analysis is very thorough, well-reasoned, and they explore various levels. Given a hand or particular play/spot, they'll talk GTO, they'll talk meta-game, they'll talk leveling war, etc. And it's all relevant. Also, they do their best to go down the rabbit hole from each player's perspective, guessing at thought process. Do I always believe their theories as to a given player's complexity? No. But I appreciate the sincere effort they go to to defend the sometimes dubious plays they discuss. For poker players, it's a great way to engage in hand review, and think through our own ways of breaking down hands. For anyone who's not a serious player, but may just be a more casual listener, the boys are also flat out entertaining. The injection of casual comedy into the podcast is great, and often makes the breakdowns laugh-out-loud type listening. The podcasts also go hand-in-hand with their videos on Youtube. Check 'em out! All in all, highly recommended.

Grant and Jonathan continue to do tremendous work as they launch their new podcast feed, and they are continuing their new practice of releasing a full podcast analysis of a hand at least twice weekly. In addition to the invaluable poker insights their game theory-influenced analysis provides to listeners, they also manage to pepper the podcast with humor. They also approach the hand analysis with a willingness to disagree with each other but with an open-mindedness that allows for their counterpart to change an originally-held viewpoint. Having first found their podcast about 6 months ago as an enthusiastic amateur TAG grinder, I quickly discovered how much room for improvement in my game the podcast (and YouTube video) analysis revealed. In addition, their analysis has sometimes been sophisticated enough to capture the attention and implicit endorsement of some of the pro poker principals involved in the hands, despite many of those poker pros occasionally being garbage humans.

These guys are the Siskel & Ebert of poker analysis and reviews (except they are still alive)

i've listed to every episode. They do a good job.

There are a million poker podcasts out there which will give you a weekly handful of the standard tips about ranging your opponent and managing your image and so on. This is the podcast to turn to once you're bored of those and ready to contemplate the deeper strategies in the game.

Best show sickest GTO teaches me BTN raise but sometimes flat very marginal raise. Learn bink tournament but sometimes have to call here ten out of ten pocket ten.

No podcast list is complete without these guys.