The TRUTH - How Good Is Brad Owen Really At Poker?

[@benjaminlhp]

how good is charlie carrel at poker though?

[@skylertaylor7283]

Very good but still leagues below Ike Haxton

[@craigferguson3433]

He used to be elite is far below that now. still a dec reg at live. part of his problem is his motivations gone

[@TheProboscisNose]

In the top 0.1%, easily. And much better than Brad.

[@barrykrishna9981]

@@skylertaylor7283 Ike Masks how good he is!

[@JohnnyAppleseed-yl6fo]

For the amount he charges for his courses and stuff, he definitely thinks he's extremely great.

[@alistairwillock7266]

Hey Charlie, I think you need to a take a couple of factors into account when evaluating Brad's play on a Lodge livestream in specific, and _especially_ on hands that Andrew Neeme is in as well: - Texas stream Hold'em is a mutant form of _actual_ Texas Hold'em: Ranges are all fucked up, _especially_ when the standup game is in play, as it often is. - Stream play incentivizes wider ranges and more aggressive actions in general. This is offset to some extent by Brad's celebrity and ownership stake in the Lodge, as he's always going to be able to get a seat. Nonetheless, like all the other stream players, he's incentivized to take lines that maximize onstream action. - Re hands involving Neeme, very few live players are going to understand each other's games and ranges as well as Brad and Andrew are. They've for sure studied poker together, played hundreds (likely thousands) of live poker hours together, and are friends and business partners. TL;DR If you're trying to evaluate Brad's baseline competence and typical lines, then _DON'T_ use a Lodge livestream. He's going to make far too many deviations. Instead, use one of his vlogs from the Bellagio 5/10 (or better yet, the 10/25 game).

[@ChesapeakeBayBrian399]

valid points. Also, anyone can have a bad day or week.

[@faulrevere8938]

Great commentary.

[@AlienationIsReal]

Honestly I've never agreed w most of brads playing. I watched him a bit a year ago and he was horrible imo. Unless he has gotten a lot better in a year?

[@ChesapeakeBayBrian399]

@@AlienationIsReal I assume you mean calling a bit loose? He says he does that mainly for the stream. Guess results talk for themselves. 2022-2023 were great years for him $$ wise

[@datdudeoj7673]

@@ChesapeakeBayBrian399are you from the Chesapeake Bay area??

[@brycebehan3707]

This is a great series Charlie. Keep up the solid content. Rampage would be a fun one to see.

[@leoyuan3f]

Oh god that would be brutal...for Rampage. Charlie would rip him apart.

[@ledofaire]

He’d stop the video after the 3rd punt

[@WilliamNordeste]

What a waste of brain power. Once gambling is in your blood and brain, almost impossible to get it removed.

[@omalleymso]

I did not have liking Charlie Carrel on my 2024 bingo card but here it is

[@claytonplaia]

That’s weak 😂. Never though I’d like the guy either but here I am

[@RobRochon]

The second hand was against Andrew Neeme who is great friends with Brad. They got started together doing poker vlogs, are business partners at The Lodge, and know each other's games inside and out. Kind of tough to rate Brad's game when analysing what he's doing against Andrew because there is likely meta-levels to it.

[@zeebot1]

I LOVE this format! As poker enthusiasts we all enjoy watching Poker vloggers go through their hands, while trying to figure out ourselves if what they're doing makes sense and how we would've played in that spot. Being able to hear another top professional's reasoning as a second layer is absolutely invaluable and really fun to watch! Keep this series going please!!

[@kellsmo9488]

What I like about Brad is if you watch him regularly, he constantly shows self awareness and admits when he’s less skilled than the people he’s playing against. He’s admitted he’s improving and has complimented Nick Ps coaching as a big aid. This was a very fair analysis of him and I think dead on. Great vid. I wish some of Brads detractors watched him enough to understand his self awareness. But he’s helped a lot of Poker get attention and I think he and people like Charlie are fantastic for the game. Keep it up!

[@michaelgrayrn4579]

I've been playing poker 32 years, dealer for 10 years. This is one of my most favorite poker videos ever. Mad respect.

[@griffingish2633]

I think critiquing his thought process is sort of dubious. I think he’s more interested in making the vlog exciting/ interesting as opposed to going in depth on everything he’s thinking about. Rapid fire hands etc, love the vids Charlie!

[@SmappleMcWingers]

How good is Mariano at poker?

[@eChicken-k6d]

Real Good according to HIS Vlogs.

[@joeyp3094]

Much better option than Ethan, sorry Ethan. Mariano does deep dive his decisions which would make the video better.

[@sneakkyz3696]

Not very good

[@eChicken-k6d]

@@SmappleMcWingers is Mariano still on Steroids

[@pierregodeau4286]

I would say Mariano is at least as good as Brad. And plays much higher stakes ​@sneakkyz3696

[@Sidnev]

can't believe this is the first video you upload since I've subscribed, I've watched Brad for years now and have always wondered how good he actually is. Couldn't ask for a better video, love the way you explain why certain plays are good or bad, it makes a lot more sense to me than a lot of other poker creators. Keep the great content coming man :)

[@mikeprice5755]

I’ve found Brad’s analysis much better since he got coaching off Nicky P a couple of years ago - this is the lodge live stream don’t forget and hand 2 was against Andrew which makes a case for a bit of soft play. I’d like to see Charlie do a follow up of one of brads high stakes bellagio cash game sessions and see if he’s playing with more consideration

[@samuraijack1371]

The way to make money in poker is, open a card room, invite all the VIPs and sit yourself and your co owners as the only professionals and milk them.

[@jackieyeh8866]

How good is Garret

[@starttakinnotez]

G man? He's a good cash player. How good is he compared to other cash sharks? I have no idea. He made most of his money off of morons on stream.

[@eChicken-k6d]

Bad Human.

[@chefjordanp5901]

I’ve watched a ton of poker streams and Garrett, in my opinion, is top 5 I’ve seen play consistently

[@scotjaras6203]

Garrett💅

[@christophsass4968]

Hey Charlie...How good is Mariano...? 🌏

[@CharlieCarrel]

We will have to find out I guess

[@relaxationmeditationsleep2934]

​@@CharlieCarrelAnalyzing the hands on the flop doesn't make sense if we didn't see the preflop action. It's multiple hands that start on the flop.

[@zaktseytlin3450]

⁠would love to see this

[@ApocalypseNowWithEli]

I’ve watched Andrew and Brad play a ton of hands against each other and it always seems like Andrew is checking a lot almost as a friendly move but Brad has no issue crushing Andrew.

[@KyroX3000]

My favorite series in the internet! Looking soo forward to watch this! :3

[@Matzes]

You should keep this series going and keep a tier-list where you rank they guys you analyse. Very popular on KZbin to do tier lists

[@lorenzosignorini3288]

How good is Rampage ?

[@BassmentProductions]

Not very

[@beatingu8347]

🤣

[@pastramionrye247]

At punting? All-pro.

[@Matzes]

Giving money to scammers? Elite Texas holdem? Trash

[@seanbriggs3461]

Better than Brad... That's for sure. Even though he's had a bad run recently...

[@trevor3575]

Charlie cornball making these vids is hilarious. This is the definition of the dunning-Kruger effect

[@BenjaminRichardCraig]

bro the audio gain is brutal you sound like a metalcore singer

[@ambientexpanse]

He's a decent, competent, studied, and experienced 2/5 as well as 5/10 cash game player, quite a popular and well liked KZbin poker personality and that's about it. If anything, he should probably decline taking seats in nosebleed games in the future given his prior track record, results, etc at those stakes.

[@pennywise4843]

Is Charlie good enough to be critiquing these guys?

[@Matzes]

I think so. But anyone who makes sense and uses logical arguemnts can critique anyone else

[@jamesclark8205]

What Brad Owen? yeah he is lol

[@d-law868]

Is this the new generation aka you have to be a certain color to even mention the other or where does this 'not being able to critique, its raw feedback' :)

[@Fish_CEO_20]

What about some 4 card poker? VeniVidi is creating some excellent content recently. The guy seems to crush the games, would still love to hear your (exploitive) though process going through some hands. Also keep going on with this format, i love it!

[@elikatzman244]

@charlie to answer your question from hand 1, the individual going polar with K9o is not a pro. He is definitely one of the spots in these lodge games.

[@Ohrami]

His play in that one hand is enough to understand that.

[@samu5381]

His bets are not vertical enough for me, Brad has to learn how to farm these people more

[@jackieyeh8866]

How good is Andy stack

[@FuzzypupPoker]

Always thought Brad and Lex were not as good as they seem. The more recent videos of Brad have shown his game has improved. Lex I have seen recently make a catastrophic mistake I wouldn't do. Lex plays at my casino. How good they are depends on a number of factors. How they think, work they do, critical thinking, mental game, and who they are playing. At the same casino there are 2 grinders. One plays by feel and the other isn't very good but table selects fantastically. I basically follow him around. Where ever he sits I sit. Both play higher stakes. Both are not as good as I am or my friend who is a professional. We are about equally skilled. I run a company now and play recreationally but still study. I need to talk to someone to understand how they think about poker. I play live exclusively. There is so much more information to gather in live play and there are no HUDs boosting the skill level of less skilled players. If Brad is a good but not great player, can market himself well and entertain others, and plays recs often..... All the power to him he is doing something right. I took the poker money I made and turned it into a successful company that I love running. We all take different paths.

[@michaelblankenau6598]

They’re probably both better than you and you just don’t realize it .

[@scotthime6928]

Brad has gotten a lot better since he started making videos. Even if he didn't say so, I would know that he's put in a lot of study time. In his early videos he made some really, really bad plays. Now he's using some pretty well-managed aggression.

[@kylenead5386]

You have to take into account what you're watching is Texas poker too. Much different than playing with a bunch of pros for high stakes in Vegas.

[@samuraijack1371]

poker community is one of the most passionate group of people who have such love of the game which is unrivaled in any sport. Unfortunately, the poker is riddled with con men likes of Charlie, carrot corner and some other less shady people. Please do not buy anything that these people are selling you.

[@webguy943]

I disagree with u about the flop c bet. I think it was fine n especially after the turn n river check by villain it gives u enough info on the strength of villains hand to bluff the river.

[@yodogami6121]

Honesty is the best thing you could do for Brad, that's a very good gift :)

[@crispinrovere]

Awesome video Charlie, love this format. Just reduce the boost on the mic - you don't need to be peaking - we can just turn up our own audio if it's quiet.

[@totalloser23]

Brad’s name and voice in a episode: +EV

[@TheFalloutShot96]

He’s a rounder. Pure patience and comes across grateful

[@baxoutthebox5682]

Answer, not very good. His play style reads as incredibly robotic. He gets it all-in far too often heads up pre-flop and his primary defense in these last few months has been, “but GTO said.” The only human element of his game is that he shi** a brick every time he sits down in the nosebleeds. I don’t see him becoming elite because his game stopped improving last year. He makes a great bluff here and there but I never see him make a great fold. I see him being an above average player who will continue to get crushed high stakes. His responses to criticism seem quite arrogant and he seems unable to think about his own game (or his teachers’ for that matter) critically. He has forgotten that he’s a professional KZbinr first and a poker player second. Humility is an essential driver to development in everything. You nailed it with the discrepancy between his play style and what the game dictates.

[@ambientexpanse]

💯

[@jimbothesailor4217]

This is the first time I've ever signed up for a poker event. Been to a few live events, but only local. Let's hope my low stakes request is approved!

[@Declan4253]

I think this content fits you well, Charlie. I like Brad and have a sense of how he plays already, but your analysis speaks more to me about you, actually. Well done.

[@julianb4432]

love this critique / breakdown video format. Its great study

[@pauliep2020]

Enjoyed this analysis, Charlie. I’d be interested to see you do one on Mariano. He’s been playing in the highest stakes for KZbin vloggers and does breakdown his thought process on hands.

[@tomfrench5189]

Charlie what are your views on Vladimir Gambledore Korzinin? Is it true that he is actually a wizard?

[@marshallmcgill233]

Are you kidding? Did you watch him play? Clearly 👎

[@WeissAdvice]

"$50,000 is half a year's wages": how you know Charlie is not American.

[@CharlieCarrel]

It was 15k bro, I'm not *that* out of touch

[@zachridgway5807]

I heard 50,000 at first but realize you said/meant 15,000....must be the accent ha

[@Tylerrr86]

I’ve always thought Brad sucked

[@REDACTED-PIE]

petition to ban the phrase 'jiggities'

[@samparker5488]

jiggities

[@GumbysClay53]

I think most of the guys with poker podcasts are good players. I’ve been watching Brad, Rampage, Andrew, and Doug for a couple of years. The only unsteady guy I’d say is Rampage…I’ve witnessed some pretty crazy play from Ethan…some times he hits but when he goes down, it’s spectacularly. Brad had a slump but I think that was due to draw of the cards, not so much his direct fault.

[@kaplislemesis4789]

Do Slowpoker he is not very active, but funny as hell. Be amazing to see you try analyze his mindset.

[@DrinkABeer]

Loving this series. Just subscribed. Mariano next?

[@guanaco103]

Make this a series Charlie, it was good man

[@isabellecouture5494]

It is a series...

[@ApocalypseNowWithEli]

I was just commenting about Brad, who seems like a nice guy, as well as some of my favorite vloggers and why. Something about Brad has always bothered me and I don’t know what? I like genuine people, like a Jeff Boski or even Neeme. I could be completely off base but I’m looking forward to this video as I wrote this prior to watching.

[@JosephMcguire-h1n]

Just discovered you, really enjoyable will subscribe

[@joet7760]

I wouldn’t only be thinking about what non ace hands he may have (like Q/J suited) but what ones would he 3 bet. I think that normally that could help to better define his range better. I agree I’m checking 10s all day. No way Andrew folds second pair anyway to a bet.

[@SqueakyClean87]

Would be interested see you break down Mariano and some of his hands from Hustler

[@Mind2Mason]

Look forward to working with you C.C.

[@russellcawley4153]

Your league table would be good addition to future ones eg 1. Hungry horse 2 Brad 3 Mariano ….. 76 rampage etc . Would be fun if you also did some of the old school guys like dnegs, helmuth, gus maybe. Finally how do you think exploitable like u or tony g would match up v the best of gto like mateos, foxen, kenny etc ?

[@happyeggsbiz7616]

doesn't flatting the 3b w 1010 on the button make it likely the blinds and straddle will continue? now ur what? set mining against 3+ players? If you absolutely know the blinds and straddle will fold I can get behind a call, otherwise, for me it's a shit spot where I need to 4b or just fold. I really think calling narrows you to an obvious range. I hate spots like this.

[@PaperPlateParody]

I know you'd probably hate it, but I fold the TT. Given that I 4-bet pre, I'm triple barreling that runout. Given turn goes check/check, I'm jamming river.

[@jonathansykes4986]

Folding TT preflop in a normal game is completely reasonable.

[@mwa5704]

In hindsight, everyone’s a genius in poker. That’s his KZbin channel

[@glaubs65]

Hey Charlie. I'm interested to know what you think of Andreas Wagner for low stakes learning. His channel is called Live Poker Guide. Also Carrot Corner - Pete Clarke and Chasing Poker Greatness channel. Cheers.

[@DerekBrook-x8e]

He's a lot better than his mate rampage

[@michaelb4090]

First hand I know he is repping strong but with all the draws I don’t think it matters 🎉

[@KatoKrazy]

Hungry Horse would be a good one as he tries to play max exploit I believe.

[@isabellecouture5494]

He just did Hungry Horse...

[@The_Life_Shoequatic]

Didn't Brad Owen ask you not to make any play reviews about him in the past? Did you ask him if was AOK?

[@GuenterTyler]

Nick Howard, Matt Berkey, or Landon Tice

[@Khaottix]

what do you think about Doug Polk?

[@paulthepolarbear9914]

He doesn't need to "keep betting polarized" on rivers with K9 just because he did so on the turn. Bad advice Charlie!

[@YourSpaceMyFace]

Love Charlie, one of the gents of the felt

[@ten4267]

Some good candidates would be carrot poker and Daniel negreanu

[@camzo1439]

Gary Blackwood

[@mariusdinu81]

Yes, dig into Uri Peleg! I heard you guys studied together.

[@_MMWWMM_]

Uri is a poker OG and very good

[@ruarisouter9969]

Do Wolfgang Poker next!

[@jamesa7882]

I'd love to see you do rampage in one of your videos ❤

[@Ospiteosbonif]

How good is Gary Blackwood or Jaman Burton

[@jonathansykes4986]

Jaman is better than Brad. And i'd have to imagine so is Gary.

[@Hanamichi6666]

Calling 10s is meh, you basically says you mostly have a pair

[@igi992]

Will be cool if you make Kakitee playing review

[@jonathansykes4986]

TT hand, GTO wizard wants to bet small with entire range. KJ is folding a lot (KJhh/KJdd pure folds and so does KJo with no Ks). Turn, Wizard wants TT to check with no spade and mix bet/check with spade (TcTs is pure bet). River wants to check mostly although with Brad's combo, it mixes a lot of bets in (maybe because we check AJ/AT/AK a lot on turn). Knowing Brad though, he shouldn't have many Ax combos here (and esp not checking back AJ on turn).. so check is fine on this. I think this is like a 7.5/10 hand. 2.5/10 would be like.. massive errors all over the place with 1 street correct. All 4 streets here are "fine".

[@Alan-jp6pv]

charlie you do realize that you can return those bananas to the store if they are too ripe?

[@NoEyebrowesLIFE]

Great content ATM 🏆

[@Gamblingforfuture]

How good is Tan Juan (Triton)?

[@zaneekCa]

Can you do Adrian Mateos next ?

[@whodouthinkuare]

Do one on Rampage Charlie.

[@jackieyeh8866]

Can you talk analysis dawn vs Doug Polk on hand million dollar game ?

[@PAIN-qk4qh]

Love this series, keep it up

[@KOSTLthepupil]

can some one please help poor Charlie with a better camera

[@stanleyojano4247]

How good is garret destine next?

[@ognjetina]

Great series cant wait for more!

[@loganehewett9807]

Came here just to comment, I am better than brad

[@S3CONDGLANCE]

I'm sure this is a typical reaction video and everyone is great.. just like all reaction videos

[@Ohrami]

Is that TT on BTN preflop spot really close at all? Seems like an obvious fold.

[@lancea7956]

Not on the Lodge livestream where people are opening J6s and 3-betting KJo

[@alistairwillock7266]

It's a >90% continue under those conditions (Texas poker, Lodge livestream, the specific player who opened).

[@Ohrami]

@@alistairwillock7266 You're up against two opponents who could both just have AA or KK, with two guys behind you who can have any of that as well. It just seems a bit ambitious to go with a hand that weak unless you're convinced 3! range from Neeme is very wide.

[@jonathansykes4986]

@@Ohrami I'd agree in normal games TT is fold. Lodge / Live stream games, this is a pure continue. You start folding TT here on button, not only are you incinerating EV, you're also never getting invited back (unless you host the game).

[@Ohrami]

@@jonathansykes4986 He owns a stake in the room and is a famous vlogger. I'm sure he can get back on.

[@LastCenturionPoker]

How good is Andrew Neeme?

[@seanbriggs3461]

Brad O overbets multiple hands and is not good at sizing his bets afterwards... He gets played more often than he plays others at the table... I've seen enough of his videos to know this... 2:11

[@davidgalvez8741]

Commenting because I'm better than Brad Owen at poker

[@Alexandertygreat]

Live poker has never been more profitable then now. Brad owen is a winning player, or so he says. Nuff said

[@jonathansykes4986]

Live poker was way more profitable 20 years ago, 15 years ago and probably 10 years ago. I'd say today is better than 2017-2019 though.

[@Alexandertygreat]

@jonathansykes4986 the average player wasnt as competent, but the sheer number of live players has never been higher and players losing at -20bb/100 is at least 80% of said pool

[@iMixEdits]

How good is Victor Blom at poker?

[@oooooooo4789]

only 1 combo of A10s left there

[@whodouthinkuare]

How good is Gambledore really?

[@tommyrjensen]

Keep the train moving. Nik Airball? Yoh Viral?

[@varunbaid1]

How good is garrett ?

[@S3CONDGLANCE]

Is this university accredited? There is no PhD, player hater degrees

[@terminataroma1]

How good is Spraggy.

[@joey4523]

How good is Kevin Hart at poker?