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Rich · Guest

How do you go about hiring/finding a pro poker coach?

KGBlovesOreos · Moderator Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 5318 Location: VA

if you are looking for a "pro" as a coach, you probably need to play against them and impress them... but if you're looking for just anybody w/ a good sense of the game, i'm available for the right price Very Happy

griffinlord · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:48 am Post subject:

I have an interesting question here: Is it possible to be an effective coach even though you are not a great player?

How many NBA or NFL head coaches have actually played the game? (I honestly don't know, but I'll bet a bunch of them haven't.)

I read about a chess coach who would only work with highly rated players even though he couldn't play that well himself*. But as an observer of someone else's strengths and weaknesses he was second to none. Apparently his specialty is(was?) the "mental" side of the game. He could see where players were making mental slips and could help the players correct them.

So, if you are an expert at the content of Theory of Poker and Harrington's books and SS2 but you've never played the big games either due to lack or cash or desire or just that you have tells like a neon sign can you be an effective coach? Can you tell someone else how to correct their play even if you cannot correct your own play?

I expect that it could be done, but I'm not sure exactly what skills would be most needed to be an effective coach. Likely it would be different for stronger players than weaker players.

*He played well, just no where near as well as the folks he coached.

GripHoldOn · Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:49 pm Post subject:

In chess, it's a little tougher to believe, but in poker I could see a great coach that is not a great player.

griffinlord · Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:31 am Post subject: Re:

SatchDork · Full House Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 245

Let me answer the initial post first, then jump into this side conversation because I think it's a really interesting one. Smile

Hiring a famous pro as a coach is going to be a matter of two things: 1) As has been mentioned, playing against them and impressing them such that they "take you under their wing." This is more likely to happen with certain pros than others. 2) Money. Many celebs and other "have-lots" have simply bought lesson time with pros. You simply have to have the means (easy, right? Smile

). I know Phil Gordon used to offer a 30 minute telephone lesson for a $500 donation at preventcancer.org.

Getting a regular pro coach would not be as difficult. Get to know the regulars at your local card room and approach the one you respect the most. If they're not interested in doing it themselves, they probably know someone who is (and since you respect the player, you can probably trust his recommedation). Again, it's then a matter of working out the compensation.

Bottomline: you just have to approach someone in the "poker world" about it. You can't just look one up in the Yellow Pages.

Now, can a so-so player be a good coach? There's the old saying that "Those who can - do, those who can't - teach." I don't think you can coach well with a simple understanding of anything, but you don't have to be a master yourself to teach well. Athletics is the most obvious example. Many NFL/NBA/NHL/ETC coaches never played at the highest levels, but they all have experience at some level. Maybe they weren't big enough or fast enough to make it as a pro player, but they have the mind for the game. For some people it's also a performance-under-pressure thing. You could be a great "student of the game" and, in practice, know everything you're supposed to do, but "in the heat of battle" you lose it. Or think of an actor who knows his lines cold until he steps in front of a live audience.

Anyway, the most important thing for any coach, poker or otherwise, is the knack for teaching. Not only must you possess the knowledge, you must be able to communicate it to another person effectively. Maybe you're not good at applying the lessons in Sklansky, Harrington, etc. at the table, but if you're good at teaching the lessons to someone who can apply them. . . .

griffinlord · Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 2:15 pm Post subject: Re:

Gypsydc · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:35 pm Post subject: Re: poker coach

Xspur · Guest

I googled "poker coaches" and found a bunch of links to pokercoaches.com. Does anyone have any information/opinions about this site, the coaches it has, and the methods used?

Xspur · Guest

bah, can't edit my post. The site was actually called pokercoaching.com

deadmoney314 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 12:34 pm Post subject: Coach

If anyone wants to blow their profits and fly to MN to see me and pay me for my time--I will coach you and in one day change your poker career. Some of you here (mostly the n00bs) respect my information and I can tell you want more of the insight that I provide in my posts. For those of you beyond this--see you at the table Wink

SatchDork · Full House Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 245

deadmoney314 · Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 7:33 pm Post subject: Card Clubs

www.canterburypark.com Wink

michaellewis · Flush Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 126

Satch, What do you play in Detroit? I've made a few trips down to Greektown and played some 3/6 those games are so loose and fast!

SatchDork · Full House Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 245

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