If you type “poker coaching” into any search engine, multiple ads and millions of results will come up. With the ever-increasingly popularity of poker tournaments and online poker, coaching has become a busy space.
Poker, especially no limits Texas Hold Em, is a complex game, it involves strategy, memory, concentration, and the ability to read people. If you truly want to become a better poker player, or start winning money from the game—studying, training, and overall coaching can give you a competitive edge.
Self-Coaching
For those that are disciplined, you can teach yourself the basics, then practice with online games. If you’re the type that learns better from a book, you can pick up a number of top-rate poker strategy books. The number of blogs and training videos available online is ever expanding, but try to find up-to-date, relevant sources and information.
Those going the self-taught route will also need to practice outside the online realm eventually. If you’re near a casino, you can start on the low-limit tables, or find a local game via forums like MeetUp. Self-coaching will definitely be a more difficult option than individualized coaching.
Online Coaching Programs
As with any online offering, you’ll want to be careful with coaching sites and subscriptions, make sure its a reputable company. PokerNews.com reviewed their picks for the top five poker training sites. Just like self-coaching, you’ll need to be somewhat disciplined here as well, you get out of it what you put into it. However, coaching sites do provide a general path to learning, as well as exclusive content and resources from professional players. Many sites also have a subscription gaming functionality where you can test your skills with online games.
One-On-One Poker Coach
Individual poker coaching sessions are a popular side hustle for many professional or retired players. In fact, a recent episode of the popular reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, featured pro players teaching the reality stars how to play poker for an upcoming charity tournament.
While you might not be able to afford a world champion poker player for a coach, they are still a number of options. Check out this guide to hiring a poker coach for step-by-step instructions on finding the right person.
Intuitive or Mindset Coaching
With live poker games, it’s often said that strategy and knowledge will only get you so far. You also need to know how to read the other players. In fact, in the poker episode we mentioned, Kim Kardashian didn’t hire a coach, but the mentalist, Lior Suchard, to help her play.
John Navin, poker player and Forbes contributor explains; “Limit Hold’ Em has been solved there’s a specific way to play that eventually leads to winning, mathematically correct. No-limit Hold ‘Em hasn’t been solved, that’s because the game has too many variables, not the least of which is what type of players are sitting at the table and how they’ll approach the game depending on different sets of circumstances.”
So when diving into poker coaching, you might want to consider developing your poker mindset or finding a coach that can help you develop your intuition.
Explore Poker Coaching to Bolster Your Skills
In a world of poker websites, forums, software, analytics, and on-demand poker tournaments available to watch 24/7, it is overwhelming to learn to play, and play well. That’s why poker coaching has become increasingly popular—it offers individualized instruction, training, and practice for a challenging and intricate game.
