Helping a friend, coaching, staking....advice?

Etaipo · #1 03-08-2005, 03:24 PM

Hello all.

I introduced my best friend to hold 'em after I was "initiated" by some work buddies and got hooked. He took a liking to it, but unfortunately, does not have many people to play with, and can never make it to my home games because of his work schedule.

Long story short, he's a great guy, has a halfway decent grasp of the fundamentals of the game, and needs money.

He has been asking me to help him get started, and I have decided to do just that.

Step 1: SSH. I just got done going through it again, re-absorbing the material, and highlighting a LOT. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] He is to spend the next week reading through it, then we'll discuss it afterwards, and I'll try to address whatever questions he may have throughout. I don't think he'll really "grasp" the material on the first read through, but I want him to understand the gist of it. Afterwards, I'll have him go through certain sections again with me.

Step 2: Online. I want to stake him for .25/.50. 300BB = $150. Now the question becomes, which site should we sign him up on? Stars? Does UB offer .25/.50 limit? A site with good PokerTracker compatibility is a major plus. I would like to make a new account for him somewhere, and will probably either set him up on PSO so he can get some free schwag out of it, or with a rakeback offer. Yes, it might be a waste of time at these limits, but the idea is that this is only the beginning.

Step 3: I want him to build his BR and once he has 300BB for it, move to .50/1. This will probably be when I move him over to party or an affiliate. One thing I am going to stress repeatedly is to NOT play above his BR, which I know he will be tempted to do. Once he has reached, and appears to be beating .50/1, we go to step 4, and hopefully the final step.

Step 4: Casino. I'll take him to the casino with me, and stake him for the evening playing $3/$6.

Hopefully, by that point, I'll have a close friend to talk poker with, come along when I go to the B&M, get my stake money back, and most importantly to me, give my good friend a foundation for making a good second income, which won't take much to surpass his primary income as a waiter.

What do you guys think of the plan? Any suggestions on things that I am missing?

Of very important note here is that if it just turns out he can't do it, and blows the money, it is absolutely no skin off my back. This is my best friend, and I've given him more than this when he's been down before, and have never expected anything back from him. If he becomes a winning player, I am only asking for my original investment back, and then only when his BR can handle it. If it disappears, he will still be my friend.

Any thoughts and comments are welcome.

Etaipo · #2 03-08-2005, 06:48 PM

bumpitybump

jtr · #3 03-08-2005, 07:05 PM

You sound like a good friend. The plan seems rational enough. All will depend on whether he's the kind of guy to say "Don't play above my bankroll, right", and then jump into the $10/$20 game with $200 to win back some losses at $0.50/$1.

Fortitude · #4 03-08-2005, 07:07 PM

Considering that you are doing this in the interest of helping a friend and not financial gain I think you've got a pretty solid plan. If you were doing this in the interest of financial gain or were concerned about getting your money back, there would definitely be causes for concern.

mcb · #5 03-08-2005, 07:26 PM

You sure are a nice friend, I could never do that. I have watched three of my friends piss away hunreds on parypoker and would never trust them with my money.

Zetack · #6 03-08-2005, 08:36 PM

Or you could find Homer's building a bankroll from nothing post and have him follow that route.

--Zetack

Bluffoon · #7 03-08-2005, 08:56 PM

I got my GF interested in poker. I stake her all the time. She's not bad but she doesn't study very much. "playing is more fun" she says. Whenever she wins a few bucks she jumps limits and blows it. So it is basically a bottomless pit situation. The upside is she is always bugging me to take her down to AC. She played poker with me the entire time we were out in vegas this month and when she is at my place if I turn my back she jumps on my computer and logs in to party. We talk poker all the time. We have a hobby to share.

It's been the best losing investment Ive ever made.