Teaching a friend Hold'em 101 & Basic SnG Strategy from scratch.

[Shilly]

I think you're expecting wayyyyyy too much out of him too fast. It's easy for players like us that have a lot of experience to underestimate the value of that experience, because even complex situations are basically hardwired into our brains and become automatic--while even the most mundane spots, like holding Q2o UTG, are a thought-provoking situation for a novice. Trying to jam tons of information into his brain isn't going to work at all, and he must understand that becoming a winning player isn't going to happen overnight. Give him a beginner's book (I haven't read it, but I'm sure GSIH is perfect) and let him fool around a bit on his own so that he can get a feel for the game before you start to teach him the more advanced concepts.

I think playing with your friend in a small homegame would be an excellent way to teach him the basics such as position, starting hand requirements, the gap concept, etc. Then you could have him read some of the more advanced text that you suggest. But I think the following link provides a ton of SnG specific literature that is just not found in most hold'em books.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...&PHPSESSID=

[an even better plan is to start him off watching you guys, then coach him in some playmoney games, then coach him in some $1s or $3s or whatever the lowest level that people try to win in, then finally giving him some books.

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I don't know about other people, but I learn by doing. I think your friend needs to jump into some play money tables with you over his shoulder before he reads anything. Let him play some games, make mistakes, then walk through his thought process and add information along the way.

Give him two weeks of playing around before starting him on a beginner's book. It will help him visualize the concepts. Then have him both read and play every day while you continue to coach.

Good luck. You might end up being very frustrated, though.

[downtown]

I am also starting coaching one of my friends. He is intelligent, likes to play, has played a bunch of 2/4 in Vegas, and has the right mindset.

The only problem is, he said he has a hard time telling when a possible straight is out. [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

I sent him back to the play money tables to practice reading the board *before* I even gave him his first book. I think as experienced players we take this skill for granted, whereas in reality it probably took tens of thousands of hands before you could automatically recognize every situation.

[11t]

Why would you have him read hold em for advanced players if he doesn't know how to play poker?

Start off with Harrington on Holdem 1, 2 then go to TPFAP, then Super System 2 and TTOP

I would start him off watching maybe 10-20 of your games, have him read Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller just to learn the basics about HE in general. I started off with that book and I think it really dumbs it down for the total newbs. Then let him lose his first 5-10 SNGs trying to apply those strategies before he realizes it doesn't work. And THEN let him watch another 20 or 30 of your games. Another good thing to do is go over to www.tightpoker.com and download the replayer. The guy also posted something like 40-50 $11 SNGs (in the HH Download section) where his play is almost flawless. Have him watch those also. Have him then read HOH1, play some more, watch more, read more, and he should be set after about 100 or so SNGs. Just tell him not to rush it in the beginning or he'll find himself out of money really fast.

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I asked him what to do in EP with my Qd2c and he said ... "hmm maybe call." I then asked, "So why would you call with this?" He then replied, "I don't know maybe for a straight? Q K A 2 3."



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I think you need to help him find another job or get him to keep his current one. That's not meant to be rude, but there is no reason to quit a job to learn how to play a game when he has little to no concept of how to win. I think he could find a job where he works 35-40 hours a week with little stress and do his SnG project at night. I started at play money tables practicing playing tight. I then deposited 50 bucks (any amount he's comfortable with) and tried to make something happen at 5.50 SnGs. Now I'm happy.

I think that having him read HOH and any other advanced book is a little too quick. I think you have him play some, read some, play some, watch some, read some.

[benfranklin]

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If you had a friend who wanted to learn SnG's which method would you use to teach them, and if you don't like the ones above which way would you go with?

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Everything in this post is a road map to disaster. Your friend is soon going to be unemployed and broke and living off you two and then you can kick him out.

I would tell a friend to keep his job and learn to play poker. Read GSHE and start playing micro limit games. Read GSHE again. Play some more. Read SSHE. Play a lot more. Read SSHE again. Don't even think about NL until he can consistently beat $1/2 limit at Party. Then start with coaching in ABC SnG strategy, and the lowest buy-in SnGs you can find. He is not going to be ready for HPFAAP, HOH, etc., until he reaches this point.

[runner4life7]

Im currently teaching my friend but he has some idea how to play holdem. First thing I did is have him watch some of my old HHs with me and go over simple stuff just to get the idea of folding a lot early, and pushing later. Then I started playing some with him watching and explaining moves. Then would have say what he would do first, now he plays while I watch and give any comments I have at the 10s. 14 down, up $50 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. But I think all those books are a waste of time for this.

Edit to add more on how I dont think it is necessary to read like 5-10 books to play sngs. I dont know if I have read a full one yet.

[playtitleist]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I asked him what to do in EP with my Qd2c and he said ... "hmm maybe call." I then asked, "So why would you call with this?" He then replied, "I don't know maybe for a straight? Q K A 2 3."



[/ QUOTE ]

I think you need to help him find another job or get him to keep his current one. That's not meant to be rude, but there is no reason to quit a job to learn how to play a game when he has little to no concept of how to win. I think he could find a job where he works 35-40 hours a week with little stress and do his SnG project at night. I started at play money tables practicing playing tight. I then deposited 50 bucks (any amount he's comfortable with) and tried to make something happen at 5.50 SnGs. Now I'm happy.

I think that having him read HOH and any other advanced book is a little too quick. I think you have him play some, read some, play some, watch some, read some.

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I wish somebody would have given me some advise like this when I decided to quit my job and become a professional golfer. It sucked when I found out 3 was a better score than 5...

Okay, I didn't actually do this. And neither should he.

Before he reads any of those books, he should read the little hand-rank chart that comes in the Bicycle deck. Seriously, I am not being a dick. He needs to start by learning how poker is played, not start to learn how to play poker.