Is this a good plan? Staking a friend, want suggestions

I'll go out on a limb here and say that I agree with your thoughts that an intelligent, logical person has the ability to pick up poker in a very short amount of time and become a winning player. The strategies are not so complex that they should confuse someone of moderate to high intelligence. What I think many of the posters here are cautioning is that there is a risk that your $1100 will be lost completely and the only thing left will be the computer and your friendship - with additional risk that the only thing left at the end might actually be the computer.

If your friend has a little bit of poker playing experience under his belt then you might be taking a little less of a risk, but not by much. If you would like to relate me somewhat to your friend, I've only been playing a few short months and in that time I've become what I consider to be a very strong beginner ready to start working my way up through the stakes. It is possible that your friend could do the same, but always keep in mind the possibility that he may not successful from the start.

I would also caution you in telling your friend that he can instantly jump into playing poker in lieu of working and expect to sustain himself right away. When I first started it took a lot of trial and error before I started to get the right strategies. It wasn't until I had thoroughly read and RE-read through about 4 or 5 books, and spent some time reading the TPT forums AND spent time talking to someone who has become a mentor of sorts that I had a strong enough grasp to consider myself a winning player. Up until that point it was very much a rollercoaster ride. Your friend has an advantage from the start in that he can pull from your knowledge and experience.

I think these are the things that most posters are warning about, and not that your friend has no chance of becoming a winning poker player. I'm sure your thinking is that if you can do it, so can he. There's only one way to be sure.

What this all boils down to is this. If this is truly a friend of yours and you want to help make him a winning poker player that's a great and admirable thing. All of us should be so lucky to have a friend willing to help out like that. As often happens, however, business arrangements between friends can ruin the friendship completely so be sure that you are both on the same page and in agreement on terms before doing anything. From there it sounds like you have a sound plan to get him started.

Best of luck to both of you.

[IbrakeFORrivers]

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I have a friend who was recently moaning about getting a job while in college to pay for skiing. He plays poker rarely and casually, but he is smart, even-tempered, and honest with himself. He has read most of HPAFP casually and understands the concepts. He has also spent a few hours watching me 4 table 5/10 6m and when I asked him what he should do he gave gernerally sound strategy. I think he could be a very good poker player.

However, he doesnt have any money to start (he has all living expenses and college payed for but not much else). His computer is an oldish apple. He needs to be making money by december.

To me this sounds like a perfect opportunity for me to stake him. We grew up together and trust is not an issue. Additionally, I do not know any poker players (besides poor casual ones). TPT is obviously a great venue for everything, but I think it would be nice to have someone who I can talk to outside of the internet about hands, swings, limits, etc. My current bankroll can support staking him.

He said he would be very interested if I made him an offer. As you cant really do internet poker properly on a mac, I also need to buy him a computer (sans moniter).

Any suggestions? Obviously, since he needs to start winning soon, reading HPAFP, SSH, and this forum will be an integral part of the plan. However, i dont want to make him do anything for x amount of time. I can also start him out at any limit and need to decide whether he should play short or full.

My current plan would go something like me buying him a computer for around 600, giving him 500 for an initial BR. I would have him pay me 5% of the money he has over the initial BR every week. Once he builds his BR to 2500 (a good BR for 3/6 6m), he does not have to pay interest anymore and starts paying me back. However, he only has to pay me back 900 instead of the 1100 (this number can be adjusted based on comp cost). This deduction is because my goal is not to make money off him but to help a friend. I will prolly make money, but the primary goal of the interest is to motivate him to play a lot untill he gets to profitable levels.

With his 500 Br, we would play .5/1 6m limit for 200 BBs. At this point he moves to 1/26m. He stays there untill he gets to 1200, when he moves to 2/4 full. He plays this untill he gets to 1800, and then moves to 3/6 6m. I will set loss limits at 250BB for any limit. I will watch him play for at least an hour a week and we will go over eachother's hands and comment on them for 15-30 minutes every day. I will learn from this too. He will start playing 2 tables add them as he sees fit.

Problems: 6m limit is very very swingy, which is a huge problem. But it seems like the softest games out there right now. I also think 5/10 6m is the easiest game to beat for a largish amount, and its better to make the switch to short sooner then later. I thought about having him play full, but 3/6 and 5/10 seem so much tougher and slower then their 6m counterparts. I also thought about having him play NL, but then my coaching would be much much less important, and also the selfish reason of wanting a friend who plays my game.

I went back and forth about adding the 2/4 full step in there, but I think its important he learns full strategy. The biggest adjustments will be pre-flop, and this he will pick up quickly. I also think 2/4 full isnt that hard to 4 table, and this will be good practice. The BR jump from 1/2 to 3/6 would also be hard without 2/4.

Another thing i considered was having him start at a higher limit. I thought about giving him a possibly replenishing bankroll of 500 and starting him at 2/4 full (after maybe a few days of coaching at 1/2 full). His move would then be down to 1/2 6m for a while then up to 3/6 6m. Starting him with a larger BR is also a possibility. With around 20 hours a week, do you think its reasonably that he could get to the established goal by december with the current plan?

I am completely open to suggestions about radicaly different types of staking.

Thoughts, comments, and suggestions greatly apprecciated!

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This sounds fun.

I think the other members ascertained the risks for you.

Like they suggested, I second their warnings to not let the money get in the way of your friendship.

An interesting thing I noticed. The way things are being set up, it is sort of like you are his "boss".

Just a warning, it probably will be hard to fathom, but the player you're staking probably will want some "alone time". No one likes a "back-seat-driver-player." lol... if you get my analogy... In other words, you'll probably have to exhibit self-control enough to let him be for like months at a time and TRUST that he's winning/losing and properly accounting for his wins/losses. Get my drift sorta? That's why I think everyone is emphasizing that you 2 are friends outside of the poker felt and can talk about other things besides how his games are going. I'm sure he'll want some diversion too from the daily grind he's about to incorporate.

It's hard, and like I said, this sounds fun, and NICE. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Good luck man... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Punker]

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I have a friend who was recently moaning about getting a job

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I do not think 20k hands/month is unreasonable for a motivated college student

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Someone who is "motivated" isn't really the type to moan about having to get a job.

The one X factor you don't know right now is how he will handle a losing streak. In my experience, players who read all the books first then jump in sometimes have a harder time handling them. It's easy for him to read Gambling Theory and Other Topics about downswings and standard deviation. Its another thing entirely for him to lose 20% of his BR in one day.