Coaching basics...

[krishanleong]

Coaching is a funny this. The paradox is a good coach can make much more playing than coaching. So why coach? Well you can't put an infinite number of hours in so the time you aren't playing poker coaching can be good. Coaching makes you question the reasoning behind why you make plays which can make you a better player.

So how do you get a coach? I would just PM a bunch of people who's opinion you respect and see if they would be willing to coach you. I would try and get someone who seems successful at the limit you play or has some idea of the transition you are making. (1/2->3/6, 3/6-5/10) I was lucky and found ggbman just after he successfully transitioned to 10/20. You can also get a higher limit player to coach you but it will be more expensive and not necessarily more valuable.

There are two main types of coaching. A sweat session where your coach watches you play by watching your tables. Usually 2 tables is the norm. Any more and you don't have enough time to talk about exerything. Generally you communicate using AIM or on the phone. One benefit to AIM is you can save the conversation for later review. I look at my sweat session with Allin once a month.

The other type of coaching is a hand history review. You should 200 random hands to someone, he goes over them and then you either get together to discuss over AIM or phone, or he e-mails you back comments on each hand. I prefer discussion since it's interactive and not everyone is great at explaning their thoughts on paper. If you ship someone hands, try playing without a HUD as the responses will be more meaningful since you won't be working on specific player reads.

I've been coached by Alobar, Allin, and ggbman. I think Kiddo is next on my list. Each of them have been exceptionally useful. I'd definitely put it on par with reading a good book. I've asked for coaching from at least 15 people. There are a ton of people I would love to get coached by. I feel like there are a ton of solid posters who would be able to coach effectively. Just PM a few of your favorite posters with an emphasis on people working on or just above your limit.

If you want to get better, you are a fool if you don't try and get strong people to review your game. At the standard prices it's really a no-brainer.

For lower limits, 2/4-3/6 I think 50$ is the upper end of fair pricing. For 5/10 I'd say 50-100. For 10/20+ I'd say 50-500. The prices are all per hour.

I have coached in the past but until I go pro in the summer, I won't have the time.

Krishan

[RunDownHouse]

Thanks for the write-up. I appreciate it.

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I have coached in the past but until I go pro in the summer, I won't have the time.

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Way to stick that in at the end [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[MoDOH]

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Thanks for the write-up. I appreciate it.


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I have coached in the past but until I go pro in the summer, I won't have the time.


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Way to stick that in at the end

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Smooth...

[cartman]

How does the compensation work with hand histories. Is it just a flat amount instead of hourly?

Thanks,
Cartman

[DMBFan23]

it was for me the two times I've had it done (1/2 and 5/10)

[gildwulf]

How often do you do it? Would you do like 5-10 sessions? Maybe I'm just cheap, but 10 sessions of $100/hr is 20% of my bankroll.

[DMBFan23]

I had someone look over some 1/2 hands, that was pretty cheap as they weren't a high stakes player, and they were fairly sympathetic to me being a micro'er. it was cheap given the value I got out of it, especially at that point in my poker career.

later I had a 1/2 sweat session when james did his SEVERELY discounted coaching. that was also worth it, but I kind of knew it'd be a one shot deal so I didnt have to worry about how often I could afford it.

Alobar looked over some 5/10 hands of mine when I first moved up, just to make sure I had my head screwed on straight. I wouldn't do it every month, especially given how few hands I've played lately, but it seems useful, at least to me, when changing environments (moving up a limit, moving from SH->full or vice versa)

[Victor]

so, anyone wanna look at my 10/20 hands?

[Poldi]

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so, anyone wanna look at my 10/20 hands?

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I´d like to analyze each others 10/20 hand histories. If you are interested, just send me a PM. I already did this at 3/6 and 5/10 and liked it a lot.

[Justin A]

I would be interested in doing a coaching swap, where no money is exchanged, just each player try to coach the other.