Poker Coaching
Poker coaching can be a good complement to training and learning with Poker Trainer (in Android app, iOS app or in browser). A good poker coach can review the way you play to help you get to the next level. It is common to make the same mistakes over and over again without being aware and that can sometimes be hard to find out in other ways. Some people prefer having someone to talk to and get a personal learning experience.
There are several things a poker coach can help you with, all the way from reading poker tells, mental game, bankroll management to how you play poker. The most common request by far is to get help with how you play poker.
The most common ways to coach are:
- Live coaching
- Hand history review
- Database analysis
Live coaching
In live coaching sessions you play your normal game online and the coach gives you guidance as you play. This can be the cheapest option to get started, since it does not take any preparation from the coach and normally no work afterwards. It can be very useful, but if you are unlucky and there are few hands that are interesting you might get less out of it.
Hand history review
In a hand history review the coach will receive some hand histories from you that you find interesting and want to get deeper into. The benefit with this over live coaching is that you can make sure that all the time is focused on hands that you believe you can learn from. A drawback is that you might be missing hands that you are making mistakes in, but are unaware of. Hand history reviews might be the only sensible option for live poker players, since it is harder to coach live and it is hard to get a solid database of hands.
Database analysis
In a database analysis the coach will get access to your online hand history and will make a thorough review of your entire game. Usually you need at least 30 000 hands for this to be an option, preferably more. This can be a bit more expensive, but on the other hand you will also get a much more complete review of your poker game. A good coach will help you find your most significant leaks and help you to plug them.
Of course there is nothing stopping you from combining the different methods. For example, you can start with a live session to get to know the coach, follow-up with a database analysis and continue with some more live sessions. That way you can try out a new coach cheaply, get a thorough analysis and round off by making sure you have managed to apply the learnings in your game. The last part is not easy, since poker is a complex game and it is hard to change your game and apply new learnings that might not yet be fully understood.
If you are interested in getting a coach from Poker Trainer, check out our cash game coach Aleksandar or our performance coach Karim.
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