Online Poker Training - Soliciting Opinions

Wasn't sure if this was the correct forum for this question -- if not, mods please move accordingly.

I'm considering taking some of my recent winnings and investing in 6-12 months (or longer if it continues to provide ROI) of some online poker school/training. I've looked over and read quite a bit about CardRunners, Stox, DuecesCracked, and a couple others that don't spring to mind at the moment. I've been reading every poker book I could get my hands on over the last 12-18 months, and have a sagging bookcase to prove it, but I'd like to take my education beyond the printed page (only if there is real value in doing so, obviously).

So, I'm looking for suggestions, ideally from those who have experience with one or more of these. Some criteria about me:

- I play NLHE exclusively, both FR and SnG/MTT's, usually focusing on one or the other for a period of time. I don't care for the rapid adjustments required to flip-flop back and forth, so I tend to play one for awhile, then the other. I play primarily at Stars and FT. I have UB and SportsBook accounts with a few bucks in each but I rarely if ever play them anymore.

- For FR I'm still playing micro/mini cash stakes for now. 50NL is my current comfort zone, considering a move up to 100NL later in the year.

- Right now I'm taking a break from cash after having a good run over about 6-8K hands, followed by something like a 3K hand cooler that dented my BR a bit. As a result I took a step back from FR to rethink my game and study some more, in case this was more due to leaks than variance.

- While taking some time off, I got Colin Moshman's SnG strategy book, which got me thinking about playing those for awhile. I started poking around with small stakes SnG's and MTT's, typically $6 and below, and fell right into a groove on FT. I won several $26 tokens, and used one to buy into a $25K Guaranteed with 1354 players, which I managed to win and take down over $7K a couple weeks ago. I followed that up with several small $1-$6 SnG cashes in the $25-$35 range and then another $244 2nd place win last night in a 180-player $8 MTT. So right now my comfort zone seems to be SnG/tourneys, I've not touched FR in a couple months.

I realize this is probably asked often, and I've searched briefly, but the discussion is usually between CardRunners and Stox, and I don't want to necessarily exclude the other options like DeucesCracked and others. Plus the merger of CR and Stox has changed the focus of both, so an updated review might be in order. I understand that CR is now geared to more high stakes players so it's probably not my ideal choice, but they still look "sexy" to me. DuecesCracked looks pretty slick but do they rate up there with Stox yet?

Any guidance one these or any other resources is appreciated...

Bump? No advice?

I've got cardrunners and stox. They're cool, but I don't know what they cost. The ironic thing, is if you check a lot of the "pros" tableratings numbers, they're giving away money faster than I could throw it.

Sixpeppers is a pretty solid player for FR and has vids from micros through mid-stakes on CR.

I haven't used stox too much yet, so I can't give you too much info on that one. Although I found a video from a former Cardschat member which was pretty cool.


Overall, I'd say they are nice to have if you don't have someone to discuss stuff with, cuz you can sweat good players. But they're just another tool. Watching a vid isn't going to make you go *poof I'ma pro!*

I am basically doing the same thing - though I will continue to play as well. I have barely started to scratch the surface. I signed up at Stox but haven't paid yet - though I most likely will buy a year. I need to find out how much MTT stuff they have first - they only have a couple of MTT trainers but it looks like an area they intend to grow in.

Poker X Factor has loads of MTT stuff but they do charge an up front fee of $120. Their video quality is excellent though so I will probably end up springing for it anyway.

I haven't checked out any other places yet because my dad being in the hospital it taking up a lot of my time and I have had to put this on semi-hold. Hopefully by next week I will have a lot of time to spend so I can get serious and decide which site or sites to join with a paid membership.

I play strictly MTT's so that makes a difference.