Is it worth investing in a coach?

Hi all,

I would like to improve my Poker skills and I’m considering to hire a coach for a while.

I'm now hesitating between a "real" coach (i.e. a human) or making use of coaching softwares that are probably cheaper (Poker Academy Pro seems to be the best and costs 85$) or even for free.

So my questions are:
- Is it worthwhile to invest in Poker coaching? (i.e. does it pay back)
- If yes, should I go with a human coach, a commercial software or the free coach on the web?

Thanks!
Cheers,
Thomas

I would just suggest A few good books.
They seemed to help my game alot.
Also just playing lo limits,if you have a little skill at all it can help you become a better player.
Even if you make the right moves that a coach or books will tell you to do,that doesnt always help he luck of the draw out.

Play everyday online atleast an hour a day and you can learn at your own pase. I think everyone has their own particular game i think. everyone looks at the same situation Differently but which one is right. After you have seen them all over and over and over and over again i guarantee by then you will be a descent poker player {about a year online}

I wouldnt use a coach and i havent read a poker book yet but i do think im one of the best and like the other guy said, a poker book or coach isnt gonna help you on the luck of the draw

Sign up to one of stox/cardrunners/deucescracked (DC is best of these IMO). It's like $200-$500/year or thereabouts and is well worth the money. As with coaches, you probably need to be playing midstakes since to get a good coach you'll be looking at >$150/hr and you need to be making enough money to make it worthwhile.

Personally, i don't think coaches are necessary if you are a pretty intelligent person. There is a lot of info out there that is free (forums, etc.), alot of useful information in video sites, and the rest comes down to synthesizing that information and applying it to your own game. It is also very very important to work on tilt/emotional control, as that will enable you to see game flow for what it is - a failure to do this tends to result in dumb play that varies from what you yourself would consider rational play in a proper mind set, ie. if you can't control tilt/make rational decisions, then all the poker training in the world isn't going to help you once you let your emotions get the better of you and abandon "optimal" play. The gist of what i am saying in this paragraph is that many players have learnt correct counterstrategies/play, etc. but are unable to adequately apply that knowledge to a game situation because they let emotion get the best of them or start to misread game flow/metagame, etc. Ultimately a teacher can only teach so much. A "good student" will probably learn more on their own (not own their own per se, but from all information that is not directly related to coaching) than a bad student would learn will the top teachers teaching them.

It also depends what your goal is with poker. If you intend to make this your career or whatever, then investing with a coach will be more likely to pay dividends as opposed to playing casually.

DeucesCracked is great; get that

how long have you been playing?
what games do you play?
read every thing on te forum. cheap books on amazon. get netflix dvd rental. they have abput a dozen good selections.
youtube "poker" has sme good stuff.
if you don't play like 3-5 days a week on-line for a year, personal is a waste.
have fun and seee ya on the felt.

just curious guys, what's the cheapest coach you can get who isn't a complete idiot?

So your just looking for a half-wit coach?....I could probally fill those shoes.

It would still cost a bit ($50+/hr at least i'd imagine) but do you really want a coach that is only good enough (or inexperienced enough) to charge $50-$100hr (ie. they can't be making much playing in that case)? I make > $125/hr at nl200 and i am in no way shape or form qualified or good enough to charge anything for coaching. You are better off with instructional sites, rather than a "second rate" coach IMO.

kk thanks