CAPT. ZIGZAG
Legend
Silver Level
I just read this on gulf coast poker blog, and he makes some good points.
What do you think about coaching and it's ramifications to the players.
My money is on Dennis Phillips.
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What do you think about coaching and it's ramifications to the players.
I was reading on Pokerati that pros are offering to coach the November Nine for a piece of their winnings. Wha-huh?
On those terms I'd say no to everyone. For a fee maybe, for a tiny, tiny, tiny percentage maybe (like 0.0001%) but in general no. The November Nine has to realize that their "coach" will get a butt load of publicity standing behind them. On top of that, if the coached player does well Norman Chad will attribute it to the coaching 100 times during the broadcast and not the player.
Whatever company the coach is "working for" (ie FullTilt or Stars) will get plenty of advertising as the camera will seek them out Johnny Chan behind Jaime Gold style. Although with ChanPoker just going under I guess that didn't help his site out too much. His misstep ignored, if you think about it, the coaching pays for itself just from the camera time.
Not only that, coaches could actually cut into the Nine's secondary profit streams. If you were an online site, who would you rather have your logo splashed on, the player who as yet is an unknown or a known "coach." Let's say you win, with Negreanu in your corner, who do you think will get the bulk of the credit? Not you. For that reason, I wouldn't hire a coach, though I disagree with the reasoning on Pokerati that these guys in order to get through fields this big are better then all but a couple of pros. Not a chance.
However, there are plenty of people to seek out based on chip stack size and other variables for guidance--but not as a "coach" per se. Final table experience being a big a plus. Even better situational final table experience is the most important. Big Stack Dennis Phillips meet Greg Raymer. Short stacks should seek out Joe Hachem. Luckbox who is in over his head but knows to be aggressive meet Jerry Yang.
November Nine has all the leverage. Many of the top players realize publicity is what cements their non-poker revenue. All those final table or featured table drop-ins by Hellmuth and others are planned out. An up and coming pro would do well to simply offer his services for free than reap the benefits as being named a coach on the telecast if his guy does well.
My money is on Dennis Phillips.
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Sponsorships will be covering every inch of available space on every one of the 9 