I get all my poker theory from NVG so am looking for contributions.

I have been subscribing/around training sites for ~6 years.

I've been thinking, is there any worth to the commentaries of live play vids? All the pertinent can be seen onscreen (holecards, stacksizes, betsizes etc).

Am I missing something (once you as a player reach a certain level of ability to analyse the instructor's play) by turning off the commentary? It seems a smokescreen, or a red herring for people looking for relevant information, unless you are playing in the same games as the instructor.

Do people recommend any tricks or advice for analysing the commentary track which can help their game?

Thanks

wsop live streams aren't intended to be training videos. The commentary is there to provide an entertaining stream from recs to pros alike. Whether it accomplishes that task is in the eyes of the beholder; personally I enjoy the streams and the commentary.

Watch the videos without the commentary.

Then watch it with the commentary.

See if anything was said that you didn't pick up on yourself.

Watch the WSOP commentaries with Nick Schulman. There is one from 2015 that I learned a ton from

Thank you for the tip but I'm considering more the worth of training sites' live play vids rather than actual 'live action' vids from WSOP or ept

On the topic, in your opinion there are merits to commentary?

My counter-argument is (for the competent player) all the information you need to work out the best possible action is on the felt (the live table in this case) rather than from the commentary.

My underlying point is there is nothing to learn from the commentary being on due to the lack of motivation for an instructor to give out their COMPLETE thought process.

Is a partial (or obscured) thought process from a pro useful for learning?

Maybe check out Live at the Bike. Live cash games 3 nights a week streaming online for free. You can sub for like 20 on their website and have access to tons of content.

Hi Nick!

How do you improve your understanding of, say, an opponent's range, or even your own range, bluffing frequencies, board textures, etc. without commentary?

It all depends on who is doing the commentating. Dave Tuchman is very annoying and keeps saying the same thing over and over: "black booth mojo" "lets bet a 6 pack of beer." I watch the stream with the mute button selected.

Probably just as good as getting theory from BBV.

How do you know the coach is withholding information?

My suggestion was a simple way to see if you do actually learn anything from the commentary. If you already know that you won't because you already know the thought process of the trainer and what they are and aren't withholding, then I guess it doesn't matter.

i like when the commentator says something about a hand that im also thinking. i enjoy when i disagree too

This would imply the instructor i) is objectively aware of his bluffing frequencies, ii) knows what the correct amount to bluff is etc etc.

The q is: from listening to a live play training site poker commentary (lets say of galfond in this example), would you feel v v v confident of
-what his opponents range is?
-what galfond's range is?
-how he views board textures?
and for this to apply across the next number of months/years, until you stumble across the vid and have an opportunity to watch?

Rather listen to tabletalk but if it's quiet commentary is just fine. Unless it's on the level wit gpl those dudes who needs a trip behind to the sauna to shoot them dead.

No, your question was pretty much "Is it worth having the sound turned up on these instructional videos?", not "How can you be sure they know what they're talking about?"

You've been subscribing to training sites for six years and still don't know if you've ever gained anything from listening to the instructors? Or if the instructors know what they're talking about?