Experienced + Winning Cardrunners HUNL coach - 400nl and below - Cash Games Poker Coaches List

Stake Monster · 03-23-2011, 06:07 PM

I am 31 yrs old and I've been playing poker for around 5 years now. HUNL has been my main game since 2008. I currently play up to 10/20 NL, although most of my volume is at MSNL.

As a Cardrunners coach, I've had the opportunity to teach to 50+ different students over the last 3 years. I'm a dedicated student of the game and really work hard on improving through studying, writing and also receiving coaching myself, which I have received from some of the very best in the game (Jungleman, timekpr/pandorasbux, Jared Tendler).

My main strengths as a coach are:
- Ability to express poker concepts/theories in an efficient and practical way.
- Very solid fundamentals (which is 95% of the game imo)
- My experience coaching various types of players over the years.
- My knowledge of various styles/approaches to maximize profits vs different player types.
- My availability outside of sessions and flexibility in scheduling and planning of sessions.
- I have a strong knowledge of the mental game of poker (through my coaching with Jared as well as personal work done on the subject (blog, forum posts and 3 broken keyboards).

What I will not promise:
That you will crush midstakes after receiving coaching. I always tell my students that it is up to them how much they will benefit from lessons. Hard work is, and always has been, the key to success with poker. Coaching is a push in the right direction that helps speed up the process of acquiring information but in the end my role is really to teach you how to fish and show you the tools you need. And the more involved you are in the process - by participating in lessons and asking a lot of questions, reviewing hands with me, etc.. the more coaching will be beneficial to you.

RESULTS:

STAKES:
I will coach players up to 400NLHU. I can coach 6-max as well, with a focus on postflop situations.

SCHEDULE:
I live in (GMT-5). My coaching hours are usually 10am to 1 1:30am or 4pm to 6:30pm on weekdays. I am also available on weekends but not at any specific hours.

SESSION FORMATS:
#1: Most of my coaching will be done through video or session reviews. You record yourself playing and I will review the play with you on Skype or I can also write a detailed review with a hand-by-hand analysis of your play. Usually most sessions last around 60-75 minutes. This is my preferred method as I find it's the most efficient way of learning HU.
#2: We can also review some videos of my own play and I will walk you through my thought process. This can be more useful once we have done 3-4 sessions to make sure your own basic leaks have been addressed first as this is more important and will relate directly to your own game.
#3: Hand history reviews can be helpful in fleshing concepts in a more detailed fashion. I would suggest Marking hands in HEM that you have questions about, and saving them all for a more theory-heavy session where we review your saved hands.
In addition to the sessions, I will be available to you on Skype or email at any time to discuss hands or anything else poker-related.

RATES/PACKAGES:
Per hour: My hourly rate for 1-on-1 coaching is $195/hr. If you play 50NL or below it's $150/hr.
Packages: 5 Hours: $926 10 Hours: $1755. 50nl and below: $712 / $1350

Group coaching: I can also offer group coaching for 2-3 people where you'll split a slightly higher hourly between yourselves. Contact me for details.
If you have any questions feel free to PM me on 2+2.

svenshen · 03-23-2011, 11:25 PM

Hey, I'd be interested in coaching but can't PM you. Would you be able to PM me your skype ID so we can talk on there?

limpshove! · 04-03-2011, 04:50 AM

I can confirm Stake Monster does smell good. Plus he's a great coach. Always on time, concise, flexible and a great help to my game. If you're reading this, he can help yours too.

oldschool · 04-03-2011, 11:07 AM

post graph of smellyness please!

Stake Monster · 04-04-2011, 10:05 AM

Just to confirm that I indeed smell terrific, here are some of the student reviews I have received on CR:

Quote:

"A couple of months ago after playing full ring and 6max 50-100nl I decided to give HU a try as a way to improve my hand reading skills. I hung around the HU forum and watched a number of videos to familiarize myself with HU but I'm impatient and wanted to accelerate the learning curve as quickly as possible. I had seen a number of Stake Monsters posts, learned quite a bit from them - saw that he coaches and decided to give it a try. I had one 1 hour session, that lasted well over 1.5 hours. I had a profitable session (tried to get him to split the profit as it was more than the session but he refused) and took a lot of experience away from it. For me, doing is learning - having an instructor like Stake Monster looking over your shoulder and explaining not only what you should do but the logic behind it greatly accelerated my understanding of HU. The importance of and how to table select, bet sizing, hand selection, hand reading etc. - HUGE impact on my ptbb/100. Watching videos is great but doesn't compare to actually playing. If you're new to HU, looking to improve your game, or if it just hasn't clicked yet I highly recommend a sweat session with Stake Monster. BTW - I play HU almost exclusively now." -Beatnik3

Quote:

"I made a video and which he reviewed (and I defiantly will get further coaching) and this guy is good. He goes over every hand, writes out his complete thought processes. A few hands had explanations of 2-3 paragraphs. He defiantly knows what hes doing and why, so if you feel like you're lacking in your HU game defiantly talk to him, you will NOT be sorry." -RichOK

Quote:

"Do you want a coach that REALLY cares about your success?
I can't count how many times I sent Stakemonster HH trough AIM and get a response 2 seconds after. His accessibility is beyond what you can ask for. He’s always willing to discuss hand, strategies, and even bad beat stories no one cares about!
From the first coaching session, he immediately creates a friendly environment where it's easy and fun to learn and open up about game, your goals, and leaks. Very well articulated he’s able to breakdown seemingly complex situations or thought processes into their simplest form.
Coaching Sessions with Stakemonster immediately improved my winrate. He worked on developing my second and third level of thinking and open up my eyes about situations I was blindly going through. Stakemonster introduced me to the level of thinking I need to crush NL 100 and work my way up to the midstakes." -grosblind

Quote:

"Searching for a SSNL coach? Look no further. Pascal (Stakemonster) has been a huge influence on my development as a player. He helped me go from a break even/minimal winning player @ 50nl to now being a consistent winner. I have begun taking shots at 100nl and plan to find a new home there soon through his continued guidance and support.
Pascal teaches you to think in a more layered and advanced way. Where i used to just "Bot" my way along trying to multi-table, he has helped me think about each street of a hand, narrowing my opponents range, being aggressive in late position, isolating fish, paying strict attention to game flow and table dynamics, value betting and so much more. Through live sweat sessions and session review he has also helped me identify many leaks in my game and how to begin to plug them.
Ever attentive, he has always made himself available to answer questions, look at a hand or just offer a supportive, encouraging voice when i hit the inevitable bumps along the way in my poker advancement. I am very glad and fortunate to know him and if you are looking for help with your game, i suggest you get to know him too." -Ronin22

Quote:

"After around 17K hand of HU nlhe 50nl, I thought I was a pretty good player at this limit but I couldn’t work out why my win rate was so low, so I decided to get some coaching with Stake Monster to see where I may be going wrong. I thought he would point out a few little things here and there that I needed to work on, after all I was a good player… boy was I wrong!
Right from the very first video, SM pointed out a great deal that I was doing wrong and which I was completely oblivious to, with in depth analysis that I regularly refer back to. His hand analysis is exceptional and he not only shows you how you should have played a particular hand, but how to think on higher levels and adjust to different player types. He also pointed out psychological flaws with me (in particular tilt) and how to manage it.
After every coaching review he outlined in detail what I needed to work on for the next coaching session and he is more than willing to answer any questions.
If you are a low limit player and looking for someone who definitely knows his stuff and lead you in the right direction, try Stake Monster." -John C

Quote:

"just finished my first series with Stakemonster,
my first good experience with a Hunl coach, was able to pinpoint my leaks and took the time to guide me through the games and answering my questions;
After every coaching review he outlined in detail what I needed to work on for the next coaching session and he is more than willing to answer any questions.
process went very smoothly overall and I found him to be very accesible and knowledgable. definately worth a try." - apegod

Quote:

"I was playing 6max only before, and I started to mix it up with some HU. I watched 4-5 videos of HU and I thought I was doing ok, but the results were not very good. I decided to try a coach, I never had one, and I wasn’t sure about what would come out of it.
I bought a 5 sessions package with Pascal. After 4 of them, I really think that my game improved a lot and the results are showing up. Pascal understands the game very well and he’s able to explain his thoughts to make it simple and easy to learn. He did some writing reviews and some live reviews of my videos, and I really appreciated both.
I learned a lot about hand ranges, bet sizing, how to adjust to my opponent during a match, timing tells, and even more. He’s focusing on every hand and can show you some details that are very important to do right for long run results. He found my leaks very quickly and told me what he wanted me to improve in my game between each video, what to focus on.
Pascal is also willing to help me a lot and he cares about how I develop as a player. I was playing 50NL before, and I’m now at 100NL and my results have been good since I moved up. I would recommend him for anyone who wants to improve his HU game and beat 100NL. I can say that I’m really happy about my decision to have Stake Monster as my coach!" -xzenit

Quote:

"Pascal has a great approach to coaching and really allows you to maximize against your opponents range of hands. He is very thorough and shows you where you are making your mistakes. He also is good with helping players deal with meta game and tilt control. Which I think are equally as important as the way you play your cards. All in all I'd recommend him to anyone and probably am going to refer a couple of my friends to him." -Swit

Quote:

"Similar to most on here, I got into HU NLHE and learnt what I could through videos. Overall I thought I was doing ok, but videos can only teach so much and I wanted to learn more.
I contacted Pascal and arranged a review; I chose him as he plays similar stakes to me and as such has a closer grasp on the subtleties of the lower stakes games, as well as being very reasonably priced. Once I received his comments I was very pleased that I had chosen him! His thoughts were clear and well laid out, he quickly identified both my flaws and those of my opponent (and suggested strategies to exploit these) and finally summarised everything with a list on areas to improve.
I've since arranged a block of 5 sessions and am very happy with the results - moreover, he's very flexible with time (we're on different timezones) and is happy to exchange emails and discuss theory when outside coaching hours.
All in all, I thoroughly recommend him!" -Hadouken

Quote:

"A few things that make Pascal an awesome coach:
- He communicates his thoughts very clearly.
- He records coaching sessions, and sends them to his students for them to watch over, and over, and over again.
- He's available online pretty often for his students.
On the other hand:
- He says the word three like an Irishman, and he likes cats." - GiantTwinky

Quote:

"Pascal, StakeMonster, deserves all the praise that I had read from the reviews before I hired Pascal as my coach. He is frequently available to go over hand histories and talk strategy. Pascal is a great coach who has an ability to explain things in a simple, easy to understand manner. After taking lessons with Pascal, my game has really stepped up. There is only so much videos can teach you, hiring Pascal as my coach in order to improve my game has been one of the wisest decisions I have made." -Mehike

Quote:

“I have been a CR member on and off for over three years and the thing I regret the most was that I didn't invest in coaching from the moment I became a member. I always thought "nah, its too expensive and I can improve through self-study". Well, even after watching hours and hours of videos I never got any better, I am 100% positive this is true for most of those players out there as well.*

So, I eventually convinced myself to browse through the HU NLHE coaching roster of CR and after seeing what Pascal had to say as well as his winrate at HU(pretty sick btw) I decided on getting him as a coach.*

After my first session with Pascal I was totally blown away. He was quick to point out my leaks (which I have a ton of, lol) and explains himself thoroughly and in a clear and concise manner. It really helps to have a professional look at your game and tell you straight up what you are doing wrong and WHY. Also, if you have any questions about hands or anything, you can always email him and get feedback.

Pascal is an excellent coach and a great guy as well. He even went through the trouble of getting me HEM since I couldn't pay through CC/paypal. I really can't stress enough how much he's done for me in helping me improve my game and what he can do to take your game to the next level. He is worth every dollar (even more imo) and for me he best part is I still have 9 more sessions to go. YAHOOO!! =)” -qube

Quote:

“One of the qualities that separates Pascal (StakeMonster) from the majority of coaches is that he wants to be involved as possible with your coaching and wanting you to do well, not many coaches these days are so involved in ensuring your success as a poker player as Pasc is – and this is so vitally important when choosing a coach.*

He will make you feel comfortable about coaching if none of you have had a coach before, he’s very easy to talk to and will make you feel confident about your game even if you have been struggling or want to improve.

After my sessions with Pascal you also feel like a proper online poker player, it’s a difficult feeling to explain, but you will feel as though you want to do this and he will show you how to improve and succeed at the low stakes of HU NL.*

He will show you how to win at your stakes and the leaks in your game you have to fix to do this – as simple as that – if you follow his coaching and put in the commitment, I guarantee you will be a winning poker player.*

One of the best coaches around, enough said.
I suggest you take him on as a coach to find out what I mean.*10/10” - WOOF08

Quote:

“I recently received coaching from Stake Monster. He is a great coach to have. He articulates his thoughts very clearly, he makes sure all of the coaching sessions are recorded so you can watch it as many times as you need to, and he is almost always available on AIM if you have any questions at all.*

Before I got him as a coach, I was a decent player and a marginal winner at HU. After just a couple of sessions with Stake Monster, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my game. Here are some screen shots of before and after a few sessions of coaching.

Before Coaching:
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/582...recoaching.jpg

After Coaching:
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/9485/aftercoaching.jpg

Again, I would highly recommend Stake Monster to anyone that wants to improve their HU game.” -JWW1

Quote:

“Stakemonster helped me with a bunch of different things during our coaching sessions. There were some aspects of my game that I was auto-piloting without even realising it. Bet sizing and playing an exploitative style against fish are two big examples that we discussed.*

Pascal also brought to my attention several other small adjustments I should be making. I expect these to add up over tens of thousands of hands to improve my winrate significantly.

Recording the coaching sessions was extremely useful and is something I think all coaches should employ. When I went over the session for the second and third time I really got a lot out of it.*

After the coaching I felt like I was thinking much more clearly about poker which should definitely improve my decisions at the table.

Thanks Pascal! “ - ben_coy

Quote:

“I started lessons with Pascal a couple months ago. He really helped me a lot. Moreover he turned me from a loosing player into a winning one. Of course I still have a lot of stuff to improve therefore I am a current Pascal student.

If you want a coach who not only knows poker really well but also:
- cares how you progress
- available almost any time for questions
- proactive
then Pascal is the guy you are looking for. “ -Idlerush

Quote:

“We had a group session of two people stared a couple months ago. It was our best poker investment. We saw a dramatic improvement in out games. He is a cool guy always on skype for questions. He saw us the right thought process for HU play.

We highly recommend Stake Monster to anyone that wants to improve their HU game.

He is the man” - ionathan

Quote:

“I've had 6 sessions with Pascal and I'm amazed every time at the small things he notices. Even when I do vids where I think nothing is happening I learn a ton - maybe even the most, because these vids bring out the leaks that you don't notice yourself. It's Pascal's attention to the details that makes him stand out in the coaching crowd. For the money it is hard to find better guidance out there. I know I haven't. In a world with coaches everywhere I can assure you that you are in good hands.

oh yeah and as a bonus you get the recorded session afterwards for later review! “ -toreds

Quote:

“For this year i had very high poker goals. Leave 1/2 behind and become a 2/4-5/10 reg. Plus 100k in profits. After 4 month i was at 1/2 like the other 2.5 years before. My goals seemed to be far away. But I did not want to give up so easily. So i contacted StakeMonster. Just after the first hour with him i booked ten more. I play this game for four years now and just realized how much there is to learn. After these ten hours i play 1/2 – 3/6. So 5/10 isnt far away. pascal is just an amazing teacher and a very nice guy. And if i have a question about a hand or something, he is just a second away. I will get another 10 hours. For sure “ - Thor767

Quote:

“I had one session with Pascal. He definitely knows his stuff. Very professional. I recommend him for any low stakes HU player looking to improve. “ -dpdawson

Stake Monster · 05-01-2011, 12:58 PM

For the first 2 weeks of May only, because of the recent events in the US, I'll offer the following deals:

- 10 hrs @ $140/hr (30% off)
- 5 hrs @ $155/hr (20% off)

ljfe · 05-28-2011, 02:21 PM

Booked 10 hours! Will update. So far really impressed with his personality, career earnings, and ability to grind high stakes regs.

cdwsn19 · 05-29-2011, 01:55 PM

Hi, im looking for a coach to improve my game can you please skype me my skype name is dawsongrinder83

Stake Monster · 05-29-2011, 03:23 PM

Added you, ttys.

ljfe · 05-31-2011, 10:15 PM

Pascal helped me so much in my first hour. We were 10-15 min over and he asked if I want to extend it to a 1.5 hour lesson. Of course I wanted to stop it at "an hour." Looking forward to my next 9 lessons...I am positive I will receive a lot more info from this investment than I hoped to.

Stake Monster · 06-03-2011, 03:02 PM

I've got an extra copy of Jared Tendler's Mental Game book. Whoever books 5+ hrs with me next, gets it.

Free stuff is nice.

Stake Monster · 06-15-2011, 07:42 PM

My new rates are 160/hr normal price, and 130/hr for 50nl- players, plus the usual discounts I give per the original post.

Flopsthenut · 06-17-2011, 08:38 PM

Interested, my skypenick is tim.malmo

ljfe · 06-26-2011, 03:06 PM

Pascal and I started off with one heads up lesson. Unfortunately I don't have a graph to show my results on that, but I was able to crush low stakes. I told him I wanted to switch to 6max coaching, because I am seeking more action (limited to sites still offering to United States), and he gladly welcomed the idea. I don't have a large sample to post after that lesson yet, but I will update on the next 8 lessons. Here is the start of 6max lessons...

Opinionated · 07-26-2011, 05:59 AM

awesome coach. get along really well with him. available quite often outside of sessions for questions/discussions.

really emphasizes basics like bet sizing, timing and where the profit of a particular hand is coming from. 2 sessions so far. definitely coming back for more.

he also happens to be beast at HoN(heroes of newerth) so feel free to bug him with questions on that too