I always liked this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oXhYVm2MW8

I agree, largely because poker already has a built-in screening device to protect newbies who are interested in learning anything.

There are games available at every conceivable stakes level. That built-in stratification provides a pool system for learning on the job without risking economic ruin....play poker to learn poker.

Do the work. It's not rocket science, you can learn as you go. If you don't find playing as you learn to be entertaining, then try something else , like "a spelling contest."

https://www.scarymommy.com/tombstone-quotes


I also think there are a couple of sites online where poker strategy is publicly discussed for FREE.

Google "Twoplustwo" for example.

There are a lot of "elementary free" poker educational sites.

Gripsed has a good beginners guide he streams/YTs for years. He has a school... most of his information can be gotten on YT for free, most things you want to learn you can learn from YT/Twitch for Free.

Jeremiah Williams does a Twitch Channel where has gone from 50k to 200k BR Builder. He's at 150k. Watch it while it lasts it will be gone soon.

Doug Polk has a teaching community...

BBZ is a well known study group...

There is Ruse and GTOWizard

There are so many resources that are out of date and many I've suggested will be out of date today, tomorrow or in a year from now. There are so many out of date coaches, tools, ineffective for a certain player type. We all learn in our own way.

2 Plus 2 is out of date but there are 'things to be learned here too'.

I watch a lot of Vloggers on YT, they will talk through their decisions, they will play from 1/2(some will pay 1c/2c and mostly for entertain purposes) and they will grind to 25k, or more. There is every type of player type, every type of information from all years there. They will talk through their decisions. I think you have to research the information you have received.

Decide if it's right for you... Twitch is the most positive and informative community I've found and they will in real time answer my questions sometimes for free. Mostly refer me to information in real time, today. Some of the players are at my level and some usually will be at your level. So that's a great place to actively learn or have fun. Whatever floats your boat. 2 + 2 has a little bit of a toxic side. As do other Poker Learning tools unfortunately. Elitism. . . I see a lot of it but that's true in all gaming.

Hmm, I think the opposite is actually true tbh. Not saying there isn't a lot of scammy stuff out there but compared to other industries I think the general "legitness" of many of the guys involved with training sites is really high. Look at crypto or trading or whatever else, at least in poker the people coaching are at least usually very established winners.

This is the case because playing poker for a living sucks ass and is really hard, and the ceiling is pretty low these days for non-super-elite guys. Guys that could do it would rather just take the easier money coaching or running a training site or whatever if that option is available to them.

IDK I'm not trying to be some passionate defender of all the coaching/training, just think OP is being overly critical and not comparing poker to similar markets, where all the "scamming" seems much worse.

”Those who cant do teach" is also true across most all sports. imagine somebody capable of winning the superbowl or US open of tennis/golf saying "no thank you Im not gonna play, Im gonna be a coach instead".. Not likely lol.

Yeah but playing poker isn't nearly as fun as those things lol. At least cash games anyway.

Late to this discussion. The obvious answer to handling a downswing is to make sure your decisions are +EV. Review your play and determine how well you played and how you could have better. If your playing too big for your bankroll get a bigger bankroll and/or move down. Playing too big for your bankroll will affect your psyche in a -EV way.

Yes a coach can help you with all of the above. What you’re suggesting is ways to improve your psyche during a downswing. It should go without saying that playing well is the most important thing to do. My overwhelming experience is that players playing too big for their bankroll is the cause of their damaged psychological state.

Disagree.

Cash games are fun, and they're easily 100x more fun than tournaments.

That's entirely subjective... Cash games are more financially reliable but Tournaments have pros as well. Cash you can get up any time you want. Though in a tournament you either win generally a big amount if you are in the top group or you lose everything. The blind system creates a different game as does the fact you're in a death match for more $. Tournaments get exciting in the the FT area while Cash never changes. You probably will never make 50-100 Xs your $ at cash in one sitting but it's possible in an MTT. Sky is the limit... I don't see 5000 viewers tuning into watch cash games as much as I do MTTs for that reason.(Lex V. Ape, Spraggy, Dnegs and the rest who broadcast generally do so MTTs for a reason) People prefer the gambling aspect of MTTs. Also the fact is you don't require the same discipline in the short term. Cash requires it immediately. Of course you can win pretty big amount for a short period of time, while cash requires sometimes years of struggling to earn a steady income. There are Professional MTT Grinders that have more variance than cash but that's a subjective choice. I think MTTs appeal more to the casual poker player who can play once a week/month/year. Cash requires that you play more Poker period. Which is a solid grind. Cash is monotony and now is getting hacked by Bots especially HUs. Unfortunately unless you're a Cyborg you aren't likely going to make Stacks in Cash anyway these days. Or you could play live...

I could care less if new players make bad decisions about who they hire as a coach.

Not when you do them for a living they aren't. Ask any long term cash pro if they think the way they play the game is "fun". Would be sort of shocked to hear any pro say that.

That's because they chose the wrong profession.

Every single profession on the planet has plenty of people who don't like or downright hate going to work. As they didn't choose a profession they ended up loving.....for a myriad of reasons.

And then there's plenty in every profession who love what they do. You'll find poker is no different. Everyone acts like being a poker pro is somehow exempt or different from any other profession.

Yeah idk, I think just doing anything professionally renders it not fun after a while. I didn't say it cant be fulfilling & challenging and whatever else, but "fun" is restricted to recreationals when it comes to poker IMO. And I wager that probably holds true for a professional at anything.

correct the term is "misreg"

(making 5k a week and can't do that at anything else now and you just hate it all, sure... I have had jobs were I am making the dough and yet I'm coughing up and sleeping 12 hours in 4 days praying for the days to just end...6am to 6pm then drive 12 hours)

Very few poker players can average 5k a week. Any who have and still need to grind full time are either still playing bc

1)they love it
2)they're playing purely for the money and are absolutely terrible with money. They should be miserable bc their horrible money management forces them to do something they don't enjoy.

The poker "community" is principally scammers and conners ... Protect yourself at all times.

No offense but this just sounds like 100% grifter speech.

And to the guy who posted that some are "jealous" of poker coaches raking in profits. emmm... NO.

If youre someone who gives poker his all despite it being incredibly challenging yet you stay on the straight and narrow path of trying to get better and always compete in a fair way, you will simply be disgusted by the way these coaches behave.
Trying to decieve the ignorant masses of people and banking on their faint hope and phantasy of being able to make poker work. Who cares that they are partly to blame?

It's this weak minded approach to life that tries to sneak around real difficulties and opt for the easy way. The grift. And the psychology of the grifter that I'm plainly spoken, appalled by.

be careful out there and make sure to do your due diligence before paying big bucks for coaching or you might end up posting stuff like this

wrong read. never had a bad coaching experience/got scammed myself. only had 1 coach tho.

I think in a way it is. Most people started playing poker because it's fun. A way smaller percentage of people started their jobs bc whatever job it is was fun. Now it may not be fun anymore for some pros- but at some point that's why they played in almost all cases.

Smarter version of myself probably would just shrug, but let me ask what are the cliffs to protect ourselves from this:

https://www.raiseyouredge.com/pokercoaching/bencb

?

Run, don't walk to save a whopping 8k value before its too late! Who wouldn't want life coaching from a guy that has the balls to offer this?

Thinking that one needs to be a winning player to be a good coach is flawed reasoning.

While the skillsets required to be a good coach and a winning player have some overlap, there are also many differences. Both need a thorough understanding of the the game and the ability do analyzes situations in depth, but a winning player also needs to think very quickly and be focused, observant, courageous, and in control of his emotions. He doesn't need strong communication skills. A good coach doesn't need the real-time processing abilities or emotional control of a winning player, but he does need strong communication skills.

So someone is really great at teaching something yet can't teach themselves, how does that work? Sure, if you're a 60 year old tennis coach with a bad back, but not poker. Flawed reasoning indeed.

Scammers and grifters better watch out. This guy is appalled and I'm sure he's got more where that came from. You're doing gods work protecting the poker community with your appalledness sir.