My blog does not work with the word "coaching" in the title. lol

COACHING
I have been doing more and more coaching lately. I am starting to refine the process, with the help of other successful coaches. The adjustments I am making will ensure my students get the maximum benefit from each lesson.

I have decided to expand the payment options since I am raising prices (currently $75.00 an hour) to $100.00 an hour in a month or so. I will outline some options below.

1. Pay by the hour.

2. Buy a package of five hours for 10% off (five hours for $340.00). This will include (although it will be changed to fit each individuals needs and situation) you making a 1 hour video that will take about 2 hours for us to review together. This will be divided into two, one hour lessons. After each lesson I will provide you with some bullet points on what you need to watch out for, and improve on over the next week.

At this point there will be a choice of a one hour HM review and theory discussion, or a one hour live sweat (to deal more with game flow, and making the right decisions when it counts).

If we go for the HM review for an hour, it will be followed by one and a half hours of live sweats, or video review. We will conclude the course with a thirty minute review, looking at improvements you have made, and areas that still need attention. Another option is to talk about theory of some kind, or a particular situation you have issues with.


If we decide on doing a live sweat for an hour, the next one and a half hours will be used for either more live play, or video review (I recomend video review for people staying at the same limit before the coaching began). Again we will end with a review of your progress and areas that still need attention, or we will talk some theory.

If you decide to move up from your current limit (or just want live sweats) I recommend the next two and a half hours be used for live sweats to help you make the transition to 100nl, 200nl, or whatever the limit may be. What better way to make the transition to more aggressive games than with your coach? We will use the last 1/2 hour to review hands in HM or talk theory, whatever we decide will be most beneficial.

3. I will also be introducing a new payment option for people at lower stakes (although it is open to anyone I approve). The rate will be $50 an hour and a % of the profit over the next 10K hands. What percent depends on skill level, limit, and my comfort level of being paid fairly by the student (older students will get better deals). This will be a flexible option, and I am open to discussion.

There will also be a complimentary workshop held once a week for students with package deals. This will be a group sweat where students will take turns playing and talking theory. This will be a great opportunity to meet people that are at your limit, and actively trying to improve as well. Expanding your poker network is something that should not be underestimated.This will last around two hours, but everyone is free to come and go whenever they want.

Well, I got a lot of HU in today. I started out assuming things I had no reason to, and dumped 5bi. The thought process was often "his value betting range is so tight here" and it was, but he had no bluff range at all. On and on it goes. Well I managed to come back with some solid play, and got to within 1bi of even (although I was even at one point).

I really did not play well towards the beginning of the day and tried to make up for that later. Anything I could do to win, I did. I paid very close attention to the game, my bet sizing, timing, anything I could use. While I was not as experienced as the person I got unstuck playing, I was able to win. Playing fewer tables (one in my case) and just paying more attention. Thats all it was, pay more attention than him, win the money. In the end, I wanted the money more. I got it.

This comeback was huge for me. I was a little upset about my play earlier. To be able to come back, focus, and not tilt, is huge. This will be harder HU than in 6 max but it is an easy edge to exploit. I will be unflappable, mentally tough, and abuse opponents that are not.

Here are the notes I took on my last opponent. I tried to avoid listing the actual board since you have to refigure out your notes like that. Instead I tried to note general behavior from him that I could apply to a situation a month from now. Any comments on how to improve the notes are welcome. Shout out to Dodgy for the general format they are in.

EDIT: I am winning at 5ptbb over my small sample HU.

Well, I am even. I have not played much, just enough to get hands to go over with Greg.

It has been incredibly helpful. During the group coaching he was very effective with dealing with individuals needs (with 10 people in the group). To have his energy and drive focused solely on making me the best player I can be... is just plain sick. His confidence alone really makes me want to succeed, and preform as well as I can. The 30 minute talk we had about my goals and what I will need to do to in order to achieve them (which was the first thing we did) was very helpful, and a great start.

I talked Alex into extending the stake for another 30k hands which is sick. I did have to buy him a 30" dell monitor to get him to accept. He will be covering the HU learning curve if there is one. So, GO ALEX! MAKE ME SOME MONIES SON!

COACHING
I have been doing more and more coaching lately. I am starting to refine the process, with the help of other successful coaches. The adjustments will ensure my students get the maximum benefit from each lesson.

I have decided to expand the payment options since I am raising prices (currently $75.00 an hour) to $100.00 an hour in a month or so. I will outline some options below.

1. Pay by the hour.

2. Buy a package of five hours for 10% off (five hours for $340.00). This will include (although it will be changed to fit each individuals needs and situation) you making a 1 hour video that will take about 2 hours for us to review together. This will be divided into two, one hour lessons. After each lesson I will provide you with some bullet points on what you need to watch out for, and improve on over the next week.

At this point there will be a choice of a one hour HM review and theory discussion, or a one hour live sweat (to deal more with game flow, and making the right decisions when it counts).

If we go for the HM review for an hour, it will be followed by one and a half hours of live sweats, or video review. We will conclude the course with a thirty minute review, looking at improvements you have made, and areas that still need attention. Another option is to talk about theory of some kind, or a particular situation you have issues with.


If we decide on doing a live sweat for an hour, the next one and a half hours will be used for either more live play, or video review (I recomend video review for people staying at the same limit before the coaching began). Again we will end with a review of your progress and areas that still need attention, or we will talk some theory.

If you decide to move up from your current limit (or just want live sweats) I recommend the next two and a half hours be used for live sweats to help you make the transition to 100nl, 200nl, or whatever the limit may be. What better way to make the transition to more aggressive games than with your coach? We will use the last 1/2 hour to review hands in HM or talk theory, whatever we decide will be most beneficial.

3. I will also be introducing a new payment option for people at lower stakes (although it is open to anyone I approve). The rate will be $50 an hour and a % of the profit over the next 10K hands. What percent depends on skill level, limit, and my comfort level of being paid fairly by the student (older students will get better deals). This will be a flexible option, and I am open to discussion.

There will also be a complimentary workshop held once a week for students with package deals. This will be a group sweat where students will take turns playing and talking theory. This will be a great opportunity to meet people that are at your limit, and actively trying to improve as well. Expanding your poker network is something that should not be underestimated.This will last around two hours, but everyone is free to come and go whenever they want.

SHORT TERM GOALS.

become a more fundamentally sound player

increase my playing time to a minimum of 20 hours a week *This changed to 20 hours of poker related work. Videos, HH, sweating, and of course playing.

never play 1/2 6 max again Since I am working primarily working on HU this is not very relevant.

plug some major leaks at HU Fast, since I will be playing it to make money.

schedule my time more effectively

increase the time I spend going over hands and reviewing sessions

practice hand reading and putting people on ranges effectively

LONG TERM GOALS.

move up to 5/10 +

become great at HU More short term now.

reduce tilt and focus on solid play, not results Much more important for HU

learn to read souls

lead a balanced life while maintaining a good poker work ethic
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In order to accomplish my goals I will need to devote a lot of time to poker. That time can not be half assed, zone out, just get the hands in time either. Thinking about situations as deeply as I can will be very important.

Keep a good life schedule. I struggle with going to bed and waking up at a decent hour. This will help to organize my time in a way that will allow for maximum poker time, and keep me in an alert state of mind. Yoga will help me do this, and keep in shape.

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Well, today started good. I had a big suckout KK>AA preflop and made some money. I gave it back to a guy that made min raises on the river for value, and ran kind of hot vs me. I feel lost in a ton of spots and just have no idea what to do. HU ranges are a lot wider and it's harder to figure out what to do a lot of the time.

Greg made me his protege!

This is a great opportunity and I plan on using it to the best of my ability. "It's going to be a very long road, with big yellow bricks at the end" I believe he said.

So we decided to concentrate our efforts on HU since I need some work in that area. It will improve my 6 max game, increase my earn per hour eventually, and increase the games that I have to chose from.

He had me write down some long and short term goals, and what I need to do in order to achieve them. Then we started a HU session at 1/2 where we played for around an hour I guess. We went over some hands and concepts afterwords.

I don't even know what questions to ask at this point, and am just trying to absorb information. I will be blogging my progress though this whole thing and will post my goals below.

A huge thank you to Greg for doing this. A life changing opportunity IMO. Thank you Greg!
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SHORT TERM GOALS.

become a more fundamentally sound player

increase my playing time to a minimum of 20 hours a week

never play 1/2 6 max again

plug some major leaks at HU

schedule my time more effectively

increase the time I spend going over hands and reviewing sessions

practice hand reading and putting people on ranges effectively

LONG TERM GOALS.

move up to 5/10 +

become great at HU

reduce tilt and focus on solid play, not results

learn to read souls

lead a balanced life while maintaining a good poker work ethic
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In order to accomplish my goals I will need to devote a lot of time to poker. That time can not be half assed, zone out, just get the hands in time either. Thinking about situations as deeply as I can will be very important.

Keep a good life schedule. I struggle with going to bed and waking up at a decent hour. This will help to organize my time in a way that will allow for maximum poker time, and keep me in an alert state of mind. Yoga will help me do this, and keep in shape.

Playing very good poker right now. Just playing more solidly and not making the big mistakes. I have a lot of stuff I want to talk about, but i have to get to bed.

Well, I feel I am back and playing well. My fundamentals still need some work, so I will crush 1/2 till the end of the month. The only reg I have run into so far who seems good is PokerPornMan or something like that. To be fair though, if I played myself, I would think I suck too.

I have been playing 1/2 since getting back, and playing very poorly overall. Being overly aggro post flop, and taking non standard lines is most of the problem. I think I will stick with 1/2 for a month and really work on playing solidly. Improving my ABC poker which has never been as good as I would like, will really help me at 2/4. The FT games have been so soft though. 1/2 is a joke, with fishes all over the place. I am not table selecting at all, and like it when better players sit so I can get some practice.

I will be charging $75 an hour for coaching from now on, unless you have prepaid, or are owed lessons due to interweb suckage. The rate will be going up to $100 within a month or two.

Yoga is great. If you have issues with energy levels, concentration, or just want to get in shape, do yoga.

Trying to install my new video card tonight I broke the thing that was holding the old one in. This means it is stuck and can not be removed by me, so off to the shop tomorrow. I like my computer, but it has really been a pain in the ass.

My new $1100 computer is now a sleek looking box on the floor. It will not turn on, just froze up mid session, and that's that.

It's all set up, hope it works well. I have dl everything and gotten new reg codes. I am good to go.

Going to Yoga for the first time today, should be fun.

Buying a planner and calender, going to add a little organization to my life.