Not all poker players have the same motivation. Many of them play in order to have a good time in the company of colleagues or friends, others play to earn some money and, in more rare cases, to become professionals. In other words, to make a living out of poker and earn large sums of money from the game – be it through cash games, multi-table, Sit & Go or any other type of competition.

Nowadays, poker players have many ways to train themselves in the world of poker and develop their strategy. They can rely, for example, on poker books, tutorials and informative videos on the internet, online poker schools, published poker articles, online communities and, of course, poker coaches. In this article we are going to focus on analysing the function of this figure, the poker coach. We explain what it is and how it works. Read on to find out!

Poker coach: What is a poker coach?

The poker coach is an expert teacher in the world of poker. It is a kind of poker coach specialised in the different forms of this card game whose function is to help us to solve our mistakes – those that make us inferior to the rest of the players – and to polish them so that we can continue to grow in this game. In general, the poker coach is usually necessary in situations in which we need to keep growing, but we are stuck at some level -that is, with the material we have at our disposal we cannot solve our problem-. It is therefore a service that is often demanded when we are going through a bad patch and the variance is against us.

The poker coach is a more effective help than books, videos and tutorials, since we will have at our disposal a personal trainer who will help us to understand the strategies so that we can continue to grow in this card game in a completely individualised way.

Poker Coach: How does he work?

The general way a poker coach works is through the internet. That is, the lessons are usually received through video calls, either Skype, Zoom or any other application. What you then do is share your screen (this means that the poker coach will be able to see your screen remotely to see what you are failing at while you are playing, for example) and communicate through the microphone. In this way, the coach can explain to you instantly and in depth what mistakes are being made by reviewing the student’s game and his or her database.

The coach’s job is basically to review a player’s database and to detect what mistakes are being made that are going unnoticed by the client. Once the mistakes are detected, the poker coach will explain to the student why they are occurring so that he or she can change the way he or she plays. The poker coach can also be hired in specific situations. That is, if we need to find a solution to a problem that we do not know how to deal with and we need the help of an expert who can advise us correctly.

What to take into account when choosing a poker coach?

You should bear in mind that not all those who sell themselves as poker coaches can help you in your work. As in everything, there is a lot of intrusion and it is possible that there are people who do not have enough experience to offer you help or who are only looking to take advantage of this business. When hiring a poker coach, keep the following in mind:

• Hire a coach with proven experience.
• Choose a coach that adapts to your level (it is not a matter of choosing a superstar coach since what he can teach you, may not be adapted to your level and you can not apply it, besides being much more expensive).
• Sometimes it is worth paying for a pack of less time than for one of many hours – even if it is cheaper. There is nothing more frustrating than wasting time with someone who can’t teach you. Choose smaller packages at the beginning until you find a coach who can help you with what you need – in the end cheap is expensive, plus you avoid wasting time.
• Keep in mind that the investment in a coach is usually high, typically between $100 and $400 per hour. The choice of a coach is suitable for average players who take their time as a semi-professional and make an important part of their monthly income from the card game.

Spanish poker coach: Is it possible to hire a poker coach in Spain?

Spain is one of the countries with the largest number of poker players. It is for this reason that there has been a proliferation of Spanish poker academies and coaches that are responsible for training users individually. We can find academies and coaches in Spanish such as SpinsAcademy -where you can find the players Carlos_084, Reggie/ToecalaSam or Vicen85/KingofdDrink, among others-, DrawindDead -directed by Borja Fraga, one of the most famous bloggers in the poker world-, Zholltar.com -with Pablo “Zholtar” from Malaga, for low levels-, Sajersne.com -directed by Pablo Sanz- and so on. Another of the most recommended options is Rekoppoker.com -where you can count on the help of players like Juan de Diego, Laura Cantero, Armando Muñoz-Calero, José Ramón García, Javier Martín or Fran García- or ThePokerAcademy -in this case, for those who know how to speak English-.

Undoubtedly, the Spanish poker coaching sector has grown considerably in recent years. In this section we have presented some of the recommendations that in our opinion can be of great help to improve your poker strategy and continue to advance to more professional levels.