Content
Every beginner poker player has to start somewhere. Poker lessons are also useful for those who want to become as professional as possible in the game. After all, you don't just become a professional - you have to go through a long learning curve to get there. Gambling card game poker is not as self-evident as it first appears.
Poker training - who needs it?
Modern poker can be likened to a professional sport. If you want to have a really high level of performance, you have to treat it like a serious sport. Can you imagine a basketball team without a coach? And there are several coaches. There are fitness coaches, head coaches, second coaches, massage therapists, etc. Each of them has a function in the team. They all work to make the team achieve the best possible results. How to learn to play poker without a good coach? Probably not much chance of achieving anything in that case, because you have to have a coach, and maybe more than one.
Frequently asked questions
❓ Does it matter which poker teacher teaches you how to play?
✓ Yes. It is very important to choose someone who not only plays the game well, but also has the ability to pass on the knowledge they have gained.
❓ How do I choose a poker coach?
When you choose someone to teach you, then make sure you pay attention to the following:
- coaching experience;
- See student achievements;
- specialisation (the type of poker he understands best).
❓ How do I choose the best poker school for my studies?
In this article, we look at where you can learn poker and the benefits of poker training. Poker for beginners will be much easier to learn if you study with a professional trainer.
❓ Why is it important to study the specific area of poker you want to become a professional in?
Poker has several main types: cash or SNG games, tournaments, online or at a real poker table. It is very difficult to master all of these at once, so it is best to concentrate on one area and improve your skills.
❓ How important are videos when learning poker?
Beginning poker is often difficult for beginners to understand. Lots of different terms, strategies that are not understood, etc. The videos help you to understand everything much better as you can watch them as many times as you need.
Poker teachers. How to choose?
You're probably wondering how to make the right choice when it comes to the teacher you trust to improve your knowledge. We will discuss three key criteria that are relevant when choosing a teacher.
Experience
How do you choose other coaches? Or other professionals? I always look at their experience first. How long has the person worked in the field? How long poker game has become a hobby, not a job. Often, new teachers emerge who have made a real difference. These people, driven by good intentions, want to share their knowledge. However, playing poker and teaching poker are two different things.
It is often the case that even the best players lack the educational knowledge to convey information to their students. Especially when trying to teach beginners. Don't forget that what is a joke job for a poker pro may be high mathematics for a novice. And it may take more than one lesson to understand. So first of all, pay attention to how long a player has been playing poker himself and how long he has been actively teaching others to play poker.
Student Achievements
Think about how basketball coaches are perceived? Probably by team performance. Let's just remember to be realistic when making such assessments. If the Lithuanian Football Federation hired a very good coach for the national football team, it would be naive to expect them to win the World Cup on that basis alone anyway. However, if he, working with our national team, were able to prepare the team and take it to the World Cup itself, that would already be a huge achievement.
The same is true in poker. Imagine this: a player with a serious psychological problem, who has lost his mind, starts working with a poker coach. The coach stabilises the player's psychology and game. Although the coach's student does not become an EPT champion, he no longer loses money. This person even earns a few hundred dollars extra every month. So, this change in the player should already be seen as a great coaching job.
How can I find out what the trainer's students have achieved? Simply ask the trainer himself which people he has trained and what their nicknames are. Also find out when and for how long they were taught.
Players' results can be checked via online applications such as sharkscope.com etc. Another good tactic is to ask students who have been taught by a particular person. Collect various feedback about the coach. Ask the players if their expectations were met? Did the coach give them enough time? Did he answer all their questions? These are very important factors to know that your prospective poker teacher not only plays poker well, but also has the teaching experience and time to devote to you.
Specialisation
If I need to choose a doctor, I always look to see if he or she works in the area I need. For example: if I have sprained my leg, I will definitely not go to an eye doctor. And it doesn't matter to me how good he is in his field or how many years of experience he has.
The same is true in poker. You have to choose what you want to learn:
- tournaments;
- SNG;
- cash games;
- play poker online;
- Play poker live.
Believe me, they are different things, and their training is different. A newcomer often doesn't see the difference between these choices. But any experienced player will tell you that specialisation is really important. Remember that every poker player has to choose a particular specialisation if he wants to become a professional. For example: even poker tipshow to play in different positions will come in very handy.
Specialising in poker is like having different foreign languages - although we may think that Spanish and Portuguese are similar, they are not. Think what would happen if you went to your Spanish teacher and said "what's the difference, teach me Portuguese". Exactly the same in poker.
Always pay attention to the players the coach is working with: newcomers or advanced players. Or is he teaching poker professionals? We can compare all this to the levels of English language learning. After all, if you are just starting out in poker, if you are just starting to play inexpensive tournaments, a coach who teaches beginners is enough. Think about it, do you really need a teacher who plays 500-1000$ tournaments every day? Maybe it's better to start with something a little simpler?
Poker School
We recommend you try the Lithuanian poker training project - Poker School. It is a fast-growing school with experienced trainers. Currently there are 9 poker coaches in the project. All of them are well-known Lithuanian poker players. The school also has more than 250 instructional videos and many in-depth and useful articles. And most importantly, you can access a lot of information for free! Check out PokerioSchool.com
In this video you can see how to get a Poker School membership.
Poker tutorial videos in Lithuanian - with this membership, you'll be able to watch plenty of these videos.
Poker lessons
How do poker lessons work? Most of the time, when we talk about learning poker, we're talking about playing poker online. So, most of the time, the lessons are online. This is done using video assistant programs such as TeamViewer, etc. With such applications you can see the teacher's computer screen or, conversely, he can log in and watch you play poker. In this way, you can evaluate your game and make comments.
Video poker lessons
Nowadays, with the popularity of computers and the internet, all good trainers should record their lessons. This way, the lessons can be sent to the trainee later on to watch as many times as he/she wants. This is very useful if you forget a detail or if something becomes unclear. If your poker coach does not do this, be sure to recommend this way of presenting learning material. After all, technology has to be on our side. Another thing you can ask your coach to do is to send videos of other students. This could even kill a few birds with one stone.
Combining different materials
It is very important to understand that our brains work differently. Some people are better at taking in visual information, others auditory, and still others are more receptive to communication. So what is the best thing to do? Remember to combine different information methods. For example: read a good poker book, watch instructional videos, have a coach, etc. If you want to make things even more serious, contextualise all the information you receive. This helps to digest all the information and to make "bullet points", highlighting the most important points in the lesson.
