You can only search for your own leaks for so long without going mad. I had stalled a bit and was nearing the end of my ability to find my own leaks. I finally decided to do what I should have a long time ago, seek professional help. Jennifear is a good friend of mine and since I know that push fold is a major part of any poker players base, and IMO there is no better push\fold coach (amongst her many other specialties,) I dropped Jennifear a line.

Even if I didn't consider her a friend I would still say, if you ever need a coach, she's worth way more than every penny of her modest fee. I learned a good deal, much of which I am still digesting. I also referred another friend of mine who had equally raving reviews. In short, if your on the fence please go for it already!

Until last night I was playing some 9 mans but mostly Rush PLO to help clear my bonus, which I cleared all $100 last night. Starting tonight I will be focusing on playing 9 mans and using my bankroll system to try and build enough of a roll to jump to the 90 mans on FTP, hopefully skipping the 45's this time. I deviated a few times and took a few mFTOPS shots so I'll start the stat tracking over as of tonight, so we have some definitive numbers to put with our "restart."

I am going to focus on the 9 mans for now because IMO there is no better push\fold or short handed training available. It's no coincidence that all the great closers in MTT's started out playing STT's!

All the coaching talk made me recall another article that didn't quite make the front page, I'll stick it hear. Enjoy!
Coaching to elevate your game

Most people who know me well know that when I was in college I had the opportunity to play baseball. I loved the experience and above all the life lessons that I learned. My coach ran a youth development organization (AAU) and it so happened that my freshman year a graduating senior had left a coaching position vacant.

The “head coaching” job for this team was performed by my head coach, however as busy as he was the task fell to me. When he asked me to accept the position I couldn’t figure out why he chose me. I told him that I didn’t feel I knew enough to teach others, and he simply replied “You know enough to get started.” I immediately began to wonder if he had been hitting the bottle just before practice. I reluctantly accepted the job despite being more than just a little uneasy about my new task.

My first day of practice as the new assistant coach all of my fears were realized when coach said I would be running practice because couldn’t make it. Holy crap, here I am not even sure if I can fake my way through an assistant coaching spot and now I have to actually perform the duties of a head coach. As I arrived at the field I saw that even though I was early my entire team was already there and stretching for practice. I was excited, these kids were serious about the game I loved and for the first time I begin to see the real opportunity that I had been presented with. I called them in to start practice and as they all stared at me I realized I had to tell them what to do, but I didn’t know. So I started thinking about what my coaches did, and more importantly why they did it that way.
For years I had been doing what I was told at practice but for the first time I had actually stopped to ask myself why. When you are presented with the challenge of coaching you are forced to not only figure out what to do but why you are doing it. While you’re improving the game of your players you’re also taking yourself to that next level of thinking. Now the question you begin to ask yourself before you make a decision is not just “what is the best move here” but at the same time your asking “why is this the best move.” This process alone will begin to deepen your understanding of the game.

Ok, back to my story. After the first several practices I got the opportunity to work with my catcher one on one as coach had actually showed up that day. It’s not an easy position so I felt I really needed to spend some time teaching him. Over the next few weeks as I worked with him something amazing began to happen, not only were his skills improving by leaps and bounds but I was showing improvements in my game as well.

As we progress as poker players it is often easy to forget the fundamentals of the game. When we coach a player the first thing that we must do is evaluate his understanding of the basics. The beautiful thing about this is that while you’re doing that you’re also reviewing all of those things that our more advanced skills are built on. Even though I had a great understanding of the basics it had been so long since I had spent time on them that I had a whole new set of experiences and knowledge allowing me to view them in a whole new light.
While I was honing the basic skills in my boys I was gaining a whole new understanding of the game and it was showing in my play. So much so that my catching coach had commented “you know Doyle, I really feel like you’re starting to get what I’m trying to teach you here.” This one took a little longer to hit me but several weeks later I had an epiphany, by gaining the experience of coaching my players I was better prepared to learn what my coach was trying to teach me.

As you move through your progression in poker you should always be looking for the opportunity to better yourself. One of the best ways to do that is to befriend players of all skill levels. If what someone has to say is completely wrong, try to understand how they came to their conclusion and perhaps you’ll find you’ve learned something new from them anyway. Never pass up the opportunity to learn, whether it’s through coaching players or getting a little coaching yourself through the discussion of a Hand History or other situations you experience.

Getting inside the head of someone I’m helping and understanding why they make their decisions has resulted in breakthroughs within my own game. I think this was mostly the result of being able to step back and look at a situation from a different point of view. In addition, the coaching/mentoring experience can you help narrow down hand ranges, spot tells, and see through particular plays. Working with players of different levels should give you a better idea of moves\plays that might be in an opponent’s arsenal, giving you the opportunity to adjust your play. Having this experience will give you a better idea of how a player is valuing their hands; giving you the chance to adjust your bet sizing accordingly as he will be more willing to allow you to build bigger pots against his overvalued holdings.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this; pride is deadly to your poker game. Just because you feel that you are better than someone, and even if you are, that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn something from them. Everyone has something to teach. Are you ready to learn?