As an active member of the PocketFives community, there are some questions I have seen numerous times. By far, the one that I hear the most is from players who have already started posting, but simply want to know, “How do I improve and take my game to the next level?”

First and foremost, everyone who wants to improve should constantly review their own play: going over hand histories, posting on forums, talking with their friends, etc. Taking time to study away from the tables will do wonders for your game. There are also two main avenues that one can take to more actively improve their game: training site subscriptions and private coaching.

Training sites are invaluable tools. For a (usually fairly small) monthly fee, members are granted access to a full archive of training videos and, depending on the training site, a sub-forum for only training members where the site’s pros will respond to posts. Many videos offer a lot to the viewer. Besides getting to hear the thought processes of high-level professionals, you get the added bonus of seeing their hole cards and how they approach different situations.

A lot of instructors have gotten very good at what they do and not only make hand history videos, but also classroom-style videos where they break down different concepts. There are numerous other styles of videos that all have other benefits to help an individual improve their poker game. The benefits of training sites are clear: for a fairly small fee, you get a wealth of information from high-level poker players. If a member takes time to watch and analyze the videos, they will very quickly recoup the small fee.

There are, however, some downsides to training sites. The first problem is that players are limited to the material that is published by the site. If you want to work on one specific area of your game, you need to find a video that best fits what you’re looking for. Many sites are good with publishing varied videos, but it still takes time to dig through archives and find exactly what you’re looking for when you could better use that time actually studying your game.

A second problem I commonly see is that improving your play as a result of a training site requires a lot of studying away from the table and away from the training site itself. Players must objectively look at their own game and pick out leaks that were discussed in the videos and work by themselves to fix them.

Many times, players are biased by their own plays and have a hard time realizing the difference between a marginal, but acceptable, play and a major leak. Other times, they make assumptions like, “I saw *insert big name pro* make this play, so what I’m doing must be good” and did not fully understand, or simply did not listen to, the pro’s explanation of why they were making that play.

Finally, the biggest downside to training videos is not a problem with the site, but with the members. Oftentimes, poker players I know don’t really take their training time seriously. They watch videos while they’re 12-tabling or falling asleep in bed. If you want to improve, set aside time to study poker, and use that time to only study poker. Focus on the videos and you will be amazed at how much more you pick up from them.

This leads me the other common area of improving your game: private coaching. Private coaching is almost always more expensive than training sites, but the benefits oftentimes can be worth the price. Typical lessons involve a coach and a student getting together in person or via Skype and reviewing and dissecting poker hands. Most lessons will involve a hand history review, analyzing the student’s play, and pointing out and plugging leaks.

Some coaches will also set aside full lessons on specific topics and provide hands as examples or show their own hand histories as examples. By far the biggest benefit to coaching is that you have a coach there with you. Players are not required to reflect on their own game; they have someone sitting with them telling them what they’re doing wrong. There’s no more uncertainty about whether or not a play was good, marginal, or bad; a coach will tell you exactly what your leaks are, what you need to fix, and give you a plan to take your game to the next level.

This is a huge plus that can be worth the price of the coaching by itself. With a coach, there’s no more digging through archives looking for a specific video on a topic you need, they will tailor the lessons to fit exactly the areas a student needs to improve on.

Another major benefit of having a coach is that sometimes when talking about one specific leak or strategy, the student will have questions about the play or how to approach a slightly different situation. With a coach, a student can get immediate answers and analysis to their questions, instantly giving them the knowledge to fully understand the topic being discussed.

There can, however, be downsides to coaching. When a student finds a coach, the coach will often be a professional whom the student follows or looks up to. This can sometimes cause coaching time to not be used effectively. Students can get caught up talking with the coach about poker community gossip, recent trips, or whatever else. While students still might enjoy this, it’s not a great way to spend lessons you are paying for by the hour.

Be sure to find a coach who is good at staying focused or perhaps will stay a few minutes before or after the lesson to chitchat. Certain coaches can also be extremely expensive, and while the coach may be an exceptional poker player, they may not always be an exceptional coach.

More commonly, students choose coaches who charge exorbitant amounts per hour because they think they will learn that much more, when in reality they could learn the same amount from a coach who charges a quarter as much. Many coaches charging the highest rates will only be beneficial for an extremely small percentage of poker players who are already very, very good players.

PocketFives offers a great training site with some very good videos as well as an active Training forum. If you’re looking for a coach, PocketFives also offers a Coaching Directory where you can read reviews of coaches and see what they have to offer. When finding a coach, look for ones with a lot of positive reviews and be sure to e-mail a few coaches and get a feel for what they do. Find someone who you get good vibes from and who is thorough at answering all of your questions. Overall, regardless of whether you choose a training site, private coaching, or both, take your study time seriously and you will be amazed at the improvements.

Gags30is a long-time PocketFives member and PocketFives Traininginstructor. He is also available for private coaching and is a lead instructor at PremierPokerCoaching.com.

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