[KRANTZ]

Talk to them first. See what a coach's plan is like for his students. How much experience does he have? Can you speak with some of his former students and ask them about the experience?

Is the coach in tune with the current poker climate? A good teacher 1 year ago is probably out of touch with a lot of what goes into beating today's games. Also, what is his workload like? How much time does he spend out of session helping his students? Does he have enough time to individually devote to you?

Training sites are helpful if their instructors coach, so you know you're getting top quality. 3-bet.net (I suppose you could call us a training site, but we're technically a poker coaching center) is a great place to go because we've taken care of quality control for the student: we only hire and promote the best coaches.

Something to also keep in mind: just because a coach is a terrific player does not mean he is a good coach or is even suited to coach. His results are important, but even more important? His students' results.