help me with a coaching plan

[joker122]

i have a friend who wants to start playing online. i'll be his teacher/mentor. he is very intelligent and has demonstrated some of the requisite skills/concepts that i think are essential to becoming a winning player such as simple, on-the-spot mathematical computations.

since i know lhe best that's where he'll be starting.

first and foremost, at which limit should he start? bankroll is not an issue as he is already established financially. the obvious jumping off point is something really micro like .25/.5 but are those games worth playing with the exorbitant rake?

secondly, between full tilt and stars, what site? this is somewhat dependent on what limit you think he should be playing because i don't think stars is very appealing to some one who plays micro stakes as it will take him many months to become a supernova.

lastly, where do i begin? i am pretty overwhelmed here. i let him watch over my shoulder while i 2 tabled yesterday and tried to explain my actions. if you've ever tried doing this with someone who has virtually no experience with hold em you know it's almost impossible to adequately justify your actions. there are just so many different concepts you are subconsciously balancing after you've played several hundred thousand hands and it's very hard to articulate all of them even away from the table during analysis.

so again, what's my plan? should i start with preflop play and just go from there? or...what?

thanks alot guys.

[Gelford]

Why not hand him Getting started in Hold'em and SSHE ... and take it from there ? (or Byron Jacobs Hold'em for beginners)

I mean this is not rocketscience, and he seems intelligent enough, so ... ??? (Unless you are in love with the mentor role ... hehe)

[sethypooh21]

Yeah, I would have him play at micro stakes for a few weeks just to get a feel for the game with no real financial stakes, but require him to limit his table time until he finishes either WLLH or ITH (I'd recommend WLLH just because it's shorter and slightly less involved. ITH is probably a 'better' book, but for someone who knows nothing, it will probably be boring and/or confusing in parts) and the first half or so of SSHE (preflop and counting outs are the really important part for a rank beginner, methinks.

Once that happens, have him start at 1/2 - the games will be plenty loose-passive, and while the rake still sucks, the $ will be at least partially interesting, whereas at a .25/.50 table, avg pots of $4 might not hold his attention.

[yourface]

give him the miller/sklansky book to read and tell him to a play a bunch of low stakes hands. go through his hands with him and discuss.

[UtzChips]

"first and foremost, at which limit should he start?"

If you were teaching me, I'd want to start at a limit that would keep my interest, but not concern me if I get stuck 250 big bets.
I think that if it were explained to me, that a person with a standard deviation of 15, who wins 1.5 BB/100, does not need more than a 500 BB bankroll, I would be challenged by not wanting to lose my bankroll before I catch on.
I would want to start at a bankroll, that if lost, could be easily replaced, but a high enough limit, where if I lost the whole 500 BBs, I would recognize the fact that I could have gone to Red Lobster x number of times instead.
In other words, .02/.04 wouldn't cut it.

"secondly, between full tilt and stars, what site?"

The one that has the loosest games. Those are the hardest, IMO, to maintain discipline in.

"lastly, where do i begin?....should i start with preflop play and just go from there?"

I coached my wife, and we are still married. She played a lot with play money and did well. About the only thing I ever did was give her a copy of Abdul Jalib's starting hand requirements for each seat and the rest of the text and let her go at it after explaining how the chart worked and when you would adjust and why raising preflop with 55 3 from the button is a good play while from UTG is not so great (10 player game)along with some other guidelines. I must note here that she has watched a lot of tournament poker on t.v. and has played hours and hours of play money ring games before I gave her Abdul's info.

I deposited $125.00 in a Pokerstars account for her and told her she should be able to not go broke (.25/.50 10 player game)if she is good and gave her Miller's book.
I bought her pokertracker & PAHUD and she continued to play with her play money while studying Miller's book. I reviewed the chapters with her and when she was done, she started playing with the money I gave her and I sweated hands with her, 100-150 at a time. She would tell me why she is doing what she is doing and I would note the hands in which I wanted to review with her after the session. During the session, I didn't correct her line of thinking unless she asked me what I thought and then I kept it brief.

After the session, we'd go over the hands and review the situations with what is in Miller's book and man! did I learn a lot.
Wish I could say that my wife has doubled the bankroll and paid me back, however, she is too passive, but it's getting better.
A couple weeks ago, I went thru Miller's book and underlined in blue ink (most of the book is highlighted already in yellow) everywhere the word "aggressive" is in print.
She hasn't lost but 1/4 of the bankroll and is becoming more aggressive and I only review hands with her when she wants me to. I look in her pokertracker when she's not around though and send her e-mails. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

The biggest thrill my wife gets out of playing poker, is when she pegs a player for a weak hand; calls them down (wish she would raise) and takes the pot.

She is no longer the typical passive player, however, I didn't teach her that (despite my recommendations), it was the experience.

I've ordered a copy of Ciafffone/Brier book on Middle Limit Holdem Poker and am going to highlight every single place that the word "aggressive" is in print, before giving it to her. Mine is so full of notes in the margin, highlights and underlines, that I want to give her her own copy with nothing highlighted but the word "aggressive." [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

I do believe that will do it!
Anyone who has read anything by Ciaffone, knows he is tighter than most, but pounces like a tiger when he plays a hand.

[00Snitch]

Wow Utz, thats hardcore.

To OP. Consider bonus/rb when advising your friend on the best site to start at. I built a roll from $10 playing 0.25/0.50 at crypto when you could clear their bonus at that level. Obviously I ran good starting with 20 bets (lol), but when that bonus came it, it was very rewarding and certainly buffs up a micro roll.

[milesdyson]

i'm kind of doing this with my roommate and i can't get him to stop calling raises in the small blind with J7o

[ILOVEPOKER929]

Im trying to teach my girlfriend how to play poker. Its a very difficult task. I made a spreadsheet for her outlining every single preflop scenario I can think of, and I told her to read Small stakes holdem and read three 2+2 posts per day. Right now shes playing .10-.20 on Stars. I think she'll be ready for .25-.50 in a month or two. If she would stop playing suited trash and calling the flop with no pair no draw life would be easier. Im surprised at how difficult this task has been.

[Leader]

1. I would start him at 1/2 until I judged him ready for higher games. No sense losing a ton just be he doesn't know anything. Maybe even the lowest 6m available for 5-6 sessions.

2. I have no idea how the games are either place. I'd go with stars though just because I trust them more not to f up his account.

As others have said, I'd start him reading. SSH + tutoring from you. Then 10-20K hands, and finally, WiTHG + more coaching.

Oh and post here. That's key.

[Tryptamean]

When I started playing a couple years ago, it was because my roommate was doing pretty well on party just grinding 2-4,3-6.

I started by reading the first chapter on SSHE and then kept the starting hand charts open on my desk. Then I deposited $50 and just followed pf guidelines while freeballing postflop however seemed correct. I finally worked my way through SSHE. I still sucked, but not horribly.

Anyway, I was still a marginal loser until my buddy was able to sweat a few sessions after work. Sweating sessions is the most important way to grasp the fundamentals IMO.

On a related note, watching stoxtrader videos was tremendously helpful for my 6max play.

Also, def start with full ring games