More coaching

Thanks for the responses to my prior post...some nice additions there. I definitely have a great group of guys to chat about poker with, and I know most of you would be willing to rail/review, etc. I truly appreciate that! I still think that I would like to get a coach. In part, it's because I don't think I would be able to give back as much as I get...one of the reasons I don't ask you guys to sweat me is that I am really unpredictable and bad about being able to return the favor. My poker time during the day comes in chunks here and there between work commitments. At night, if I play, it's usually for pretty short sessions, and is also subject to what the rest of the family wants to do.

In other words, I'm not really in control of my poker schedule. That's a conscious choice and while it sucks from a poker development standpoint, it works for me overall. Even if that were not the case, I'd probably seek out a coach. I'm really looking for someone to form a longish-term arrangement who can work with me to figure out the gaps (and strengths) in my game. Being able to help someone with that is a skill in and of itself, and not all good poker players can do it...probably only a minority.

It's not enough to know what the right plays are...you have to be able to explain to someone...in a way they can understand...why the play is right, and where they are not thinking correctly. And style is important, too. Some guys will want their coach to cram in as much advice, new plays, theory, etc., as possible. That makes some sense, as you should be paying a fair amount for a decent coach. Other guys, like me, would prefer more of a two-way dialog. And in fact, for me, I like to throw out my thoughts on a situation and then have a coach give his thoughts on my thoughts. But also, they may need to take the initiative for certain topics, because I'm not even aware that they should be topics up for discussion. I think it's a pretty rare person who can balance all that.

So, I think that there is certainly merit to working with a coach in addition to having a network of guys, no matter how good. The trick will be to find one who believes the same things, is good at them, and can work with me, where my coaching window is typically pretty limited.

I've been and am on the other end of the coaching relationship in sports and business, where I'm the one doing the coaching. They're different, of course, but there are a lot of parallels. It reinforces how hard it is to be a good coach, and also how already-good coaches can always get better. And while some people are blessed with natural ability, there is no corresponding shortcut for commitment to the people you're coaching.

With that knowledge, I'm probably a great student for someone I would consider a great coach. I will work my ass off away from the coaching sessions to improve. And one thing that I think is common to all great coaches is that a lot of their reward comes from their students getting better...that's part of their commitment, and at least projecting my own coaching, the more someone is willing to really work at what I'm coaching them on, the more I want to help them. The other big thing is that even when I'm playing well and my confidence is high, I know I've got tons and tons left to learn, and once I've committed myself to a coach, while I might question something, I'm pretty trusting to try whatever they recommend. Again projecting, it's more enjoyable to coach someone who will follow your advice...you (correctly) feel like you have directly contributed to their success.

That said, I'm probably a shitty student for a not-so-great coach. My expectations of a coach are pretty high. I mean, I think they're realistic, but they're high nonetheless. The nice thing about poker coaching is that if either side doesn't like what they're getting out of the other side, they can end the relationship. Most coaching is not like that. If one of my employees doesn't like the coaching they get from me, it's pretty hard (and drastic) to stop that relationship. If I don't like one of the kids on my team, I can't really kick them off (and believe me, I wish that I could...at least one every season).

In a short sample size, I've had what I consider to be pretty bad luck with poker coaching so far. The first guy I selected as a long-term coach should have been perfect. Sick player, some solid coaching experience and references, well known and respected on Cardrunners, has even produced some videos. Plus he's a nice guy. But I think he got overextended (or who knows, maybe I pissed him off at some point...wouldn't be the first time). He asked his students to keep blogs -- not a problem for me as I already had one going -- but he didn't make a single comment on mine or some of his other students I got to know. He was never available on AIM, and he was pretty unpredictable responding to email. I gave him feedback about what was working for me and what wasn't, but nothing really changed. All that said, I was learning, and was getting value, and would probably have continued. But, after a series of emails went unresponded...a mixture of hand histories, requests for other study ideas, and trying to schedule our next lesson...I just gave up...reluctantly. Maybe I should have kept on trying to make it work, but I felt bummed that I had to work so hard for a response.

Undeterred, I started researching again, and tried some lessons with a few guys, and after a bit got going with Messiah from Deuces Cracked. He is great, but I'm a victim of his success; things are going too well for him "in the real world." So, he is stepping away from coaching for a bit because he can't commit 100% to his students. Which while it sucks for me, also shows partly why he's a good coach.

So, I've got a couple recommendations I'm following up with, as well as waiting to hear some thoughts from Messiah...and hopefully I'll be making a post similar to Barry before too long talking about working with a new coach.