Coaching Poker Forums

Hey all,

We're about 6 months into DC coaching and have learned a lot about our students and the work it takes to make our coaching system as fluid as possible.

Here's a thread for all y'all who have used us for coaching to give us feedback about anything and everything related to coaching and coaching support - what you like, what you don't like, what you think can be improved upon, and how you think it can be improved upon, and so on.

DeucesCracked is all about you guys, so whatever we can do to make your experience better... we will do.

Well, I know that Entity has said that there's new "changes" going on and people have been moving around and what not, but there are some things I'd like to address myself.

1) The Value of Time and Money. Many people have complained about delays (and this isn't only recently) and while some of those could be due to spam filters, most are not. I've encountered this problem myself a couple times in the past, maybe a coach is unavailable or no one can get a hold of them. Some sort of courtesy, "We've got your e-mail, we're working on it, we just need some time" would be of great benefit. I, not even being a baller/huge winner at poker, have become a bit desensitized to money, and I think that is something that many poker players in general have encountered.

But the simple fact of the matter is that some people are wanting to pay $50/hr, $200/hr, $300+/hr, or if you want the Mythical Beast, $1600hr. Even at the low end, though, of $50/hr, that is more money than most well educated people are making per hour, and when someone is coming to you looking for a service that is, in fact, dealing with a large sum of money hourly, to watch you play cards, these people should be treated closer to VIP's than "when we get to it." I know the large part of the actual money goes to the coaches, but DC is facilitating the cash flow.

2) The Application. I've read post from other members discussing how they put a lot of time and effort into an application, only to receive a message back saying, "Good news! xxxxx is available for coaching! Their hourly rate is..." with virtually no rhyme or reason why this coach may have been chosen. Most students have their coaches picked out, and that's fine, and this could be considered largely a non-issue, but I think the students should speak with their respective coaches or coaches that have been chosen for them before they ever send a penny in for coaching.

That being said, once you get past the early phases, it all seems to work out pretty well. The staff is friendly and the coaches are great. I hope this post doesn't seem too abusive, as I've used coaching and will continue to do so!

Hey William,

Thanks for the feedback. With regards to response time we are now equipped to reply to coaching emails at least once a day (Saturday and Sunday employees). A lot of the BS/Busy work is going to be automated so there will be a lot less waiting and a lot more replying. We've got our ninjas on this and they are super ninjas. So things will be changing for the better with regards to this.

With regards to the app - yeah. It feels weird sometimes when someone sends me a 6 paragraph application for Entity, sounds like they're a perfect fit, and all I have for them is a form-response. But basically, the way we see it, you're a great fit so let's cut the fat and give you a reply.

Sometimes we get the opposite, we get a 12 paragraph application for a NLHE coach, and it's up to us who to pick.

While it may not come across in our response, a lot of thought goes into the applications. We know all the coaches very well, who is best for what type of applicant. We take that into consideration when processing the application. I have probably processed close to 1000 application myself (who knows how many including the 3-bet days) and have a pretty good batting average imo.

We do try and put a little bit of love in the emails, but some days, it's get them out (because there are a ton) asap.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. Hardly comes across as abusive - we appreciate it.

Chuck

yeah i'd pretty much agree with William. when i first submitted the form for coaching i figured it'd be a smooth process but it was rather drawn out and frustrating. after that it's been great though.

if you work on the application process i think it'll be a great asset to the site.

tg

Hey Krantz, this is a great thread idea. I'd like to provide some feedback as I'm all for DC continuing to improve and am happy to help if I can be a part of that process.

If I could tell all coaches a few things, they would be (in no particular order):

1) Realize that being a good poker player does not automatically make you a good poker coach. The ability to understand poker concepts on a high level does not grant you the ability to effectively communicate these concepts in a way that will make sense to your students.

To become a great coach you will need to work hard (I wish I could elaborate but I can't since I'm not a coach - I don't know what you need to do, but it should be obvious that you need to do something). If you're not willing to do the work - no big deal - just don't coach.

2) As a corollary to number one, avoid falling victim to the egoistic fallacy. There's a reason you're the coach and they're the student - you know things they don't.

3) Recognize that different people will have different learning styles. This should inform how you present concepts and materials to them. What has worked with past students may not be a good approach for your next student.

Try to figure out what a student's learning style is the same way you would get a read on a player as a TAG or LAG or whatever. Actually, it may behoove you to do some research about what different learning styles exist, how to recognize them, and how to best benefit a person with a specific one.

4) Be generous with your time. I'm pretty sure most people who read this will know who my coach is anyway, and there's no reason for me to hide it since I have nothing but positive things to say, but here are a few examples from my sessions with Rob.

Before we even had our first formal session Rob and I spent probably 2+ hours getting acquainted, discussing our goals and plans for working together, etc.

When we tried to do a live sweat session my computer's resources were insufficient for running all the software we needed (especially Camtasia). Rob was determined to make it work and devoted maybe a half hour to coming up with a work around.

Because we needed a more long term solution to my computer, Rob took another chunk of time a few weeks later to help me spec out a new computer. This was especially helpful since Rob's tech knowledge vastly exceeds mine.

More generally, try to respond when your student posts HH's, make yourself available on AIM for quick questions, etc.


To the students:

1) Do research before you pick out a coach. Watch a prospective coach's videos, read their post, talk to people who they've coached in the past, etc. Try to get a feel for whether or not they are a good coach for you.

2) Work as hard as you can. This isn't really about fulfilling an obligation to your coach, but more because you should maximize the benefit of your coaching opportunities and time. Really you're only hurting yourself if you don't.

This means coming to each session prepared and studying in between sessions. Make sure you're well rested and ready to play your A game when you have a coaching session (even moreso than you would for a normal session sans a coach).

3) Realize how lucky you are to have a coach working with you. Appreciate them.

great post pygmy!!

great post pygmy!!

oh yes, very good, i really appreciate it pygmy

nice post pygmy WP

SO my history start around Nov 07.

I made my non-1st deposit on AP of 50$(without knowing about the cheating thing) and I played NL 10 (Since I read some stuff all around and realised that I wasnt well BR for this limit)

On the run, I moved up to 400$ and was really happy about it while I was listening to DC's video and then I hired a coach, Messiah.

I only had 2 sessions, Mess was very bussed at his work while grided it up nead 1000$ and changed site..

And then I switched coach to tubasteeve who took me as his student and now I have made 10 session with him.

What I can affirm without any doubt, its these coach are really professional. My firsts session I had the feeling it would worth it, the coaches was well prepared and they know how to teach , they really look like experimenced coach.

I dont know how you call it, but they dont count the time they pass with you, I hade some talk on AIM, some little extras minutes here and there so these persons arent there just for the money and business thing, they want us to improve.

I didnt expect what Ive got, I didnt had any real idea of what was coaching and of course, I overpassed was I wanted from it.

Today is the last day of June month and since I got lucky and was like a breakeven player including bonuses and rakeback, June is offically the first month I finish with a positive expectation... not just my BR but also the way I play poker.

Yesterday was my last session and tubasteeve told be : If you want to buy some more sessions, feel free to... Well I didnt had to think about it, I took 10 more sessions.

Personnaly, I found my coach really fit the way I want to be coached , I have no regrets at all.

Here my special thanks to tubasteeve and DC Team : (Note my BR is now around 3300-3500$)

[IMG]http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/6673/junecm8.th.jpg[/IMG]

thanks for the kind words squishee

Hi guys, I am new at DC, and I applied for a coach and as advised on the form, I´ve recieved an answer within 2 days. I made some questions and the coach himself answered it at the same day..Congratulations for the service.

I like the concept of the application process, however the email I got back from deucescracked seemed like not much effort was put in to selecting to coach. After reading danzasmack's post, it sounds like a lot of thought DOES go into the selection process...so why not have a more personalized generic (an oxymoron, I know) message? Even something like "We reviewed your application and looked at all the coaches available, and given your requirements we have determined that _______ would be best for you! He has acknowledged this request and is available for $__ an hour." instead of just "______ is available for coaching! His rate is $__ an hour". There's a big difference between the two and even if a lot of time was put into the decision process, it doesn't really show to the customers given the vague response.

That being said, I am very happy with my coach so far, HaiaN. He isn't a clock watcher at all and is pretty tech savvy so he is able to help in case any software/program errors occur. I feel comfortable that if an interesting topic or discussion comes up he won't be like "Ok times up! See ya". Like last time when he was giving me a detailed analysis of tilt and how to stay off it, it went past the scheduled time but he had no problem at all...even saying it was his fault since he went past the hour, lol He is very friendly and conveys his knowledge in a way so you don't feel like a total newb, but at the same time you realize your error and improve on your mistakes.

Awesome to hear, I'm thinkin of kidnapping AMT and forcing SNG info out of him. Well, maybe Ill just go thru the normal application process...hmm...DECISIONS DECISIONS!

Shout out to terp. Deep thinking player and seems to be a very nice guy.

Feel like I should add two cents here. Many of you know me already, I'm the one that generates the kind of form emails you receive already through the coaching department. I like to tailor each email to the applicant, but I realize that I am in a service industry and some people just want the meat of the discussion. When it comes to those of you who don't know what coach you want, and you tell me in your application then I like to open a dialog up and discuss but honestly the majority of emails that come through the department are just people who know what coach (product) they want and want to get going as fast as possible so we try and streamline it.

-Rusty
TazUltimate