How to find a good poker coach and avoid getting scammed

Training with a coach is the fastest way to lift your game. However, finding the right coach is difficult. In your search, you need to consider the cost of lessons, the mentor’s qualifications, the training methodology, and feedback from former students. Top coaches are expensive. Budget options often do not deliver results. Let’s discuss how to find a good coach and avoid scammers. 

Key facts about poker coaches

• A poker coach finds and corrects mistakes in a student’s strategy.

• Individual coaching accelerates your move up the stakes.

• Coaches charge from $10 to $1,000 per session. The exact amount depends on the coach’s skill, popularity, and achievements.

• No one regulates the poker coaching market. Scammers and weak players often disguise themselves as experienced specialists. 

• To choose the right mentor, you need to do extensive research. Study their graph, student feedback, and training methodology.

Why you need a poker coach 

An individual approach increases the speed of learning. The principle works in any field. If parents want to prepare a child for exams, they hire a tutor. 

A coach will speed up progress, but pace costs money

Losing weight quickly and getting into shape is easier with a coach too. One-to-one sessions are also valuable for poker players. Beginners go to a coach to build a solid foundation. Professionals want to maintain their edge over opponents and reach the next level. 

One-to-one training gives the maximum effect if the player:

• has hit a ceiling and cannot move up to the next stake;

• keeps making the same mistakes;

• cannot analyse a database;

• has not developed an effective approach to studying;

• shows a high level of skill but loses money because of tilt.

A coach cannot be seen as a cure-all. Some categories of players do not need one. Among them are:

• Absolute beginners. You can learn hand rankings, betting order and the value of positions without a mentor. Just as you can gain your first experience in online poker.

• Players without discipline. To get value from lessons, a poker player must reinforce knowledge in practice. Paying a coach and automatically moving up to the next level will not happen. The “Pay-to-win” system does not work in poker. After every session, you need to do homework yourself: analyse hands in software, break down opponents, and write down and memorise your conclusions.

• Amateurs. If a player sits down for fun, they do not need a strict preflop range or balanced poker skills. Complex concepts and discipline will get in the way of enjoying the game.

The speed of progress in poker depends on different factors: a person’s ability, the amount of time available for play and study, discipline, and risk tolerance. For example, Liv devoted 30 hours a week to poker for a full year and went from freerolls to tournaments with an ABI of $50. Igor spent 10 hours a week on the game and reached an ABI of $15 in 12 months. If Igor hires a coach, his level will start to rise faster. However, he will not close the gap solely through one-to-one sessions.

Here is what the advantages of working with a coach look like:

• Fast progress. The player is taught the correct approach straight away. They do not waste time on trial and error.

• Deep study of theory. A good coach presents the material systematically. The poker player avoids chaos caused by fragmented information.

• Feedback. The mentor answers students’ questions in detail.

• Player community. Many coaches gather students in private chats where they discuss strategy and analyse hands.

Let’s also list the downsides of one-to-one training:

• High cost of lessons. A one-hour lesson costs from $10 to $1,000. The amount depends on the mentor’s qualifications, workload and credentials. 

• No guarantees. A student can complete a course with a top mentor and keep losing. Over the short run, results depend on variance, not skill.

• Risk of becoming a victim of a scammer. Poker coaches are not issued licences or certificates. Nor is the quality of their work regulated. That is why weak players and scammers go into coaching. To spot them, you need to make an effort.

No comparative studies on the speed of improvement in poker have been conducted. So it is impossible to draw a straight comparison between self-study and working with a coach. The clearest example in recent years is Maria Konnikova’s story. An author with zero poker experience decided to write a book about the card game. As part of the experiment, she trained for a year with Erik Seidel and Jared Tendler. 

Systematic training brought Maria Konnikova a WSOP bracelet and seven-figure prize money

After 10 months of training, she won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and earned $86,400. In 2024, Konnikova won a World Series of Poker bracelet online. As of 4 May 2026, Maria’s career winnings had surpassed $1,000,000. Konnikova now successfully combines professional poker with writing. 

What is the difference between an MTT coach and a cash coach

Tournaments and cash are the two main poker disciplines. Tournaments offer a competitive environment. In the final stage of an MTT, the winner takes all the chips. The title of champion sits nicely alongside a prize worth a hundred buy-ins. Cash games are about finding weak opponents, playing carefully, and making several stacks per session. The disciplines require different skills. 

An MTT poker coach teaches: adjusting strategy as the blinds rise, the ICM concept, short-stack play, and final-table strategy. For example, a qualified mentor will not only explain the basic idea behind the Independent Chip Model, but also show specific hands. Examples of bad decisions costing tens of thousands of dollars help lock the material in. On top of that, the coach will help eliminate losing tournaments and build a sensible schedule. 

In cash games, the coach teaches you how to extract maximum profit over the long run. They pay particular attention to bet frequencies, building preflop and postflop ranges, and exploiting opponents at the table. For advanced players, mentors explain balanced strategy, triple-barrel bluffs and other complex concepts. For example, a cash coach will not only give theory on automatic profit, but also provide suitable spots.

Different skills bring success in cash games and tournaments. When choosing a coach, look at their specialism

Many players consider cash to be the more difficult discipline. They push the idea that cash-game skills will also benefit an MTT player. In practice, the situation is more complicated: without understanding ICM and blind structure dynamics, a cash coach may recommend a nominally profitable call that leads to elimination. The reverse is also true: an MTT poker teacher is unlikely to help a cash player. Do not look for a universal solution — choose a coach for your discipline. 

Where to find a poker coach

Thousands of people offer to teach poker. You can find a teacher on a niche website, in a poker school, on a YouTube channel, or through personal recommendations. Let’s break down each option.

Poker website. Some sites offer full sections with mentors. Filters help you choose a poker coach. You can sort coaches by poker type, discipline, lesson price, stakes or buy-ins. Graphs showing the specialist’s results, a description of the training process and client reviews help build a full picture. Sometimes training is placed in a separate forum section. One coach — one topic. A potential client can ask questions and get detailed answers.

Schools and staking funds are a good alternative to a coach. Many of them offer free training 

Poker school. The partnership model works like this: the player is trained, provided with a bankroll and given other support in exchange for a share of future income. Large organisations create their own courses, monitor whether the materials are up to date, and systematically improve their effectiveness. Some staking funds set requirements for participants and do not accept players without experience. FunFarm does not sort people into categories and is ready to work with beginners. Fund participants receive a bankroll to play with and other privileges.

Here is how training is structured at FF. The fund has a five-step system: FF Start, Player Path, League 1, League 2, Elite. At the first level, students receive free lessons and reinforce their skills in a trainer. FF graduates are accepted into “Player Path”, where we provide staking and an advanced training programme. After 8 months, students reach a professional level and a decent income.

YouTube channels and streams. Many poker coaches publish content on YouTube and other platforms. Educational videos help assess the coach’s qualifications and how they present the material. Often, students start with free content and then hire a coach. For example, one of the best online poker players — Ben “Bencb789” Rolle — posts videos on YouTube. Live streams on streaming platforms also provide strong promotion. Clear reasoning live increases the coach’s authority. Popular mentors not only comment on the game, but also answer viewers’ questions.

Personal recommendations. A friend’s advice can also help you choose the right coach. A recommendation from a colleague will always outweigh a dry review from a stranger on a forum. In a private conversation, a former student will honestly assess the coach’s skills and answer your questions. How does the mentor structure the training system? What homework do they assign? Is there a long-term effect from the training course? Detailed information allows you to make a balanced decision.

How to check a poker coach

Before making your final choice, it is important to check the coach’s skills. Not every mentor will bring real value and take a player to a high level. Some coaches give outdated information, others organise the learning process poorly, and others ignore the student’s preferences and churn out identical players. We should not forget about ordinary scammers either. The following can help build an objective picture of a coach:

• Graphs and results from SharkScope and Hendon Mob. The first service collects information on players’ performances in online tournaments, while the second covers prize money from live series. You cannot call SharkScope’s data exhaustive — the site does not track results from some poker rooms. Not every tournament series appears in the Hendon Mob database either.

• Student reviews. Comments from former clients make it possible to assess the coach’s methodology and attitude to the job. Remember: not all reviews are written by real students. Word choice and grammar can help distinguish genuine opinion from paid content. Real people make mistakes, use simple language and provide specific facts. Fake reviews stand out for their polished language and vague wording.

• Social activity. An active blog or regular Twitch streams add credibility to a poker coach. A popular diary and streams guarantee nothing, but they reduce the chance of fraud. A coach will not risk their reputation for a student’s few hundred dollars.

• Trial lesson. Some mentors run the first session at a reduced price. A trial lesson lets you assess the coach in practice and make a balanced decision about working together.

SharkScope graphs and statistics give plenty to think about. However, sometimes even $1,000,000 in winnings does not convince people of a player’s ability

Straightforward questions can also help you check a coach. Here are a few examples:

• What stake are you currently playing. Many former stars cannot handle the level of modern poker. A WCOOP-2010 winner may be losing at mid-stakes in 2026. Some coaches have even retired, but still offer poker coaching. Give preference to active coaches.

• What does your graph look like over the past year. A SharkScope screenshot is a good way to assess a mentor’s form. If they are consistently losing over the long run and have turned to coaching out of desperation, it is better to choose another candidate. The graph will also show how many MTTs they have played. A monthly volume of 10-20 tournaments is not in the coach’s favour. Low volume leads to a loss of skill.

• What does a lesson look like. The format of the training process determines the student’s progress. The more effectively the mentor presents information, the faster the player implements it. Top coaches test different ways of teaching and choose the most suitable option for the student. Poor mentors use the same method and do not adapt it to the client.

• How many students do you have. A coach’s workload points to their popularity. However, a large number of clients is not an unqualified positive. A busy schedule leaves less time to find the best training system for each student. Preparation for the lesson also suffers. Often the coach does not have enough time to answer the client’s questions outside the session. 

If you want to do your “homework” perfectly, we recommend finding several students of the potential coach and tracking their progress. SharkScope or the player’s blog can provide useful information. Use client reviews as your starting point. Enter the nickname into the forum search or the statistics service.

Signs of a scammer or incompetent coach

Some of the coach’s answers and actions will point to low qualifications. Do not hire a coach if they:

• Guarantee wins or average income. A lot in poker depends on variance. That is why a sensible specialist will not promise a student a quick triumph at WCOOP or MILLION$. A coach can guarantee that the client will study specific topics and be able to apply the skills in play.

• Hide their current graph. SharkScope statistics are an effective way to assess a player’s skill. Most professional coaches publish their graph to confirm their high level. A qualified specialist will send a SharkScope screenshot when asked. A weak coach will talk about confidentiality or the service’s data being unfair. 

• Ask for money up front. A one-hour lesson with a not-very-popular poker coach costs $15-$20. A training course will cost several hundred dollars. Demanding full payment in advance is a reason to be cautious. Experienced mentors offer a trial lesson with a one-off payment. If the teaching style does not suit the student, they pay for one lesson and find another coach.

• Work anonymously. Avoid coaches without: threads on popular forums, a personal diary, recognition in the poker community, and student reviews. A qualified poker teacher does not hide their success — they build their brand.

• Hide the training methodology. A real coach explains the learning process in detail. The client knows in advance how the lesson will go. A scammer prefers vague wording and avoids specifics. The lesson description is often accompanied by words such as: exclusive, unique, secret.

• Play the wrong stakes. A coach with an ABI of $20 will not teach you how to win $100 tournaments. What is the point of taking a course with a mentor if they have not brought themselves to a high level? Extreme cases involving bankroll loss and a forced move down in stakes are beyond the scope here.

• Use marketing tricks. Serious specialists rarely lower lesson prices. They do not resort to manipulations such as “buy the course today because it will be more expensive tomorrow” or “there are only 2 places left”. 

Experienced coaches do not give guarantees because they cannot control variance

We should also mention the obvious signals. A large number of negative reviews or the coach’s nickname on a forum “blacklist” is a strong reason to look for an alternative.

Alternative learning methods

Lessons with a coach are the most effective, but also the most expensive, option. You can improve your game in other ways too. These include: reading books, watching videos and streams, analysing hands in software, discussing strategy with colleagues, and joining a poker school. Let’s look at them in more detail.

Books. They become outdated quickly, but they help you understand the basic principles of poker. They are great for learning the rules and maths of hold’em. Works on psychology build the right attitude to the game and teach you how to deal with tilt. We covered the topic in more depth in “Top 5 poker books…”.

Videos. Specialist courses make it possible to study complex poker concepts. Authors create content on: the red line, GTO, beating the micro stakes, and hand planning. A huge amount of video content can be found on YouTube and other platforms. The FunFarm channel also offers educational materials. 

Streams. Live broadcasts on Twitch let you follow the action and hear the thoughts of top poker players. The best streamers do not just sit there clicking buttons — they also answer viewers’ questions. 

Software. Modern players have hundreds of poker programmes at their disposal. Trackers save hand histories and display the HUD during play, trainers sharpen push-fold, calculators help find and correct mistakes in hands, and solvers teach balanced poker. We covered poker software in more detail in the guide. 

You can improve in poker on your own too, but the path takes longer

Discussion. Before finding a poker coach, break down hands with other players. Many poker players create chats in Discord and Telegram. An outside opinion makes it easier to find mistakes and lets you look at the hand from another angle. Some poker websites offer hand review sections. Use them to get an alternative opinion.

Poker school. Poker training with coaches is also provided by staking funds. They teach players in exchange for a share of future income. To become a member, you need to pass a selection process. Beginners are not accepted into schools. For example, entry to Player Path is granted by successfully passing the exam at the end of the FF Start course. Students in the fund receive not only free training, but also a range of benefits: free software, a bankroll to play higher stakes, consultations with a psychologist, and the opportunity to join a salar