Poker Teaching Sites

What separates a fish from a regular? What separates a regular from a shark? And what separates a shark from Phil Ivey?

This is a discussion on good learning sites for poker within the online poker forums, in the Learning Poker section; Hello guys and grills can some one help me whit some good sites to learn about. Everyone wants to be the best poker player they can be, but not everyone knows how to actually work on their game. Sometimes, it's not always fun to put in t.

Okay, in the case of the latter, it’s probably something genetic, but the other two questions have a much simpler answer: Hard work.

Poker, like any other complex game of strategy, involves making the maximum number of “correct” decisions based on the information you have available.

Unlike most other complex games of strategy, however, poker challenges its players by hiding the majority of the data that they’d ordinarily base their decisions on. Add variance into the equation and you’re sitting with a game that’s almost impossible to predict.

That’s why decisions in poker are rarely described as either “right” or “wrong”, but rather whether they have positive or negative expected value (also referred to as +EV and -EV)

There are so many factors that determine whether a play is +EV and it often comes down to a subjective interpretation of the hand. There isn’t one definitive resource that will tell you with exact authority whether you made the right decision or not.

That’s why constantly studying and training is the most important aspect of becoming a winning player. Fortunately for us, we live in the age of information and the internet has made finding excellent resources for getting better at poker extremely easy.

So, with that in mind, we’ve put together a list of eight resources that we feel are the ideal places for online poker players to learn how to constantly improve their skill levels.

Deuces Cracked

With more than 3,500 videos presented by a friendly and extremely helpful community of professionals, Deuces Cracked is one of the most popular training sites available for online players.

While the site covers a wide range of game types and stakes, the majority of videos are focused on catering for the micro-stakes No Limit Hold’em market.

In addition to the many one-off videos added by community members on a regular basis, the site also features a number of video “series” which consist of many installments that tackle larger topics.

The most popular of these series is an eight-part epic titled “Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment” presented by Tommy Angelo and Wayne Lively. This particular series has received widespread acclaim and is regarded as a landmark in online poker training.

Access to Deuces Cracked is currently priced at $29 per month.

PokerStrategy.com

7.9 million poker enthusiasts can’t be wrong, right? Boasting one of the largest memberships of all the poker sites we reviewed, PokerStrategy.com is easily one of the most popular online training resources.

Unlike the majority of its competitors, PokerStrategy.com is a free resource, offering users not only unrestricted access its entire knowledge base, but also a $50 instant bankroll that you can deposit at several of the major poker rooms.

This risk-free introduction to the world of online poker has resulted in Pokerstrategy.com attracting a less experienced audience, meaning that much of their material focuses on turning new players into winning players.

PokerStrategy.com’s video catalogue may not be as comprehensive as Deuces Cracked, but these have more of a “classroom” feel to better cater to their target market’s needs.

The site also offers a vast collection of strategy articles and tutorials, all aimed at helping the new player succeed. In addition, it also boasts one of the most vibrant and helpful communities all too keen to get involved in discussing hands, sessions and other aspects related to becoming a better player.

Advanced Poker Training

This unique site features an array of sophisticated tools that emulates a poker setting, provides context-sensitive guidance, and analyzes your play to point out strengths and weaknesses.

The foundation of their product is simulation software that allows the player to play up to 500 hands per hour against highly-sophisticated bots programmed to test every aspect of your game.

Their trademarked rating programs perform a real-time evaluation of your play and provides an astonishingly deep set of data that helps you identify where you need improvement.

The site’s reliance on artificial intelligence may be a concern for some, but the immersive, gamified approach to coaching may well be a big draw for others who prefer to learn while playing.

Advanced poker training will set you back $29.90 per month

Bluefire Poker

If you’re looking for a training site that has more of a quality-over-quantity approach, Bluefire Poker is the one for you – especially if you’re a high-stakes 6-max No Limit Hold’em player.

The video content at Bluefire Poker is of an exceptionally high standard. With its relatively small roster of producers – lead by site founder and online poker legend Phil Gaflond – the site is able to better curate its output and ensure that members don’t have to sift through hours of content before finding something of real value to them.

Another reason why Bluefire Poker may the best training option for you is if you’re already an experienced player looking to learn more advanced strategy and techniques.

Bluefire Poker prizes content above all, meaning that they have spent little time cultivating a community. Consider signing up if you’re mainly looking to get advanced insight from the best roster of online video producers available.

Membership costs $29.99 per month and a $99 initiation fee.

Two Plus Two Forums

Two Plus Two is one of the originals – a genuine authority in the world of poker training – and has been around since the heydey of online poker.

One of the first online communities to embrace peer-driven hand analysis, Two Plus Two thrives on discussion. The site boasts more than 400,000 members, a large portion of whom actively participate in the seemingly endless number of hand analyses posted on an hourly basis.

More than any of the other sites mentioned here, the value a member will derive from Two Plus Two is proportionate to becoming involved. Sure, you can lurk on the edges and read what other members have to say about each others’ play, but the real magic happens when you get involved.

The Two Plus Two forums are free to join.

Tournament Poker Edge

Not many training sites have as narrow a focus as Tournament Poker Edge, with the site eschewing conventions of covering a large range of game types and focusing solely on multi-table tournaments.

Aside from the typical training material you’d find at a training site, Tournament Poker Edge also offers a structured training curriculum that takes members on an a well planned educational journey.

This product, named TPE University, allows you to consume training content applicable to your level of skill and experience and helps you assess whether you are ready to progress to a new level of training.

As can be expected of a training site with a narrower focus, the quality of content at Tournament Poker Edge is of a very high caliber, with the likes of Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek, Charles “Hagbard Celine” Sizemore, and Ryan “HITTHEPANDA” Franklin among their regular contributors.

Tournament Poker Edge will set you back $23.95 per month.

Jonathan Little’s Weekly Poker Hand Podcast

Jonathan Little’s website offers several training resources in the form of educational videos, blog posts, and book reviews, but few of these are as insightful as the terrific weekly hand analysis he does in the form of a podcast and video.

All online poker players know that the majority of the time that you spend “studying” should involve your analyzing big hands and getting other players’ input on your choices.

Well, few people are as gifted at diving deep into his own thought process as Jonathan Little.

In this weekly series, you can expect to hear insightful and candid commentary on his and his opponents’ play, with his discussions on one hand sometimes exceeding the 12-minute mark. So don’t expect your standard, superficial analysis here.

Best of all, this resource is entirely free to everyone.

Cardrunners

Cardrunners is without a doubt one of the most respected platforms for teaching players the techniques needed to move on from the from the traps of playing standard, tight aggressive, ABC poker.

The site’s approach to teaching – and the quality of its content – has also seen it gain favour amongst some of the world’s top professional players as a resource for constant improvement.

Their enormous roster of contributors reads like a “who’s who” of the online poker world, with the likes of Brian Townsend, Taylor Caby, Brian Hastings, and Andrew Wiggins frequently adding to the already-sizeable knowledge base.

An aspect that sets Cardrunners apart from its competition is the quality of their No Limit Hold’em Heads Up training content. This game format has become increasingly popular, especially at the higher stake levels, and no training site covers it as well as they do.

Cardrunners’ Gold membership comes in at a cost of $27.99 per month and there is also a one-off fee of $99.00.

SitnGoGrinders

Another training site that caters for a niche audience – albeit a very large one – SitnGoGrinders aims to help players interested in dominating this popular game format.

The site has a broad focus within the scope of Sit and Go’s (SNGs), offering a medium-sized pool of videos that cover all the most popular types of tournaments.

To reflect it’s more precise, narrow scope, SitnGoGrinders has adopted an innovative pricing model, opting not to bill members on a monthly basis, but rather offer collections of themed videos (called “packs”) at set prices coming in at around $40 – $60 per pack.

Grinding SNGs is one of the most popular ways for poker players to grow their bankroll and few other sites offer the wealth of specialist information than these guys do. This site is an absolute must if SNGs are your game.

Bonus: Poker Copilot

Reviewing, analyzing, and discussing an isolated hand that included many interesting decision points is certainly one of the most effective ways to learn.

Doing so also has the most obvious impact on your bankroll since winning more and losing fewer big hands is one of the main goals of improving your game.

It’s easy to overlook the importance of analyzing your play in hands that didn’t have a memorable pot, you are playing hundreds of them in a session, after all.

To best assess these types of hands, Poker Copilot offers a feature called Leak Detection. This sophisticated functionality analyzes all of the hands that you have played in a session and points out small, typically invisible flaws that will cost you money in the long run.

Poker Copilot will analyze your gameplay and help you answer the following questions:

• Are you showing enough pre-flop aggression from each position?
• Do you attempt to steal the blinds regularly enough and how successful are you at it?
• Do you loosen up your game as you move closer to the dealer position?
• Are you profitable enough with pocket pairs?
• Are you showing adequate profitability with suited connectors?

Conclusion

Many of these resources may come at quite a high price, but don’t let this put you off! We’ve found that paying for your education can often be a very helpful motivator for taking the process a little more seriously.

As with most things in life, the reward you get out of learning is proportionate to the investment you make in it.

Whether it be financial, time, or effort, you get what you put in and this applies doubly when it comes to improving your poker game.

If you genuinely commit to making the most of these resources, respect the material, and trust the educational process, you are guaranteed to become a better player and show profit in the long run.

So choose which one of the above options work best for you and pour yourself into the experience of getting better.

See you at the tables!

Poker training sites were once the gold standard for learning poker strategy. They played a huge role in revolutionizing the average player’s skill level.

Sites like CardRunners and Deuces Cracked once boomed with beginners who were eager to learn new strategy concepts. But lately, training sites seem to have lost their luster.

Deuces Cracked no longer receives quite the same traffic that it once did. CardRunners, which once led the training world, closed in 2017.

What exactly happened to cause such a drastic shift? I’m going to answer this by covering 9 reasons why poker training sites are fading away.

1 – Poker Training Got a Huge Boost from the Poker Boom

Up until the mid-2000s, poker players only had access to books, articles, forums, and each other when improving their games. But training sites came along in the mid-2000s and offered one of the most-effective means for becoming a better player.

As you may know, training videos feature instructors schooling viewers on certain strategy concepts. Many players have found this format to be a great method for bettering their skills.

The poker training industry was also helped greatly by the fact that it spawned during the poker boom. While players were busy watching Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold take down WSOP Main Event titles, they were also picking up tips from Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins on the side.

Unfortunately, poker’s glory days took a downturn in 2006, when the US approved the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The UIGEA forced some of the biggest poker sites out of America.

Nevertheless, online poker continued thriving thanks to its popularity boost during the boom years. But the industry would be hit hard yet again when Black Friday happened in 2011.

The rise and decline of training sites essentially follows the same trajectory as the boom years. They experienced lots of success when players were jumping into the game right and left.

But like everything else with poker, training hubs took a hit due to legal events that happened in America. Internet poker has slowly continued declining due to regulation and split player pools in other countries.

Given that we’ll probably never see a boom like what was experienced from 2003-2006 again, training sites won’t ever have the same prominence.

2 – Training Sites Cannibalized Each Other

Everybody and every company wanted to jump into online poker during the boom. They all wanted a piece of this newly formed, multibillion-dollar pie.

Such was the case with training sites, which grew in frequency along with the rest of the industry. CardRunners and Deuces Cracked were eventually joined by other popular companies like Drag The Bar, Run It Up, and PokerStrategy.com.

The market was big enough for everybody when the game was flourishing. Anybody who watched their favorite pros on High Stakes Poker or the WSOP eventually became curious about improving their own skills.

Again, training sites are/were one of the most-effective methods of becoming a better player. Of course, the amount of people willing to pay subscription fees to join these sites is limited.

Once the golden years ended after Black Friday, there were suddenly too many training sites. They started cannibalizing each other while fighting for limited subscribers.

These sites eventually had to stop putting out so much content or close for good. CardRunners shutting down in 2017 was symbolic of how far this industry has fallen.

3 – Fewer Quality Instructors

The key idea behind poker training is that you get to learn from the pros. This concept works great when a high-stakes stud like Phil Galfond or Doug Polk is teaching you the perfect times to four-bet.

But it becomes much less desirable when Break-even Brad is explaining his thoughts check-raising the river. The poker industry’s previous growth demanded more instructors, but it didn’t necessarily demand the best of the best.

Many players have become disenchanted with how training videos aren’t always produced by quality pros. In fact, some of those watching the videos have better win rates than the people producing them.

I’m not saying that there aren’t still plenty of good poker training instructors. But the quality went downhill when sites needed more and more instructors to help fill the growing demand for videos.

4 – Twitch Is the Standard for Video-Based Poker Strategy

Perhaps training videos would still be riding high if they didn’t have competition in the space. However, Twitch has become the new gold standard for video-based poker strategy.

Training videos and Twitch aren’t exactly the same things. The former sees players isolate and discuss a specific concept, while the latter involves grinders streaming their entire online sessions.

But Twitch is close enough to the training concept that it resonates with anybody who likes learning through videos or streaming. Many players like that they can watch professionals for free.

Pros don’t charge viewing fees for most of their sessions. When they do charge, one usually only has to pay around $5 or so to watch specific content.

Another great thing about live streaming is that it’s fun. Elite grinders like Daniel Negreanu, Jason Somerville, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier can chat with viewers while they’re playing.

Poker Teaching Sites Near Me

Training sites introduced the ability to look over a pro’s shoulder while they engage in online sessions. But Twitch brought about the conversational aspect.

Yet one more great thing about live streaming is that it can be done from really cool places. Bill Perkins live streams his “Thirst Lounge” videos from a yacht in the Caribbean.

Sure, Bill Perkins isn’t a highly successful poker pro. But many players appreciate watching the multi-millionaire play poker with tropical ocean waters in the background.

Other pros also have the option of streaming outside of their living room. Contrast this to training sites, which only offer a view of the instructor’s online screen.

Poker Teaching Sites Online

5 – Too Many Free Options Are Available

Training sites have never been overly expensive. You get access to a vault of helpful strategy videos at the cost of a $30 monthly subscription fee.

Many players have jumped at the opportunity to learn such strategy for a dollar per day. The winnings (or reduced losses) that some subscribers experience as a result more than pay for the fees.

But why pay for poker strategy when you can get much of the same content for free? Twitch and YouTube videos have provided serious competition to the training world — and without charge in many cases.

You’ll never be forced to watch a strategy video on YouTube. Assuming you’re still getting quality content, then it makes little sense to subscribe to a site when there are so many good YouTube strategy videos available.

The training industry still has a place in the poker world. Joining these sites allows you to get advice on specific situations, like thin value or range balancing. But many casual and even experienced players are more than happy with simply watching Twitch or YouTube.

6 – New Players Just Gravitate Towards Free Content

Any type of new business needs fresh customers in order to succeed. Training sites are no different, because they can only hold onto current subscribers for so long.

Eventually, current customers decide not to renew their subscriptions, either because they’ve learned enough or have moved on from poker. These customers must be replaced by new ones who are interested in bettering their games.

But if you’re a new player, what are you going to do: pay a $30 monthly subscription fee or jump on YouTube or Twitch for free?

Many players today choose the latter option, because there’s no barrier to entry. They simply visit the designated video or streaming site and begin watching right away. Players don’t have to enter their credit card details and pay a new bill every month to learn tips.

Granted, one doesn’t have to spend hours signing up and paying for a training subscription. But this process still takes time, which makes it less desirable.

7 – Experienced Players Have Outgrown Training Videos

Poker training was at its most useful stage when there was a wider gap between experienced grinders and beginners. At no time was this gap bigger than in the mid-2000s, when new players were rushing to the game.

Most of these players were dominated by more-experienced competition. Some quickly gave up upon realizing that they weren’t going to become the next Phil Ivey or Gus Hansen overnight. Others wanted to better their games and continue trying to win.

Training videos offered a quick solution for gaining the knowledge of the pros. One could/can join one of these sites and access what can only be learned with years of experience.

Of course, the widespread availability of poker strategy has greatly improved the average player’s skills. It was only a matter of time until amateurs caught up to those releasing the videos.

These days, the typical amateur today is better than a professional player from the mid-2000s and before. Sure, few have become as good as Galfond or Polk from watching videos. But some players feel like they’re merely rehashing old concepts with training.

The closer skill gap between pros and amateurs has put a damper on these videos. And while training can still help some players greatly, it doesn’t offer the same edge as in previous years.

8 – Fewer Updates

The poker training industry’s stagnation has resulted in fewer updates from the sites. These are businesses just like anything else, which means they can’t afford to pour out new content when they don’t have enough subscribers to justify it.

Of course, training sites still get a fair number of customers across the board. This type of strategy offers certain advantages, including the ability to learn isolated concepts, as opposed to watching somebody’s entire stream.

But by and large, fewer people are subscribing to these sites. Less revenue for the training industry also means fewer video updates.

Another point worth making is that there are only so many concepts that can be rehashed. Once you see 3-4 videos on range merging, you’ve basically seen them all.

You might still pick up a few finer points by watching numerous videos on each concept. However, the average player will be better served by learning a broader range of strategy.

Poker sites are worth joining initially so that you can see what angle they take when explaining various tips. But you’re highly unlikely to remain a customer year in and year out when there are few updates and mostly older content available.

9 – Too Much Strategy Available All over the Internet

Up until the early 2000s, poker strategy was limited to books, magazine articles, and some rudimentary forums. Many players even had to befriend a pro and learn the ropes to become successful themselves.

The availability of poker strategy has changed tremendously today. You have access to thousands of articles and videos. You can also watch Twitch streams from numerous pros.

Want to learn everything that a specific pro knows from a book? You don’t even have to pay for poker strategy books in some cases, because they can be downloaded online or bought as a cheap ebook.

Simply put, strategy is everywhere these days. You can find everything you need to get started with a simple Google search and less than five minutes of research.

Poker Teaching Sites

Again, poker training has its place when it comes to bettering your skills. But you also have to consider if you really want to spend $30 every month for access to concepts that are often explained through free channels.

Conclusion

Poker training experienced a long period of bliss during the boom years and beyond. The idea of being able to watch how an experienced player deals with certain situations has helped many players improve their skills.

Training sites are still useful for anybody who’s looking to expand their knowledge. This is especially true with newer sites like Upswing Poker (launched 2015), which brings fresh videos to a stagnant industry.

Poker Teaching Sites Games

But training is a dying industry when looking across the board. The poker boom is long gone, and subscribers aren’t lining up for these sites. This niche as a whole also suffers from a lack of great instructors and new content.

Poker Teaching Sites Without

Competition has caused the space to take a nosedive too. Both Twitch and free YouTube videos have become more attractive to many players. They’d rather view these free options, rather than pay a subscription fee.

Poker Teaching Sites For Beginners

This leads to another problem for training sites in that strategy is available across the internet. Players have access to so many resources that training becomes just one of the options.

Poker Teaching Sites

Finally, the skill gap between instructors and subscribers has closed considerably. Today’s amateur is much better than the one 5-12 years ago. Training doesn’t have as big of an impact for the average subscriber today.

In summary, poker training is still a viable way to improve as a poker player. Many beginners and intermediate players can learn a lot from watching these videos. But the industry as a whole is nowhere near as prominent as it was years ago.