10 PokerCoaching.com Coaches & the Skills They’ll Help You Master

Jonathan Little has been at the forefront of No Limit Hold ‘Em coaching for years now, from his many books, to a multitude of online resources. His online coaching website, PokerCoaching.com, has seen incredible growth since it was borne out of his former site, FloattheTurn.com.

As PokerCoaching.com’s impressive roster of coaches has now grown to a team of 10 incredibly talented and diverse poker players, we celebrate this milestone with a deep dive into the impressive roster, and take a closer look at what each poker coach brings to the table.

The three main elements of PokerCoaching.com training are Courses (series of multiple videos covering a topic), Classes (standalone videos or webinars covering a topic), and Quizzes (hand breakdown videos with multiple-choice questions attached to key elements of the hand, with answers broken down by coaches). There are also monthly Homework Challenges and other webinars done exclusively by Little, but we’ll discuss those specifically in his section.

Cue Sirius / Eye in the Sky by The Alan Parsons Project… and in my best Ray Clay voice…. AAAAAAAAAAND NOW! THE STARTING LINEUP FOR YOUR MULTI-TIME CHAMPION…. POKERCOACHING.COM COACHES!!!!

Jonathan Little

• Courses: The vast majority of the multi-video series are taught by Little. The library of courses he’s built over the years is truly impressive. There really is something for everyone (both tournament and cash games), from his outstanding Cash Game MasterClass (see my review here), to beating wild games, combating limpers, beating online 6-max, WSOP prep, WSOP Final table reviews, High Roller Final tables, and MANY more!
• Classes: The bulk of PokerCoaching.com Classes are taught by Little as well, with over 90 individual videos available on every conceivable topic in areas of No Limit Hold ‘Em, both on and off the felt.
• Quizzes: of the near 900 available quizzes, over half are guided by Little, with hands coming from every stake (live and online), both cash and tournament, from $1/2 cash to $25k tournaments, and everything in between.

Since PokerCoaching.com was founded by Little, it’s no surprise that so much of the content comes from him.

The huge amount of coaching he alone provides would be worth the subscription price, and that’s without even mentioning the monthly Homework Challenge webinars and the multitude of situational charts on the site.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention the regular content he provides for free via YouTube and his social media channels (shout out to Mr. James and Mr. Thomas!).

Little’s contribution to teaching poker to the world is undeniable. But his ability to grow his roster of coaches to expand on his teachings and provide their own unique perspectives is a key reason why PokerCoaching.com has become such an outstanding resource for those looking to expand their knowledge of No Limit Hold ‘Em.

So let’s look at the rest of that roster…

Matt Affleck

• Courses: Advanced Deep Stacked strategies, Deep Stacked Tournament Strategies
• Classes: 40+ (2nd only to Little). Affleck’s classes also cover a wide range of topics, including hand history reviews for tournament and cash games both live and online, situational play, range composition, WSOP preparation and review, and several videos utilising tools such as Equilab, PioSolver, and Hold’Em Resource Calculator.
• Quizzes: 150+ ranging from low-/mid-stakes cash, and low to high buy-in tourneys up to $10k (both live and online).

As Lead Coach at PokerCoaching.com, Affleck’s volume of content is second only to Little’s, and he can be counted on to provide at least one class or quiz per week, sometimes more. Like Little, the amount and variety of coaching he provides is really appealing, especially if you’re an online player. Recently, Affleck even did a near 90-minute hand review webinar of a member’s $5 online tourney! Hand reviews from a wide range of buy-ins form most of Affleck’s classes, but there are plenty of other classes on good decision making, situational strategies, and technical play as well.

Alex Fitzgerald

• Courses: Blind Defense, Neutralize Their Position
• Classes: 5 – Cutoff Play, 5 Post-flop Tricks, Barrelling Theory, Exploitative C-bet Sizing, 3-betting Out of Position
• Quizzes: 150+ (tourneys from low-/mid-stakes online to mid-/high-stakes live)

Alex “Assassinato” Fitzgerald’s content on PokerCoaching.com may be the best value available for standard and trial members because almost all of his content is available for the lower tiers of membership! Fitzgerald is a veteran tournament coach with a long resume of success, especially online. I’ve said this in previous articles I’ve mentioned him in, but at first I found his delivery a little, shall we say, smug? But as his name suggests, He’s a freakin’ Tournament Assassin! If I were as good as Fitzgerald, and knew as much about poker as he does, yeah, I’d be sounding pretty damn confident, too!

As I’ve watched more and more of his content (and read his outstanding books), I’ve become a huge fan. Fitzgerald’s knowledge is evident in every piece of content on PokerCoaching.com, and I continually look forward to learning from the brilliant and creative ways he’s laid waste to whatever new opponent he’s faced.

Evan Jarvis

• Courses: Five Pillars of Peak Poker Performance, How I applied the 5 Pillars
• Classes: 4 – Maximizing Study EV, A Deeper Dive into Position, Aggression and Poker, Hand Selection
• Quizzes: 80+ low-stakes cash

First, a quick aside… I just want to say it baffles my mind that I’ve never once crossed paths with Evan Jarvis, as he lives in Toronto and plays in the same casinos regularly that I do. Heck, he even goes to the same Float Spa that I do! Forget figuring out high-level GTO play, THIS is the aspect of poker that blows my mind!

Anyway, “Gripsed” is probably my personal favourite coach on the PokerCaching.com roster, and yes, it is primarily because of the reasons mentioned above. However, his teachings are extremely relatable to small-mid stakes players. $1/2, $1/3, and $2/$5 cash game quizzes are his primary contribution to the site, which are tremendously helpful for players at that stake. But his mindset work, which is featured in his ‘5 Pillars’ courses, is something I’m a big believer in as well. I really believe that a healthy lifestyle away from the tables, and having a healthy mindset and focus when it comes to your poker, is invaluable! Mindset coaching is a huge part of the game that’s really been developed in recent years, and I know it can help any player’s game.

Tristan Wade

• Classes: 9 – Mostly tournament hand history reviews, also Deep Stacked Fundamentals, Transitioning from Cash to Tourneys, When to Triple Barrel Bluff
• Quizzes: 8 – $2/5 cash game quizzes

Wade is another hugely successful player with experience in coaching. While his content here is primarily hand reviews (not a bad thing by any means, they are one of my favourite study methods, and Wade’s are very thorough), his other classes are solidly on point as well. His most recent class on triple barrel bluffing was something that piqued my interest, as I’ll fully admit to having a tendency to barrel off unsuccessfully in bad spots. This is now being worked on, thanks to Wade’s excellent teachings. Oh, and his PowerPoint game is as strong as his coaching!

Jonathan Jaffe

• Classes: 9 – Overbetting for Value / as a Bluff (2 videos), Learning Your Opponents Through Pre-flop Play, When to Check Raise Flops, Common Flop Mistakes, Button vs. BB play, $10k Bellagio 5 Diamond Review

Jaffe’s collection of classes cover a really interesting mix of topics. I was especially impressed with his videos on overbetting. It’s a topic I’ve really not seen much content on specifically. Sure, it gets mentioned here and there in hand history reviews, where spots come up for an overbet as an option, but to really get a solid deep dive into it was appreciated. His class on learning opponents through pre-flop play was also a favourite of mine. Getting reads on your opponents is crucial, and Jaffe provides a ton of things to look for early that will be useful for players of all skill levels.

Michael Acevedo

• Courses: Mastering GTO short stack play
• Classes: 11 – Lessons from the GTO Master (w/ Jonathan Little), 2-part review w/ Little on $1k online tourney, 2 on Short stacked strategy, 3 on final table ICM strategy ($5k WCOOP final table review), playing out of position as the pre-flop raiser, 2 on check-raising monotone boards from BB

You want to learn GTO? Here’s your guy! As Little even says himself in Acevedo’s debut video with PokerCoaching.com, Acevedo is a GTO master (he’s literally written the book on it!). With his videos, you’ll be diving headfirst into the solvers, as Acevedo breaks down GTO play. Acevedo’s classes include several hand reviews, including a very cool series with Little, as Acevedo analyses Little’s play in a recent tournament against some of the online world’s very best.

Be warned though, this is some high-level stuff. If, however, you are ready to dive into GTO, or even just want to get a good glimpse at how solvers are used effectively, Acevedo’s teachings are the way to go.

Lexy Gavin

• Classes: 6 – When to C-bet, 3-betting Strategy, Check Raising Strategy, How to Play Overpairs, Pre-flop Hand Ranges for NL Cash Games
• Quizzes: 7 – variety of cash and tourney stakes

My feelings on Lexy Gavin’s coaching are extra warm and fuzzy; because I recently watched some of her videos immediately after watching Michael Acevedo teach GTO. They were a breath of fresh air, to say the least (high level GTO is haaaaard!).

To be fair, the content of their classes is of course worlds apart. Gavin’s classes are more focused on single, specific areas of No Limit Hold ‘Em, which is still tremendously valuable, and I’d certainly recommend her classes for players looking to build really strong fundamentals.

As a bonus to ‘Standard’ level PokerCoaching.com members, Gavin’s content is all available to you! Of note in her quizzes, a really interesting $25/50 NL hand she played against Cate Hall is included, which is a great example of not blasting off with an overpair, and recognizing range and nut advantages.

LISTEN: Interview with Lexy Gavin

Faraz Jaka

• Classes: 5 – 5k WCCOP hand review (3 videos), Exploitative Plays to crush live tourneys (2 videos)
• Quizzes: 4 from mid-stakes tourneys

Jaka has been in the lab since coming back to poker last year after taking a couple of years off to work on a start-up company, and it shows, in a very good way. He still has the aggressive, exploitative mindset he’s known for, but he breaks out the PioSolver less than 15 min into his WCOOP review to deeply analyze a flop bet sizing that he didn’t like. Jaka is fiercely critical of his own play, and recognizes he’s still got work to put in in the lab.

It’s really interesting to see such a creative player break down how he played a hand in the moment, then dive right into self-analysis and watch him learn along with you. I’m really looking forward to seeing the continuing rebirth of “The Toilet”.

James Romero

Romero is the latest addition to the PokerCoaching.com roster, having signed on at the beginning of April. He brings six years of online and three years of live experience to the table, with millions of dollars in earnings in each format.

Though he hasn’t created any content just yet, Romero has done a Q&A “getting to know you” session with Little on his background, and what we can expect from him. In it, Romero described himself as originally a GTO-based player, but he is now exploring more variations and adjustments. He says he played too much PioSolver-based GTO theory, and now believes a general understanding of poker theory is more important than finding exact solutions based on solvers.

Romero’s first sessions with PokerCoaching.com will be a 5-part series of webinars, which will be released monthly. These will include:

• Pre-flop fundamentals
• Post-flop fundamentals
• Micro strategies (in-game)
• Macro strategies (out of game)
• Database review / HUDs

Please welcome the newest @PokerCoaching_ Coach, @skielanskis, to the team! I’m very excited for our students to have the opportunity to learn from one of the best players in the world. To start things off we’ll be hosting a live webinar today at 4pm EST:https://t.co/9xQiaVdsXA pic.twitter.com/dWEcW3B5ql

— Jonathan Little (@JonathanLittle) April 9, 2020

A Winning Team of Poker Coaches

Before the year is done, this outstanding roster of coaches will have created 300+ new hand quizzes, 24 new video classes, 12 new live challenge webinars, 48+ new live coaching webinars, and much more!

That’s like the poker training equivalent of the ’97 Bulls putting up 200 on the Clippers! How could you not get on board with that?!

If you’re looking to boost your No Limit Hold ‘Em game, there really is no better group of coaches to get you to your goals than the team at PokerCoaching.com!