This month in terms of games has been the slowest of the year. This is undoubtedly due to the World Series. Some good comes with this though as most of the top tier regulars aren't online and this certainly has contributed to my success this month.
Looking back at the first half of the year, the games on a whole have been a lot more active than I anticipated. It's still nothing like it was even two years ago but given what I expected particularly after my post about the death of limit hold-em late last year, I'm quite encouraged. It's very fickle though, all it takes is for two or three of the higher volume recreational players to stop playing and suddenly the games are near dead.
In terms of my play at the tables, I'm very happy overall with my game. I'm ahead of last year's pace in terms of money won and big bets won though still off my pace of two and three years ago but that's largely due to the lack of high limit games. My game has continued to evolve and improve particularly the mental side. I've had incredible emotional control all year and it's likely the single biggest contributor to my improved results.
We've extended our stay in Cabo San Lucas until October 15th and I'm planning on making SuperNova Elite by then. I believe I have to average around 4600 VPPs a day which is about 500 per day less than I've averaged over the last six weeks. Barring the games completely drying up, I should be able to make it in time without much problem. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that last three months of the year where I can play pool, relax, and not worry about grinding every day.
On the subject of the end of the year, I am giving serious consideration to offering coaching this fall. The price will likely be $500/Hour and would include follow up conversations and emails in addition to an hour lesson. I haven't ironed out all the details yet and am not positive I want to make the commitment but it's more likely at this point than any point in the last few years. If anyone is interested in receiving coaching, please email me at tony.pirone@gmail.com. I'd like to get an idea of the type of interest before I make a decision. My guess is that I could take on two or three students a week. Ideally I'd like to work with serious, dedicated players who love the game and want to take their game to the next level. If I do decide to offer coaching, I will be sure to post here with all the details of what it would include.
Good luck at the tables everyone. And this is what my year has looked like so far, I will be thrilled if the second half is as successful.
It is going to be a real death of lhe if u start coaching, just saying...
ReplyDeleteYeah that really is a big consideration for me. I'm going to think about it.
ReplyDeleteConsider what happened to the HU games when guys like Bryce started publishing. Or how everyone semi-competent suddenly switched to, at a minimum, VPIP30/PFR20 in the 6max games because of guys like Oink.
ReplyDeleteNow what you're contemplating is different than the above scenarios. You would be offering private coaching and in limited numbers, as opposed to the previous examples where guys published poker concepts and strategy in bulk online and for free.
But I would still be concerned about game quality being affected by your coaching considering the very small player pool that exist today and the capacity of remaining players to rapidly and effectively learn and incorporate new strategies and concepts.
And if I were you, I would be especially concerned about high-stakes regulars using your coaching against you, that is, getting coaching from you specifically just to learn how you think and play and what your general strategy is and then using that information against you in the high stakes games.
Thanks for the thoughts, these are all things I'm strongly considering. I may end up dropping my hourly price tag and only offering coaching to lower stakes players. It's definitely something I'll give a lot of thought to though.
ReplyDelete$500/hr might be reasonable, but it sound a bit high.
ReplyDeleteWho do you think will be your customers? What players are you targeting?
I've had three people contact me so far to say they're interested. But I'm having second thoughts due to the reasons mentioned in the comments above. I don't think it makes sense to teach people that are going to be competing against me in the same games. I think that would ultimately be -ev even at $500/HR. I might have to charge $5000/HR before it would be worthwhile to improve my direct competition and of course no one would ever pay that. So I'm leaning towards reducing the hourly rate to maybe $250/HR and coaching low/mid stakes players. I'm really not sure though, I need to think more about it once I'm done playing this year.
ReplyDeleteI should have read the comments before posting :)
ReplyDeleteThat's actually exactly what I was thinking. Just didn't know how to put it in (English) words.
So where would your threshold be? For example, I'm "slightly" losing 5/10 player who makes shots at 10/20 too and I'm interested in your coaching. So not an immediate threat to you, but let's say a potential one :)
BTW, are you considering not going for SNE next year? Or just want to get some extra pocket money via coaching? :)
Yeah I don't know, that's a good question. I think 5/10 would probably be the cutoff for me. I'm only home for a couple months in the fall so I don't think I could do more than 8 or 10 lessons for any one person as it is so I'm not sure I'm in that span of time I'm going to take someone from playing 5/10 to crushing 50/100. But who knows, it's really hard to say.
ReplyDeleteI am planning on going for SNE next year. So yes coaching would just be to earn some extra money while I'm home. I'm still not sure I want to do it though. I really enjoy my time off and for at least the first 2-3 weeks I'm home I don't even want to think about poker. I also do a lot of sports betting when home so depending on how involved I get with that will likely determine whether I have time for coaching.
Id be terribly sad if you dont take micro stakes players into consideration. I KNOW it will be extremely unprofitable for you and your hourly. example me whos shooting at 25/50c and failing hard. Id give my right arm and leg for an hour of your time and im dead serious with that. I do however understand that you cant "afford" to go below midstakes players like Corey. Also I don't think it be bad for the games if you teach players below your own limits.
ReplyDeleteMicrostakes players would definitely be included if I offer coaching, my hourly rate would be the same though.
ReplyDelete$500/hr ? for micro players ? You do realize a lot of micro players don't even have a 500 dollar bankroll? So if you maintain that per hour then your coaching outright is not for micro players. unless they are simply just rich irl and plays with a small br ..
DeleteIt would likely be somewhere around $250/HR for micro/low/mid stakes players - I had mentioned that in the comment above. I realize that's probably not affordable for most micro stakes players but it doesn't make sense for me to charge lower than that, it wouldn't be worth my time at that point.
DeleteOh i must have missed that. sorry about that. and yeah i know it wouldn't be worth to charge less. Im just saying that the rate doesn't suite micro players. if we say $100 per hour then im quite sure you will get a lot more 25/50c - .5/1 micro players as students. but I do realize that is simply too low for you. although am i right in that you wanted to do coaching when you were done getting SNE and back home in america ? so it would be some sort of side money ? if that is true then objectively i dont see why you wouldn't lower the rate and invite more students to try you out (Im willing to bet my right arm that you will get hundreds of applies for a spot as students)
DeleteSomething I could do is charge like $100/HR but do a group session where maybe I tutor 3 or 4 people at a time on a conference call. This wouldn't be as individualized but I think could still effectively teach some topics that would benefit everyone.
Deletethat sounds like an amazing idea. if you decide to do so group sessions for 100 bucks then be sure to know im gonna be a student of yours :D
DeleteTony, so glad you are doing well. I have a helper with the new business so I should be able to play some pool with you when you get back home. Hurry back, Hugo is giving all his money to the casinos and his action is drying up.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia Billiards is closing down July 8th and moving to Fremont in Feb 2014. Bummer.
Hope the family is well. Soon you in the winter
JG
Awesome Jeff, can't wait to play. I'll be back October 15th and will need to practice for a couple weeks but definitely will want to play after that. Look forward to it man.
ReplyDelete