Best Poker Coaching Sites for December 2024

Looking for the best poker coaching sites can be confusing. There are so many to choose from, aimed at all different levels of players, types of games, and styles of play. That’s where we come in.

We’ll show you where to find the best online poker coaching sites with the pros and cons of each, helping you to choose the top poker coaching option for you.

Best Online Poker Coaching Sites

There’s no single best poker coaching site. Instead, the key is finding one which fits your specific needs. No two players play exactly alike, so why would one poker coach be right for everyone?

Our experts have studied the best poker coaching sites and compiled a comprehensive list. For each one, we’ll walk you through both the pros and cons, along with their price points.

1. PokerCoaching.com

• Founder: Jonathan Little
• Experience Level: Beginner to experienced
• Best Features: Simulated gameplay, free quizzes, free e-books and flowcharts
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Founded by two-time WPT Champion and former WPT Player of the Year Jonathan Little, PokerCoaching is one of the best-known poker coaching sites around.

One of the best features at this poker coaching site is the interactive hand quizzes. Instead of just reading about spots, you can play them yourself – then get instant feedback to help plug your leaks.

Despite the significant achievements of the founder, the home of Jonathan Little poker coaching does a great job of easing in less experienced players. For example, you can start with some free e-books, flowcharts and cheat sheets. Learning the basics, including poker hands probability, will come in no time.

They also post regular educational posts about poker, and have a generous free trial for you to test the waters. When you’re ready to move up, you can take on the advanced courses, which have solid poker coaching reviews from most players.

Membership Options

2. Elite University

• Founder: Charlie Carrel
• Experience Level: Beginner to experienced
• Best Features: 24/7 Discord support, group coaching
• Free Trial Included: Yes

If the most important thing to you isn’t a bunch of poker coaching preflop charts but more of a wholesome vibe where everyone is welcome, Elite University might be the one for you.

We find the name a little misleading, as the site is anything but elitist. The poster boy is Charlie Carrel, one of the few pros on television who always seems to be smiling, and who himself came from a poor upbringing and turned $50 into a fortune of over $10 million.

Most poker coaching sites will lambast you for not using a GTO approach, but Carrel does the opposite. One of his mottos is ‘Say NO to GTO’, as he ‘isn’t interested in making people think like a computer’.

It might be called a university, but this poker coaching school doesn’t do things by the book.

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3. JakaCoaching

• Founder: Faraz Jaka
• Experience Level: Beginner to experienced
• Best Features: Live sessions, hand analysis in Discord
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Faraz Jaka is a WSOP bracelet winner with more than $12 million in career earnings. Just as importantly, he has excellent taste in hats. And now you can learn from him through poker classes at JakaCoaching.

This site delivers poker coaching online which is largely focused on amateur-to-semi-pro level, but also has over 50 hours of advanced content. Plus, there’s a handful of poker coaching free taster lessons you can take, covering straightforward concepts like double-barreling and when to overbet the pot.

The entire poker coaching setup at JakaCoaching is based around simplicity. To help with this, lessons are organized into what they call ‘learning paths’, showing you the best order in which to watch them.

If you’re looking for the best poker coaching with the simplest approach, you might enjoy the way things are done at JakaCoaching.

Membership Options

4. Chip Leader Coaching

• Founder: Chance Kornuth
• Experience Level: Experienced to advanced
• Best Features: Chip Leader AI, roster of top coaches
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Chip Leader Coaching is serious business, with a powerhouse of world-beating coaches including former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen.

The emphasis at this poker coaching site is largely about going for the win, and is therefore aimed at more advanced players. The Closer teaches you how to switch up your game in the final stages of a tourney, while Chip Leader AI uses AI-optimized learning paths to improve your game.

Not sure whether you’re quite ready for a poker coaching app this advanced? Try their seven-day free trial before deciding whether to pay for it.

The pricing strategy here is different to most of the best poker coaching sites, giving you the option to buy a single course for life rather than a monthly subscription.

You can also access free poker coaching tools such as Table Spy, which gives you a background on your Day 2 opponents, and free GTO charts which can be ripped right from the poker coaching site without signing up.

Membership Options

5. BBZ Poker

• Founder: Jordan Drummond
• Experience Level: Beginner to Experienced
• Best Features: Low-cost bundles, daily seminars, staking
• Free Trial Included: Yes

If you’ve played online poker before, you’ve almost certainly seen the BBZ logo at your tables, which just demonstrates how far-spread this poker coach site has become.

BBZ targets players who don’t necessarily want to spend a ton of cash on courses, yet are serious about improving. Individual courses still get you access to top pros like Lex Veldhuis, yet stretch your poker coaching bankroll with relatively low prices.

Once you’ve studied enough poker coaching charts and played at least 500 MTTs in a year, you can even apply for the BBZ staking program, which is aimed at the $1-$40 buy-in range. It’s not often your poker coaching bankroll goes up rather than down when signing up to a coaching site!

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6. Run It Once

• Founder: Phil Galfond and Dan Quinn
• Experience Level: Beginner to experienced
• Best Features: Mobile-ready GTO trainer, earn rewards
• Free Trial Included: Yes

When you’re waltzing around the kitchen, do you constantly experiment with a dash of this, a pinch of that, and a dollop of whatever-this-is? Run It Once take a similar approach, with videos from more than 100 pros.

While you’ll lack the familiarity which comes from the best poker coaching sites which deliver tuition from just one or two coaches, what you benefit from is multiple perspectives. In poker, this is definitely a healthy thing. It adds more strings to your bow.

Run It Once is big on community. You can even rack up rewards by contributing in posts and discussions. Those of you who love forums and online discussions will dig the vibe here.

Vision deserves a shout out, too. That’s the name of their poker coaching tool which works on your mobile, requires no additional software, and helps you nail a GTO strategy for PLO.

Membership Options

7. Upswing Poker

• Founder: Doug Polk
• Experience Level: Beginner to advanced
• Best Features: Wide range of courses from different pros
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Fronted by charismatic poker pro and YouTube personality Doug Polk, Upswing Poker covers everything from the very basics to highly advanced poker courses.

Preflop charts are available for free and the cheapest course starts at just $7, but there are numerous advanced poker courses priced at $999. And they’ve gotten results – Dan Ott credits his $4.7 million WSOP Main Event cash, in part, to studying at Upswing Poker.

There’s a ton of free content at Upswing poker, with regular blog-style articles covering everything from how to play niche poker formats to secrets of the pros and cash game poker coaching quizzes.

Fittingly dubbed the ‘Upswing Lab’, Upswing Poker takes a scientific yet fun approach to guide you through the steps of taking your game to the next level – then the next, then the next.

Membership Options

8. Pokercode

• Founder: Fedor Holz
• Experience Level: Beginner to advanced
• Best Features: Group trips
• Free Trial Included: Yes

If you’ve been on the poker scene for a while, you’ll remember when Fedor Holz was the talk of the town. The founder of Pokercode was the number-one online player in 2015 and 2016, has two WSOP bracelets to his name, and has amassed over $50 million in tournament cashes.

The site has a free section which is more geared towards hobbyists, but has medium and advanced courses too. Even if you’re already a winning player, they have something for you.

Many of the best poker coaching sites wax lyrical about the importance of poker aspects outside of the usual poker coaching charts, but Pokercode takes it to the next level with group outings. You can expect trips to bowling and Christmas markets at a low price, giving you a chance for some in-person poker discussions.

Poker coaching online is common, but meeting up with fellow members isn’t, and makes Pokercode an interesting option.

Membership Options

9. Crush Live Poker

• Founder: Bart Hanson
• Experience Level: Beginner to experienced
• Best Features: Podcasts, PLO cash game focus
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Most of the best poker coaching options focus on Hold’em and quite a lot of the content is for tournament play. But, as the name suggests, this one’s all about cash game poker coaching, and packs in some juicy PLO education.

The ‘Free Training’ section gives you a taste of what you’ll find, as do the 450+ podcasts.

Super-advanced players might already have progressed past what’s being offered at Crush Live Poker, but it can definitely improve your game if you’re an early-stage or intermediate player.

With over 900 videos, 100+ hours of courses, quizzes and more, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into.

Membership Options

10. Solve For Why

• Founder: Matt Berkey
• Experience Level: Experienced to advanced
• Best Features: Poker Out Loud, documentaries
• Free Trial Included: Yes

Aimed primarily at experienced and advanced players, this poker coaching premium service delivers awesome videos and guided training.

What makes Solve For Why stand out is the high quality of its production. From documentaries to their Poker Out Loud series, the content here would look right at home on mainstream television.

Even the layout of the site feels more like a streaming service than a poker coaching site. It’s a crisp, extremely well put together product which will appeal to players who struggle with the chaotic nature of other sites.

You can also join the S4Y Discord to chat with like-minded players about poker.

Membership Options

What are Online Poker Coaching Sites?

The best poker coaching sites are places you can go to learn about poker and improve your decision-making at the tables.

This is achieved through a wide mix of videos, classes, one-on-one lessons, quizzes and more. Poker coaching is a useful tool for all levels, whether you’re learning the basics or a seasoned pro trying to elevate your game to the next level.

Difference Between Poker Coaching and Poker Training

Naturally, there’s some crossover between poker training and coaching, but they can usually be distinguished by the fact that poker training is more passive and poker coaching is more active.

With training, you’ll read articles and use tools to analyze your gameplay and try to improve.

Coaching generally is a bit more immersive. It includes real-time feedback or playing out scenarios using AI tools. Quizzes, webinars and group chats all play a larger role.

Best Poker Coaches to Consider

As you can see, the best poker coaching sites pack in a ton of options. There are loads of great sites, with tiered memberships and one-off courses to choose from.

So, which are the best poker coaching courses? Our experts have picked five of the best.

Upswing Poker – Postflop Playbook

It’s cheap, it’s great for beginners, and Doug Polk is one of the most personable poker training coaches. If you’re not sure where to start, get stuck into the Postflop Playbook. If you don’t like it, you’ve only spent $7.

This course runs through the basics, helping you to make profitable decisions quickly, place pre-flop hands into categories, and think in a more advanced way after just a few poker lessons.

PokerCoaching.com – Crushing Tough Cash Games

There are few coaches who teach advanced poker better than Johnathan Jaffe. Even if you’re already at an elite level, you can learn from this poker coach.

This course is split into two sections: live poker coaching and online poker coaching. It’s only suitable for cash game players, but can really elevate your game. Complex concepts are explained in a clear manner with no fluff.

Crush Live Poker – Crushing Live PLO

Our pick of the bunch from the Crush Live Poker options is their Crushing Live PLO, a self-explanatory poker coaching course.

These guys really are PLO specialists, but what stood out is the module transitioning you from Hold’em to Omaha. Most poker coaching sites just assume you know both intimately, but the approach here is ideal for great Hold’em players who want to branch out.

JakaCoaching – Live Poker Lessons

There’s a near-endless stream of videos, articles and charts out there, but the best poker coaches still make time for their students.

At JakaCoaching, you get to take part in group sessions with Faraz Jaka. And they’re not as complex as you might assume. Jaka is happy to walk through basic concepts, constantly encouraging viewers to contribute and reassuring them that there’s nothing wrong with giving an incorrect answer.

Chip Leader Coaching – The Closer

These courses aren’t cheap, but they’re beasts – and there are players with results to prove it.

This course can change the way players see poker, help plug small leaks in your play, and lead to winning results. Just check out The Closer graduate Bin Weng’s 2023 numbers – he racked up over $5 million in six months.

Different Poker Coaching Resources

Within the many courses at the best poker coaching sites, you’ll find all different types of learning materials. Some will work better than others, so it’s a good idea to try a few different formats.

Here are some of the most common poker coaching resources.

Poker Coaching Webinars

A poker coaching webinar is an online lesson where you get to take part. This is often with an experienced coach leading the way and students chipping in through online chat.

What’s great about webinars at sites like JakaCoaching is that it gives you a chance to interact and ask direct, real-time questions to high-level players. When coaching poker, live exchanges can be invaluable in improving your game.

Poker Coaching Quizzes

Articles are great, but it can become tiring reading pages and pages of poker information. Quizzes at PokerCoaching.com and other top poker coaching sites can help keep things fresh.

Just like when you were back at school, it’s also a great way to retain information. If you find you’re struggling with the quizzes, you know you’re not taking it all in – so maybe you need to check out a new course, or mix up your study approach.

Poker Coaching Charts

Charts aren’t cheating. If you’re playing online, why wouldn’t you give yourself the best opportunity to win by having poker coaching preflop charts at your fingertips?

The best poker coaching sites such as Chip Leader Coaching will offer you free charts to download and print when you’re getting started. Once you reach an experienced level, it’ll become second nature.

Benefits of Using Poker Coaching Online Sites

Joining a poker coaching school carries countless benefits. Overall, it’s almost guaranteed to improve your game – provided you make full use of the videos, lessons and articles you unlock and apply those to your time at the tables.

Here are five major benefits to using the best poker coaching sites.

1. Speak to experts. Being able to hear from the very best players in the game is priceless, especially in webinars and coaching sessions where you can speak to them directly.
2. Find your flaws. When you’re watching cards-up poker on streams or poker apps, it’s easy to spot mistakes – but it’s much harder to identify leaks in your own patterns of play. Poker coaching helps you do just that.
3. Go above and beyond. The average poker player lacks the time, money or incentive to truly study at a poker coaching site. By signing up and going the extra mile, you’re putting yourself in an advantageous position.
4. Engage in communities. Not everybody loves poker, so having the chance to speak to fellow players who are taking the game seriously can be really beneficial. The best poker coaching sites tend to have special groups, Discord channels and even day trips.
5. Change your thinking. One of the most important things you’ll take from poker coaches is the ability to change how you think. Not just what you do with your hand, but why. You’ll begin to think in ranges, equity, blockers, and GTO strategy.

Best Online Poker Sites in the US

Once you’ve started learning at a top poker coaching site, the next step is to put it into practice. The easiest way to do so is at any of the best offshore poker sites. Playing online means you can use graphs and focus on playing, rather than worrying about live tells.

Here are our top picks.

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