The main question when players think about coaching is how valuable it is and whether it is worth the money the coach is charging. This is also something that is hard to quantify, but players will know after just a few hours of coaching if it is something for them and if the information they are getting is improving their game.
The other way to evaluate the worth of coaching is to look at the coach's recent graphs and results and see if he is making at the tables close to what he is asking for coaching. Many players fall into the trap of believing that the coach is presenting fresh and not old/outdated results to them, or that they hire the coach because he is a popular player with a reputation for being a great player.
For example, Daniel Negreanu is one of the best poker players ever, and I was impressed with how he adjusted and improved his skills in the heads-up battle against Doug Polk even though he lost.
But his performance was not bad at all if you consider that it was an environment that he doesn't prefer, and the game he is not an expert in. All that being said, Daniel Negreanu isnt a world class poker player anymore, even to his results and talent for poker might be some of the best ever, but with all the success and the time Daniel isnt focused on being top poker player and is simply not as hungry as he was, and for sure isnt sitting in front of solver 15 hours a day.
These Are Coaching Prices of Most Popular Coaches Today
Let's start with a player who built an empire and had some of the craziest runs in high-stakes poker ever: Fedor Holz. When Fedor was a full-time poker player, he and his group dominated the poker world and made a crazy amount of money, but Fedor is not a full-time poker player anymore; he is a great businessman.
Fedor and Steffen
Fedor is charging $3,480 for one hour of coaching, which is one of the highest coaching fees I have ever seen. I'm not sure who can afford this or how beneficial it would be to have an hour with Fedor. This would have to give you some ground-breaking information about where your ROI in MTTs should have such a significant jump for this coaching to be worth it.
I would say this is too expensive, but I understand that maybe it is not worth it for Fedor to do it for less. We live in an open market, so he can charge whatever he wants. I think the value of this coaching would be around $500, as Fedor's teammate Steffen Sontheimer, who was once one of the top online cash game players, is charging $1110 for one hour of coaching (still pricy).
In my opinion, Steffen is a significantly better player than Fedor as he is proficient in cash games, which require a high level of precision and technical knowledge. In contrast, MTT involves more improvisation and guessing games that come through experience and intuition, which are hard to teach.
Benjamin Rolle (Bencb789)
Ben is the head coach of one of the most popular MTT coaching sites, RYE. Ben is still a top MTT player, and he is still an active player with years and years of great results.
Ben is really transparent about his poker results. In 2024, he published graphs showing that he won $440,000 playing online MTTs over 244 hours, which translates into $1,800 per hour. With this considered, the pricing of $1,000 per hour of coaching seems reasonable. He also offers a mentoring package, which is hard to valuate.
Jordan Drummon (BBZ)
Jordan “BBZ” Drummond has been a mainstay in the world of poker for over 15 years. As a seasoned professional, he has not only achieved sustained success in high-stakes poker but has also made a lasting impact as a staker, coach, and mentor.
I dont think BBZ is still active player, and i woudnt consider him world class MTT player, but as a coach he has proven that he and his group can prodce results.
He also posted a graph of his coaching group that shows the group made around $7,000,000 over the sample of 1,100,000 tournaments, which shows consistency and is a great result if the graph is true.
Jordan is charging $300 per hour of coaching, which seems like a really reasonable and fair price, and there is not much we can add here. One of the most well-known coaches, who has decent results, is charging a reasonable price for 1-on-1 coaching.
Qing Yang (Poker Giraffe)
Qing Yang, aka QY, is an Elite Coach at Run It Once who played 10/20 live for most of his career and started coaching on the side about 8 years ago. He has worked with more than 100 students, and his RIO videos are among the most well-received on the site.
He also made a few coaching videos for GTO Wizard, and he charges $320 per hour. He also has packages of 6 and 10 hours, where players get a discount. You can also watch 10 videos of his content for just $25 on RIO. For his playing and coaching CV, I think the price is fair, especially if we compare it to others in the industry.
Pete Clarke (Carrot Corner)
Pete is another RIO coach who is now operating his own coaching site, Carrot Corner. I think Pete is a good coach, and he offers good products like courses and one-on-one coaching on his site. As a proven coach who isn't an active player anymore, Pete charges around €290 for one hour, which is a reasonable price. He also offers packages up to 20 hours for €4,000, where players can get a discount and play around €200 per hour.
Most Important Factors When Choosing a Poker Coach
- I would say that the most important factor is that the coach is an active player who is beating the limits that he is coaching for, and he has graphs and results to prove it.
- The second thing would be how well the coach's style fits you and whether you like them as a person.
- The third factor would be the price, and whether the coach is charging a reasonable price for his time. If the coach is charging more than he can make at the table, it is fine, but this also has to have a limit and cannot be a 5x difference.
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