Coaching
POKER BACKGROUND & CREDENTIALS:
I have been playing poker for over 6 years online dating back to the days when short-handed poker online wasn’t even available. Naturally, my game became full ring Hold’Em. It’s where I got my beginnings and where I am today. I have dabbled in all forms of poker and seem to excel in Full Ring No-Limit.
I started taking poker very seriously around 3 years ago. I joined CardRunners and haven’t looked back since. When I first joined CardRunners, I started 8 tabling at $25nl and didn’t miss a step on the way up. I have grinded them all. I climbed the Full Ring ranks from 25nl to 600nl in a little over a year. I have since moved down to playing almost exclusively 200nl. I have been an active member in the cardrunners community since. I spent awhile playing on Full Tilt before moving to Cake Poker and have since moved back to Full Tilt. I am a regular at 200nl on FTP currently.
I have been coaching Full Ring for close to 2 years now. I have taught a wide variety of students ranging from regulars I play with all the time at 200NL and 400NL to aspiring 50nl Full Ring Players who want to make it to the mid-stakes. My coaching experience has taught me a lot about what students want and the best way to tackle leaks for my students. I would like to think I’m one of the most experienced coaches in the actual field of coaching and enjoy the task very much.
Here’s my 1/2 and 2/4 Full Ring results from my current database:
GAMES/STAKES:
Up to 200nl full ring NLHE.
LOCATION/COACHING MEDIA:
I’ve recently moved to Arlington, VA. I am open to possible live sweat sessions, but I find online to be much better.
I use Teamviewer (or Mikogo) and Skype. All of these programs are free for infinite uses and very dependable. I like to do an orientation session first for new students. This is a ’sweat session’ where i can see your pre-flop tendencies and begin getting an idea of post-flop play and skill level. I then like to do a number of hand histories sessions through the CR hand replayer, Teamviewer and skype. I also think video recordings of play are excellent for coaching as well. I always cater to the way the student is the most comfortable learning, so if you have a preference, you are the customer so make sure you let me know how you’d like to do your personalized sessions. Please get in touch with me if you have questions about the coaching process.
GENERAL PRICE RANGE:
$100 to $150/hr dependent upon stakes and package purchased.
COACHING PHILOSOPHY:
My goal is to bring the same success and insight that got me to where I am to players who have trouble beating low limit games. It is very rewarding taking a player to a different level mentally in poker. That’s the philosophy I base my coaching around.
Here’s what a few of my students/coaches had to say:
When I was making my transition from 100nl to 200nl I received a few weeks of coaching lessons from Eric. I was certainly satisfied with my experience and would suggest his services to anyone looking to rise up through the stakes and beat 400nl or below.
Eric will teach you how to think like a winning midstakes player. In addition to plugging up some common leaks both preflop and postflop he will take you through the thought process of a winning player and give you a formula for analyzing most situations based on hand ranges, equities, player tendencies and dynamics, etc. (the real skills you need to beat these games). He is a proven winner at stakes up to 400nl and I think you can’t find a better “bang for your buck” at the rates he charges relative to coaching experience and skill level.
I think Eric is a very strong, logical player but also is capable of exploring and implementing new lines. I’ve spent many hours discussing hands with him and I am impressed by the way he can forumulate player hand ranges and devise alternate and sometimes non-standard lines that extract the most value in certain situations.
In addition to his skill in coaching I think Eric is a great guy. He started out as a coach for me and now I consider us good friends. He will make himself available to you outside of sessions for hand review or the occasional kick in the ass we all need. He is genuinely interested in the success of his students. He works hard and is motivated and these qualities come through in his coaching.
If you are on the fence about coaching with Eric or anyone else I urge you to give it a shot. He will quickly diagonose your biggest leaks and you will see a very quick return on investment by improving your game.
-AlwaysLimp, Full Ring, 200 and 400nl
Eric coached me for one month @ $100 nlhe FR @ FTP through mikogo/skype. Five lessons totaled and I learned a lot about my game. He was able to find leaks in my pre flop,flop, turn and river play. He pointed them out and explained why he thought it was a leak. It was mind opening because I never thought about my game like that before.
The leaks were tough to plug because I had to restructure the way I thought about poker. I slowly became more aggressive IP, thus making my post flop decisions easier. My total aggro factor was around 2.5, now it is between 3-4 total depending on what the table let’s me get away with.
During the month, Eric was available to chat and answer hand history emails. I didn’t take full use of it but I will in the future because he is open to answering HH questions through email/AIM even after the lessons are over. I really like that benefit because during live coaching/coaching period, it’s tough to get into interesting spots. Plus, it will take me awhile to implement some of his ideas that I like.
I highly recommend Eric (Damn Ringer) for any low stakes full ring player. He will help you plug leaks in your game and make you a much better player.
-Appleseed, Full Ring, 50 and 100nl
I have coached Eric and can say that he is an extremely fundamentally sound player and has a very good understanding of the game. He is also well-spoken and clearly articulates his thoughts.
As primarily a FR player, Eric sought my help in attempt to diversify his game and familerize himself with the differences in dynamics and opposing player-types that one encounters in 6m as opposed to FR. Eric demonstrated an outstanding ability to react to different types of players, hand-read, and generally play a very solid game. He proved a diligent student and is the type who is always looking to improve his game.
I highly recommend Eric as a coach for FR players.
-Danibusman, Full Ring, 6-Max and HU, up to 1knl
Eric is the bomb bizzle mah nizzle! Everyone who has commented above couldn’t be more correct about his coaching. I was struggling with 100NL running at .45 BB/100 over a 53k hand sample. After 5 sessions with Eric, i am running at 2.56 BB/100 over a 20k hand sample and that was running below EV. He plugged newly found leaks during each coaching session. I was so please with the results that i am already signed up for 5 more sessions, and looking forward to making my win rate 3.5 BB/100 or better. (keep in mind this was BB/100 not bb/100)
Ringer is easy to talk to, really laid back, and flexible. We communicated via email/AIM several times between coaching sessions and he makes time for you. I would venture to say Eric takes a step beyond basic coaching and becomes a friend who wants to see you improve.
Eric is not one to be watching the clock either. During 2 of the sessions he went past the 1 hour per coaching session by close to 30 minutes. Not because he had to, but to make sure his students fully grasp the concepts he was illustrating. It was all very productive and most importantly, lucrative! You will not be disappointed and his coaching pays for itself.
-Sarahhh Monster, Full Ring, 200nl
Just finished a months worth of coaching with eric, and can honestly say it was probably the best bit of money I have ever spent.
The month prior to the coaching I ran at about .7ptbb/100 over 140K hands 24tabling, this month after cutting down to 12 tables, I have run just under 6ptbb/100 over 50K hands (100nl). Eric got me to open up my game a bit more, and has given me a much greater understanding of FR NLHE.
The first two sessions were sweat sessions, the next two were hand history reviews, and by the last session he had already got me to start taking shots at 200nl.
Eric is a decent, laid back guy, and excellent at explaining his thoughts about your play. The whole coaching experience hugely exceeded my expectations, and I would highly recommend him to anyone who plays FR and is looking to improve their game.
-RikSanchez, Full Ring, 200nl
I just finshed 5 coaching sessions with Eric, and I concur with every comment mentioned above about his coaching. Eric is an absolute professional in every way, and I highly recommend him to anyone who is on the fence about whether or not to hire a coach. I spent many months debating if I should hire a coach, and once I hired Eric, I realized that I should not have waited that long. Eric is easy to get along with and very approachable about any poker topic that you want to discuss in detail. He makes the coaching process very comfortable for you if it is your first time getting coached.
I was already a winning 100NL player when I contacted Eric about coaching, but I was a HUGE NIT. After my first session with Eric, he successfully got me to change my Nitty ways (11/8) to play much more optimally and drastically increase my win rate. Over the 5 weeks that he coached me, I went from 11/8 to comfortably playing 16/13, and my win rate sky-rocketed.
I have made back my small investment in Eric about 8 times over within the span of 5 weeks, and I am 100% confident that I will continue to make back that small investment many times over for the rest of my life.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about hiring Eric as a coach.
-6 Deuce Suited, Full Ring, 200nl
I’ve known Eric for over 5 years and have watched his go from the casual player in college to what he is now. About two years ago I decided to start grinding to low stakes and see if I could build a bank roll. I was able to build my bank roll (thanks to rakeback) and took few shots at 100nl. I got crushed every time and had to start back at square one. About 3 months ago, I decided it was time to pay for some coaching so I turned to Eric. I set up 5 sessions with him and saw results immediately. Eric does a great job of holding you accountable for dumb mistakes and explains why they are are mistakes. Since my lessons, I went from a basically a break even player (maybe even a losing player) to having substantial winning months. I plan to reinvest in Eric when I make the jump to 200nl. I would recommend his services to anyone attempting to move up from 25nl, 50nl or 100nl. See Fuppnasty’s PTR graph for proof of the change.
-Fuppnasty, Full ring, 100nl
I also got the block of five lessons with Eric. I bought the lessons because i was a slight loser/breakeven player on cereus 50NL and 100NL (FR)…. Since I would say he has transformed me into a solid reg at 200. 4bb/100 winner at 100 even with that outrageous BBJ rake. I will be booking more lessons with eric in the future. He is by far the best coach i have had. I have used 4 CR coaches in the past, and 2 guys from 2+2.
-PSUMarkoPolo, Full Ring, 50nl