Brand new to PocketFives.com this week is our Poker Coaches Directory. This is a one-stop shop that allows you, the online poker player, to check out some of our favorite coaches. Our aim is to provide coaches with a high-visibility spot to promote their services, while also providing potential students with a great starting point to make their decision when choosing a poker coach. We currently have over 10 coaches featured, and they are among the game’s elite.

In a thread in Poker Discussion, several players revealed that they were in search of coaching, making our new Directory a solid resource. One of the coaches featured on the site, former European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final champ Jeff yellowsub Williams (pictured), told PocketFives.com what prospective students should look for in their instructors.

“You have to see how the coach has done in the past,” Williams pointed out. “You also need to see if they are a good communicator or not; you don’t want an introvert teaching you. You need to know if your styles line up. If you’re a tight player and the coach wants you to open up, you have to decide if you want a stylistic change.”

Analyzing a prospective coach’s style seemed to be one of the biggest indicators of success. Williams explained that the onus is on the student to find a coach whose style seems to mesh with their own: “A lot of that is on the student and it can be uncomfortable for people. They get used to a style and grind out a profit with it. They want to stay with what brought them there.” Williams’ EPT Monte Carlo win five years ago was worth over a million dollars.

Williams was involved with a previous coaching effort on PocketFives.com and explained that the experience was quite memorable: “I met some cool guys through that and had a good time with it. I really do have fun coaching others. When PocketFives.com told me about this, it seemed like a great way to get back into it.”

Williams is one of a handful of coaches in the Directory that have been members of the poker community since 2005. Also in that club are Ari Engel(pictured), Jerry herschelwWatterson, Grayson the_dean22Nichols, and Jon sketchy1 Eaton.

Each coach has his very own profile that discusses their individual coaching methods, game types, favorite online poker sites, preferred table sizes, and preferred buy-in levels. Also included is a short bio. At the bottom, each reader is given an opportunity to make a recommendation.

Engel’s coaching profile explains, “I’ve been coaching for three years and over that time have trained hundreds of students. About a dozen of them have been ranked in the PocketFives top 100 and countless others have had a ton of success since my training.” Engel’s protégés include David The MavenChicotsky (pictured) and recent November Niner Joseph subiime Cheong. Chicotsky is also a member of the Coaching Directory.

Williams told PocketFives.com what kinds of students would benefit from his coaching: “If I were going to identify a student, it’d be a $1/$2or $2/$4 player looking to move up. It’d be helping them some finer points. Someone who has enough money to afford higher-dollar coaching will be someone who takes poker very seriously.”

Players of all buy-ins will be able to find a coach in our Directory, as micro-stakes, small-stakes, mid-stakes, and high-stakes buy-ins are all represented. Games include No Limit Hold’em, Stud, and Omaha and a variety of hourly rates are available.

If you’re looking for a poker instructor, then be sure to check out our PocketFives.com Coaching Directory. Your bankroll will thank you.