By Matthew Gregoire
Over the years, I’ve coached many players. It’s one of my favorite things to offer friends, family and students. I’m honored to have enough knowledge to offer tutelage. The one thing I realized early on is you can’t have one recipe for success for each player. In other words, everyone has specific goals and objectives in the game.
Some players enjoy being in a lot of pots and always try to outclass opponents. In this case, I would suggest this person play tournaments to put their newly acquired knowledge to the test.
I also had a group of players who were content with trying to stay comfortable in the game, to understand the situations unfolding in front of them. With these players, I normally would suggest cash games to find success. I would start out by providing hand selections and try to make them understand the importance of thinning the field and playing in position. This article is dedicated to my favorite student and will hopefully prove an important point.
My girlfriend and I first met through a poker forum when she was looking for an Omaha/8 coach. After years of being together, she not only soaked up all of the information I provided, she has succeeded to the point where she no longer needs a job.
Whenever she puts her mind to something that she wants, she persists until she gets it, and it is inspiring. I have never had a student who was so consistent at final-tabling her game of choice (pot-limit Omaha/8) while also being a consistent winner in cash games. After almost four years of being together, I still wake up almost every day to her studying online or reading a poker magazine. She is not only able to consume new information with ease but also offer me new outlooks and help me improve as a player.
If a person is looking to achieve something in life, there’s no substitute for hard work, dedication and discipline. One of the things that makes poker so beautiful to me is your lessons can be applied to your life as well.
Some people may have more difficulty than others when it comes to learning something new, but nothing is too difficult. In the process of applying yourself, you will really learn a lot about dedication and bring inspiration into your life. Many people always claim they want to have a different path in their life, but only one person can make it happen. Get out there and make things happen.
— Matthew Gregoire is a pro poker player living in Miami. You can email him at editor@anteupmagazine.com.
