I'd say it's roughly the same but *slightly* easier to teach someone from scratch. Why? Because old habits die hard and to change the way you've been playing (badly) for a while takes a lot of self discipline.
The disadvantage the new player has is that they don't have the 'points of reference' from their poker experience.
Teaching a losing player because you wouldn't have to spend time teaching them the basics such as the hand rankings.
Often a losing player only needs one tweak to become a winning player - you would just need to find where they are going wrong. Having said that, I'm still learning myself so I'm probably not the right person to be teaching poker just yet xD
Teaching a losing player is MUCH more of a challenge, but an enjoyable one.
Many of them blame other problems for their results. The challenging part is getting them to accept that they need to look at themselves, their own game, & not worry about what other people do, bad luck, outdraws, etc.
Teaching a new player to play, assuming they have the ability to listen, & learn, is one of THE most satisfying things ever. They learn, then off they go, & you know they will have, literally, a lifetime of fun ahead of them, at little or no cost. Very satisfying.
In fact, both options are intensely satisfying. What is not to like about helping others, or at least trying to?
iT SHOULDN'T MATTER WHETHER THE PLAYER IS NEW OR LOSING. wHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER THE PLAYER HAS A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE AND WANTS TO LEARN! EGOS ARE THE HARDEST THING TO CHANGE Posted by DUNMIDOSH
This.
Helping a poor player with a good mental game/attitude become a break even or small winning player has to be very easy.
Helping a good player with a lot of ability but a poor attitude is nigh on impossible.
Does depend on attitude, willingness to learn etc but I think it'd much easier to teach someone from scratch. Some people who have played for a long time just have a lot of flaws in the thinking process (for instance... wanting to bet bigger to avoid getting outdrawn when betting smaller may get called wider and will be more +EV in the longterm but does increase our chances of being outdrawn) and it can be really hard to wipe them from their mind.
Does depend on attitude, willingness to learn etc but I think it'd much easier to teach someone from scratch. Some people who have played for a long time just have a lot of flaws in the thinking process (for instance... wanting to bet bigger to avoid getting outdrawn when betting smaller may get called wider and will be more +EV in the longterm but does increase our chances of being outdrawn) and it can be really hard to wipe them from their mind. Definitely rather start with a fresh slate Posted by Lambert180
Where does someone sign-up for said teachings anyway?
I'd imagine the new to game person would be easier, because they wouldn't have any plays ingrained on their poker brain, things which have become instinctive and they would frequently still do in-game (with minimal thinking time) even though they would recognise the error / sub-optimal play when watching their session back and discussing small errors.
Assuming that that the new to game person has the enthusiasm for it... I've tried getting some mates into poker so we can get to a decent number for a home game, but they just don't get the buzz. I guess that may also be the case if you teach a newbie the game, they miss the more 'fun' (degen) element associated with diving in at the deep end without any study!
I can't imagine that teaching my mum how to play (who knows nothing about poker) could possibly be easier than 'rebooting' any losing player in the world!
Don't do it!.....I taught a cocky young guy how to be a winning player at the poker league I run on a Friday.. Now he owns me most weeks! Edit...every week. Posted by DAVEYZZ
Comments
Feel free to explain your reasoning.
Often a losing player only needs one tweak to become a winning player - you would just need to find where they are going wrong. Having said that, I'm still learning myself so I'm probably not the right person to be teaching poker just yet xD
Teaching a losing player is MUCH more of a challenge, but an enjoyable one.
Many of them blame other problems for their results. The challenging part is getting them to accept that they need to look at themselves, their own game, & not worry about what other people do, bad luck, outdraws, etc.
Teaching a new player to play, assuming they have the ability to listen, & learn, is one of THE most satisfying things ever. They learn, then off they go, & you know they will have, literally, a lifetime of fun ahead of them, at little or no cost. Very satisfying.
In fact, both options are intensely satisfying. What is not to like about helping others, or at least trying to?
wHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER THE PLAYER HAS A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE AND WANTS TO LEARN!
EGOS ARE THE HARDEST THING TO CHANGE
This.
Helping a poor player with a good mental game/attitude become a break even or small winning player has to be very easy.
Helping a good player with a lot of ability but a poor attitude is nigh on impossible.
Unless you're a psychologist maybe.
Even they'd struggle with Don!
Agreed but lets assume they both had those traits in equal measures, would it still be equally difficult (or easy!) to teach them.
Start afresh/clean slate.
Donism
I'd imagine the new to game person would be easier, because they wouldn't have any plays ingrained on their poker brain, things which have become instinctive and they would frequently still do in-game (with minimal thinking time) even though they would recognise the error / sub-optimal play when watching their session back and discussing small errors.
Assuming that that the new to game person has the enthusiasm for it... I've tried getting some mates into poker so we can get to a decent number for a home game, but they just don't get the buzz. I guess that may also be the case if you teach a newbie the game, they miss the more 'fun' (degen) element associated with diving in at the deep end without any study!