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When Harrah’s announced that the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table would be delayed until November it led to speculation that some of the players may take the opportunity to hire some of the game's top players as coaches to help improve their game and their chances at being world champion.
Michael Binger, who currently sits second in Bluff Magazine’s Player-of-the-Year race, and Roy Winston, who finished 26th at the 2007 WSOP main event and followed that up by winning the World Poker Tour’s Borgata Poker Open last September, have joined forces to launch Oracle Poker Consulting.
The company will offer training covering all levels of poker from beginner to advanced with both tournament play and cash game play included. But once the main event final table players are set, the company will shift their focus to working with one of those players to hone their skills before returning to the Rio in November to complete the main event.
“The process is multi-faceted and will include computer based hand simulation and analysis, video teaching and substantial preparation for individual opponents. Reviewing videos of students play will allow substantial clean up their physical game as well, making reading them difficult even for accomplished players,” said Binger, who has made seven final tables in the past year alone.
Winston believes that the coaching aspect is part of the continuing evolution of the game of poker.
“In almost every other sport or activity, be it team or individual, coaching is a large part of the performance improvement process. Today’s poker player has come a long way from the days of underground card rooms where the hustlers prayed on the inexperienced. Beyond the fundamentals, just one of the advanced concepts we teach is the ability to put your opponent on a narrow range of hands so you can beat them with a wide range of hands.”
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