Partypoker is giving its KO Series some extra oomph by offering players the chance to win coaching with brand ambassador Bertrand Grospellier.
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Partypoker is offering tournament players the chance to win an exclusive coaching session with Bertrand Grospellier. (Image: Altered Confusion)
To hype the start of the series on August 26, Partypoker announced that anyone who plays at least 20 KO events before September 3 will be in with a chance of winning the exclusive prize.
As part of the promotion, active KO Series players with enough MTTs under the belt will go into a random draw to receive one hour of coaching from Grospellier.
Learn from the Pro
The point of the session is to prepare the winner for the £550/$710 Million UK live tournament at Nottingham’s Dusk till Dawn card room. In addition to an hour’s worth of professional coaching, the player will receive travel expenses, entry to the event and accommodation.
As a pro, the man known as ElkY has some of the best credentials in the game. As well as sitting 37th on the all-time money list with $13.6 million in live earnings, the Frenchman has multiple titles.
Although he’ll only have an hour to offer his take on how to play like an EPT, WPT and WSOP champion, the winner should get a few helpful tips to help them on their way.
Poker Coaching Causing a Stir
The promotion from Partypoker comes at a time when poker coaching is under the spotlight. Following a tweet criticizing Daniel Negreanu’s Masterclass series, Doyle Brunson has come under fire for launching his own training site.
Promoting the virtual venture via his Twitter page on August 25, the Godfather of Poker was forced to defend himself for giving away the type of secrets he previously said Negreanu shouldn’t be.
“Yes, but it was already in the works. I couldn’t stop it, I had already agreed to do it. In my defense, I’m 85 years old and @RealKidPoker is 42 so I only have to defend myself and what I teach for 17 more years (that makes 10-2) while Danny has a lot longer,” Brunson wrote on August 26.
Despite his typically sarcastic tone defusing the situation, it’s clear from the comments that some players are skeptical about pros and their training sites. By charging money for information that’s either outdated or available via other methods, there are those see it as nothing more than a self-serving project.
“Doyle isn’t teaching, his son is, and his game theory isn’t anywhere near top level play at this stage, it’s a money grab,” @CryptoRanger1 tweeted in response to Brunson’s new training site.
Although Partypoker’s coaching promo falls outside of these criticisms, it raises the question of what’s too much when it comes to giving away information. The average skill level in poker has increased dramatically over the last decade, with many players now suggesting it’s almost too tough to make money online.
For operators, this poses a problem as they try to bring casual gamers into the mix. While education and evolution are inevitable, the willingness to swap inside knowledge for a quick buck is something that critics will argue is stunting the growth of poker.
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