I was browsing 2+2 and someone was bitching about something relating to CardRunners. Maybe the video they wanted wasn't up early in the morning due to technical issues or something. Whenever I read that, it astounds me how quickly people lose perspective of just how much $30/month is worth among the poker playing community. I can't help but think of the Louis CK interview in which he talks about how quickly people feel entitled:



Most training sites, including CardRunners, cost $30/month which I think is absurdly cheap when you think about how much money most people win/lose in a month of playing.

If you are looking to get 1-1 coaching, good luck finding anything under $50/hr ... and $50/hr is like the BOTTOM of the pricing range. Most coaches charge anywhere between $50-$100 to coach the micro stakes players.

So ... 1 month of access of TONS of resources - videos, articles, forums, etc, for $30.

One hour of coaching for $50-$100. From personal experience, I know that it's very difficult to really get a lot done in an hour, and that's even under IDEAL conditions, namely:

- Coach is already familiar with your game and issues
- Coach has a specific plan which he prepared to address those issues
- You and him are able to move at a good pace through this plan

This means that for coaching to really pay off, you need a minimum of 2-3 sessions and at least 4-5 hours of work on the coach's end. I'm don't know if people still do the "Let me watch you play and I'll tell you what to do" model of coaching, but I imagine that to be the least effective method of addressing the long term student issues.

For those of you that even watch only 2-3 videos per month ... the price of your education is so much lower than individual coaching. Now ... at some point videos aren't enough. Tons of coaches are pretty good about answering questions in the forums pertaining to their videos or even general questions. I don't think a lot of people use that resource.

Basically ... I continue to be surprised at how inexpensive a membership to a site like CardRunners is (hell - it's free if you play on FTP enough) in comparison to how expensive individual coaching is. The gap is astronomical! I am sure there is a supply/demand reason that CR/DC/Leggo/BF don't charge $35-$50/month, but I think plenty of people wold still be members.

Now - I totally get why good players charge what they do for coaching. Supply/demand. They have limited time and if someone wants to pay them x for their time, they are willing to do it, otherwise, they are not. I get it. If the demand exists and people feel like they are getting x amount of value from a certain coach, pay it (assuming the coach is honest about results/credentials and you are an educated customer).

What I am still trying to understand is why is CR so cheap? Is it because most members are recreational players who have a very passive approach to learning and play the low limits?