Is a poker course worth it?

Is it really worth buying a course to learn how to play?

As most things:
Depends on the content and the price. As well as your buyins.

I recommend our own CardsChat course instead. It's free and quite helpful for the basics!

You can find more info here:

I think that before buying courses, you need to gain at least a little experience.

There are a few things to consider when answering this question and the responses will be different for every individual.

What is your current level of experience? - If you're a new or inexperienced player. my Number one recommendation for beginners is CardChats own 30 Day course - https://www.cardschat.com/poker/strategy/become-a-winning-poker-player/ - this is great for beginners. Breaks down the main concepts of the game and gives you an insight into basic strategy. There is also loads of content on Twitch and YouTube.
Do you know what your leaks are? - Most sites / courses tell you what to do, but if you don't know what your leaks are, how do you know which content is most suitable for you? You could end up spending a lot of money without making any real improvement.
Do you have expendable income to spend on a course? - It's never worth it if you can't afford it.
Are you a winning or losing player currently? - If you're a winning player, you can "reward" yourself with a suitable course out of your winnings, rather than out of your salary. If you're a losing player...refer back to point one
Are you already studying by yourself? - I think this often the most overlooked point. If you're not already putting the time in, you're unlikely to change, so you would end up spending you money on nothing.

As others have said, it depends on, what you mean by "learning to play". If this statement is to be taken literally, then no. There is lots of free content, which can teach you the basics of the game, and you can go to play money tables or freerolls to get your first experience. If you already have some experience, then maybe, but its important to select a suitable course. A $1.000 course is overkill, if you are playing in the micros, but maybe a $50 course could be a good investment.

There is so much free stuff on-line, why would you pay? Check out people like Jonathan Little or books on poker by people who know what they are talking about.

Try Cardschat 30 day course it's free! and even I gained a little bit from it and I have been playing for over 20 years. I once had a Friend who took an interest in learning Poker and I lent him a book called the Mammoth book of Poker I told him it had chapters dedicated to the different formats of Poker but the first few chapters concentrated on the basics like hand strength and how the game progresses through different betting rounds etc.
I also lent him a Computer disc called Chris Moneymakers World series Challenge. Where you battle in different casinos trying to win a seat in the grand final, but told him not to take it too seriously as I beat it the first time I played the game.
With that he went home and around a month or so later he brought them back saying he was ready for the real thing, So I took him along to one of my Weekly games where the buy-in was only £5.00 so he wouldn't lose that much and an hour into the game he got busted out. I caught up with him during the break and he said he couldn't understand where he went wrong, he did everything it said in the book and still he got beat, I asked him "did you read it from cover to cover?" "Yes" he replied.
"Well there's your problem, They haven't". You need to understand that in every poker game you will come up against "Fish" Players who think they know how to play but in reality they rely on Luck. And they are everywhere, Even World champions can be beaten by a Lucky Fish now and again, But over a hundred games the Professional Player will always come out on top, Don't Give up on yourself because you will eventually beat these fish when their Luck runs out.
He came back the following week and took the 2nd place winning around £35.00, With more games under his belt he started to win 1st place now and again and became a Profitable player, and that's all we can ask for.
Paying for a course? I don't think is necessary, experience in playing is far more important, but if that is what you believe can improve your game, Go for it,
Just remember any money you invest in Poker whether that's buy-ins, Books, or Training Courses it all has to be won back before you can be called a Profitable Player!

I believe so...but the difficult thing is finding a good course in my language (Portuguese)

At what stake ? Higher or medium the answer is obvious . Lower ? I don't think so . Especially for micro or nano stakes it would be ridiculous to take private lessons . Generally I do t like private lessons online . I don't believe anyone has ever taken seriously help from them . Private live , by a poker buddies , to study together , that's another thing ofcourse .

I'm not gonna repeat what's already been said but I do have to agree with the others and reiterate taking the cardschat poker course is a great start if you're looking for a way to improve your game and play and add its cost of nothing you can't go wrong but you will gain a ton of value.
As for paying for courses, as others have said it depends on what you're playing but I think it also depends on what you want out of the future. If you're just playing in the microstates I have no intention of doing more or playing live it really does not make so much sense to go spend the money to improve your game. Now some have said it's not worth doing this in the lowest of stakes in this I disagree. If you plan on moving up in stakes what would like to do more in the future it may be worth paying for more training. It's not gonna make you money now but the more you learn now the better prepared you'll be to move up. I take my training and play seriously and many people would say I probably overdo it for what level I play at this time and they wouldn't be wrong per se. But I don't play for the money I do have a plans For the future and that's what this training was for.
Now for me the training has been worth it but for others it may not and I would never recommend it to a beginning player doesn't intend to go much farther but it really does depend on what you want in the future.

as long as you are willing to learn from whoever teaches the poker course, this will be worth it, obviously as already said in other comments, you must take into account its price and what it will provide you with as training.

If its cheap and made by trustworthy pro players yes absolutely XD
Go for the gold
God bless

I would not advise you to buy a poker training course

The question makes sense, because so many coaches are promoting themselves today that it's hard to tell which of them really understands what they're doing and which of them is doing it just to drag you down. So it would be good if someone who has already participated in this kind of thing and can really recommend a good instructor, someone who can really teach.

My thoughts and questions for you to consider...
1. Cardschat Training first up especially for a newbie/beginner - its excellent and i have completed so i know from experience.
2. How often do you play poker?
3. bankroll management is vital before investing.
4. Refer to Fundivers comment earlier - if you are only playing micros then a beginners level and free training is probably the best way to go - no point wasting money outside of this.
5. Start small and review, give yourself say for example 12 months and look at results and expenditure versus profitability then again measure this against what you can afford to spend on poker = then decide if you want to either step up a level or even down a level and if investing in a course is worth it.
6. Check out poker training courses you can buy, look at best reviews - listen to players who have benefited and identify what it was that made the investment worthwhile or not worthwhile.
7. If you do enrol on a course - remember you can always leave it at the end, no point continuing if you are not benefiting from it.

It all depends on you, what type of people you approach.
There are people who absorb information more if they figure it out themselves. There are those who need everything to be shown and explained.Looking at successful players, none of them talked about any courses. Only working in programs and hiring a coach, the best way to become a plus player. There are no freebies. This is a business.

E10zinho said:

Is it really worth buying a course to learn how to play?

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This probably depends primarily on your financial capabilities. There are different courses, some are cheap, some are expensive, and some are even free. And if you don't want to spend extra money, you should definitely start with those courses that are free, in particular with our free CardsChat course

why buy, when its right here on CC. Try that first.

you know everything now is available online almost is some good books to do...is the cardschat one for free i pick up and do it every so often and been playing for 34 years

Before you pay for a coach, it would be better to take advantage of the free opportunities provided by this forum and the Internet.

There are a lot of free resources available to improve your game.

Whatever level of effort you put into it, is what you will get out. Or as RATT would say "what you give... is what you get".

I believe that if you are a beginner, then study strategies, watch free videos, read books, articles that are freely available, and when you are more professionally engaged, take a few classes with a trainer, this will be of great benefit

E10zinho said:

Is it really worth buying a course to learn how to play?

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I think it does. But there's a lot of free material and tools that you can benefit from before that

Will the course be beneficial for players who are already intermediate or above?

Depends on you actual Level... It could be very helpduly for you 🤙, în general these are very good for beginners 😄