Review of Jared Tendler’s coaching

You might know Jared from his videos on Stox/CR or maybe from some of his 2p2 posts. He coaches the “mental game” aspect of poker. I approached him in August to seek some help in that department. My main problem was having anxiety/stress when playing and also, like everyone else, some issues with tilt and aversion to negative variance. I hadn’t seen his videos beforehand, all I knew from him was from a friend’s recommendation. He said “one session with Jared changed my life” and as that is a pretty strong thumbs up I decided to book his 8 hrs package and see how it goes. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain since he offered a refund at any time during the package if i decided to change my mind.

The first thing we did is have a 15 min conversation on skype to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of what I’d like to get out of the sessions, what it entails, etc… This was followed by having me fill out a pretty extensive questionnaire on what my goals are with the sessions, what issues I have, my work schedule, interests, etc etc.. It took a good 2 hrs to fill out and it shows how professional Jared is in his coaching and also how involved he actually is with his program. He personalizes everything to you and the questionnaire serves as a foundation for it. Already I was pretty impressed with him given the input I was required to put in before we even started. It showed to me that he just doesn’t copy and paste what he says and that he cares about what his students have to say and what kind of person they are.

In the first session, which was 90 mins (usually they are 60), there were already some “ah ah!” moments that opened up my mind to new and very interesting/important concepts related to our emotions and mind work. It was a bit more theoretical than the future sessions but it was the basis for the rest of his program and very important. I ended up with 3 full pages of notes on that session and most of it, if not all, is stuff I had never read or heard elsewhere. Jared doesn’t just re-hash stuff you’ve seen before, I have a feeling he has worked really hard on developing his own personal approach to coaching the mental game, and it really shows. Also a lot of the time spent was me talking, answering questions and telling him what I was thinking. He doesn’t just blah blah his program out, you’re an integral part of it at all times and he seeks and welcomes your thoughts at every turn, and listens.

Throughout the following 6 sessions Jared impressed me more and more with not only his ability to constantly have something helpful/mind-blowing or interesting to say but also with his very easy-going, friendly and open personality. He struck me as someone who genuinely cares about helping you, and with coaching you don’t always get that. I’d say it’s more of a rare thing and not the norm. To me that was extremely important as it helped me be a lot more involved in the process and his program. I was very much looking forward to each session. Jared definitely has a way to make you feel completely comfortable and when it comes to dealing with psychological things, that’s one of the primary assets of a great person to talk with.

There was never a moment in our sessions where Jared did not know how to approach a problem or a new curve ball i’d throw at him and he would always do it in a way where it would make complete sense and was immensely efficient. Every minute of the 8 hrs we spent together were filled with great stuff and a lot of light bulbs went off.

How much did his program help me? I’d say hiring him was the best thing i’ve done in a long time. Not only did we fix a ton of the emotional problems I had with poker but he also changed me as a person in life outside of the game. I’m a more positive, constructive and happier person in general because of him and the work he had me do on my own. It sounds like I was some sort of psychotic person before but it wasn’t the case. I was just dealing with very typical issues related to poker. Without me knowing it, the root causes of the issues were not from the game itself but because I had learned bad mental habits and thought processes that he flipped around completely and it made me a better person in general. I feel like I can take everything I have learned from him and apply to all areas of life now and in the future. That’s important to note: he doesn’t just tell you what to do, he shows you HOW to fix those problems and any other that will occur in the future.

I could not recommend Jared more to anyone not only looking to resolve some of their poker-related issues but also to anyone who wants help with the peripheral things like getting the most of yourself, work ethic, learning processes, etc…  He is simply amazing and a great person to talk to about pretty much anything. He gets a giant gold star of approval from me and I plan on booking 8 more hours with him in a month or two, once I get to implementing all the things he has taught me. He has not only made me a better poker player but also a better person and I consider him a close friend of mine already.

cliffs: go hire Jared, he is awesome.