Best Poker Training Sites

Becoming and staying a winning poker player has become increasingly difficult over the years. With the number of players studying the game constantly growing, staying ahead of the curve is no longer an easy task. This trend has led to a significant increase in the number of poker training sites out there.

While poker training sites have existed almost as long as online poker, for a long time, there were only a few of them, and the content offered on these sites wasn’t nearly as elaborate as what’s available today.

On this page, we bring you an overview of the best poker training sites in 2025 and talk about all the different advantages of these platforms and why joining one (or more) of them could be the best decision for your poker career moving forward.

What are poker training sites?

Poker training sites are learning platforms containing useful study materials for people looking to improve their knowledge of the game. These learning materials consist of video lessons, strategy articles, hand charts, and various useful tools such as poker solvers, ICM calculators, and much more.

Best Poker Training Sites

If you simply search for the best poker training sites on Google (which may be how you landed on this page), you’ll find a very long list of learning platforms. This is because the demand for poker training has grown significantly, leading to many players, alone or with a team, looking to meet that demand.

It would be impossible to go over every single site out there, but the list you’ll find below represents our top picks for anyone looking to become a better poker player, whether you’re completely new to the game or an experienced grinder looking to tackle higher stakes or a different format.

PokerCoaching.com: Great for Beginners and Intermediate Players

PokerCoaching.com certainly makes the list of the best poker training sites out there. Created by Jonathan Little, this platform has grown and evolved over the years, becoming a top destination for beginner and intermediate players.

PokerCoaching.com operates primarily on a subscription model. Once you become a member, you’ll have access to almost all the courses on the site for as long as your subscription is active. There is even a free subscription option that gives you limited access to training materials.

It is important to note that the focus of PokerCoaching.com is on No Limit Hold’em, and you’ll find courses and lesson for cash games and tournaments alike.

In addition to Little, the coaching roster contains names like Justin Saliba, Jon Jaffe, Matt Affleck, Brock Willson, and more. Some of the courses featured on the site are:

• Poker Math Every Player Needs to Know (free course)
• Tournament Masterclass by Jonathan Little
• Advanced Tournament Course by Little, Brock Willson, Jonathan Jaffe, and Matt Affleck
• Advanced Cash Game Course by Little, Chris Brewer, Justin Saliba, and Jaffe

PokerCoaching.com also has a very interactive approach to poker training, with homework tasks, challenges, and a vibrant Discord community for all members, making this a perfect platform for those who like to learn and grow in a group setting.

We have an exclusive deal with PokerCoaching that gives you full membership access for three days for free. Simply sign up via this link, and you’ll have three days to explore the site, familiarize yourself with the content, and decide if it is a good fit.

Upswing Poker: Top Pick for Advanced Players

Even if you’ve never joined a poker training site, you’ve probably heard the name Upswing Poker. It is arguably one of the largest, most comprehensive, and most famous learning platforms.

The brainchild of Doug Polk, the man who used to dominate the highest stake heads-up games online, Upswing has grown into a poker training site that caters to players of all shapes and sizes. Albeit it is targeted more towards serious and professional players, it also has a lot of materials geared towards beginners.

Upswing Poker consists mainly of individual courses that you can buy separately as and when you need them. All of these are created by top players who focus on their specific field of expertise (tournaments, cash games, mixed games, etc.).

Here are a few courses that you’ll find on this platform:

• Upswing Lab — geared towards poker beginners, this is the most comprehensive introductory course for poker that starts with the very basics but goes into a number of intermediate concepts as well. This course alone can make you a very solid player.
• Tournament Mastery — taught by Darren Elias and Nick Petrangelo, this is a high-level course for tournament players who want to compete at the highest level.
• Mixed Game Mastery — this is one-of-a-kind course taught by Jake Abdalla, giving the basics of mixed games like Seven Card Stud, Razz, and Omaha Hi-Lo.
• Elite Cash Game Exploits — Uri Peleg uncovers secrets of high-stakes cash games and how to develop a winning strategy even against the best players in the world.

On top of this, Upswing Poker offers a variety of charts and useful tools for studying the game and staying sharp while away from the felt.

Pokercode: Mix of Beginner & Advanced Coaching

Pokercode is another poker coaching site created by a top-tier player. The platform was founded by the high-stakes crusher Fedor Holz, who gathered a team of top pros around him to create another quality learning site.

Pokercode brings a good balance between content for poker beginners and courses for advanced players. The site layout was inspired by Netflix, giving you an easy way to browse the content and find exactly what you’re looking for.

This site is somewhat different from alternatives, as it features only a handful of full-fledged courses and focuses more on topical videos covering different strategic aspects of MTTs and cash games alike.

There are a few memberships options. Signing up for free gives you very limited access to the platform. Then, there are two paid packages: a one-off payment or a monthly membership. If you want full and unrestricted access, the monthly membership is your best bet.

As far as the content is concerned, some of the highlights include:

• MTT Masterclass by Fedor Holz
• Cash Game Masterclass by Steffen Sontheimer
• 500+ videos covering specific topics
• Hundreds of quizzes to test your newly acquired knowledge

PLO Mastermind: Start Crushing Pot Limit Omaha

While many poker training sites focus fully or at least primarily on No Limit Hold’em, there are some good options for those looking to improve their Pot Limit Omaha game as well. One of the top picks in this category is PLO Mastermind.

Created by Fernando 'JNANDEZ’ Habegger, an online PLO crusher, this site provides coaching videos and the PLO Trainer app with over 1,000,000 solutions for PLO cash games and tournaments. The app allows you to practice and perfect your skills in a fun and interactive way.

While the site is geared more towards advanced players, it is a very good resource for those taking their first steps into the world of PLO as well. With the app, you can practice your preflop and postflop skills and your mistakes are flagged in real time, allowing you to quickly grow and develop as a player.

PLO Mastermind operates on a monthly membership that’s not very cheap, but for those willing to put in the hours and take full advantage of resources provided by this platform, it is well worth it.

Advanced Poker Training: A Hands-On Approach

Advanced Poker Training is a poker training site designed for those who prefer to learn by doing. While the platform does offer some written and video resources, at its core, it is an app that allows you to play against virtual opponent in different types of settings and learn from the experience.

You can set up almost any situation or position you want to analyze, play through it for as much as you like, and receive tips, advice, and feedback in real time. To help you fast-track your progress, there are weekly and monthly reports.

Advanced Poker Training is the most interactive learning platform out there, and it is a great standalone option as well as an excellent addition to the work you might be doing on a different site. With its interactive app, you can test things you learn and see how these different scenarios play out at the tables.

The monthly membership is very reasonable, making Advanced Poker Training a very viable option.

Run It Once: Good Mix of PLO & NLHE Resources

Envisioned and created by the PLO legend Phil Galfond, Run It Once is a poker coaching site that started with a focus on Pot Limit Omaha but then evolved to also cover No Limit Hold’em.

Today, the site offers a pretty well-rounded training library powered by Galfond himself, as well as the likes of Owen Shiels, Patrick Leonard, Alex Theologis, and several other accomplished professionals.

The site consists of two parts or sections. There are individual courses that you can buy separately, but there is also a members’ area. Everyone can sign up for free, but there are two paid membership options that give you access to video lessons: Essential and Elite. With one of these memberships, you get access to thousands of videos covering a variety of NLHE and PLO topics and concepts, with new ones added regularly.

As for individual courses, you can pick from the options like:

• From the Ground Up — PLO Edition by Phil Galfond — an extensive introductory course for Pot Limit Omaha, great for Texas Hold’em players looking to make a switch.
• From the Ground Up — MTT Edition by Owen Shiels
• PADS on PADS by Patrick Leonard — an advanced tournament course taught by one of the most successful MTT crushers out there
• This Is PLO by Phil Galfond — an advanced PLO course taught by the man who the majority of the poker world agrees is the best Pot Limit Omaha player in existence.

Run It Once is a poker training site that works for everyone, from beginners to high stakes players. It has lessons to fit every skill level and membership and course prices have been devised in a way where players should be able to afford them and where the investment makes sense for the stakes they play.

Top Free Poker Training Options

A majority of poker coaching sites require a payment of some sort, be it a one-off or a reoccurring subscription, to get full access to the training content. However, these platforms usually have some free options as well, and there are some completely free poker training sites out there, primarily geared at those new to the game.

We bring you an overview of free learning options to give your poker career a boost without spending any money and help you make better informed decisions about what paid options might be the best fit for you.

PokerStars Learn: Best Free Poker Training Site for Beginners

Powered by one of the largest online poker operators in existence, PokerStars Learn is your completely free poker training platform. The site features a lot of content aimed at beginners, covering topics such as:

• Poker rules & basics (hand rankings, poker glossary)
• Courses for specific game types (MTTs, cash games, Spin & Go)
• Strategy courses covering different spots & specific topics (including off-the-felt advice)

The training content is largely presented in the written form and there aren’t many video lessons on offer. That said, this is a completely free platform available to everyone (you don’t even need a PokerStars account, albeit you might as well get one if you don’t have it already), and it is more than enough to get you going if you’re at the very start of your poker journey.

PokerCoaching.com: Free Membership

PokerCoaching is a paid site, as discussed previously, but it offers a completely free membership that gives you access to a fair number of lessons and resources without spending any money. Just by signing up for an account, you’ll receive:

• Several poker e-books (covering tournament and cash game strategies)
• Free preflop charts
• Poker math video course covering all essential concepts (pot odds, equities, stack-to-pot ratio, ICM, and more)
• Limited access to poker quizzes and lessons

Given the fact that you only need to sign up for a free account (which takes a few seconds to do), this is certainly well worth it. You’ll get access to some solid beginners’ resources and also get an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the platform and decide if you like what it has to offer before signing up for one of the paid membership options.

Upswing Poker: Best for Free Resources

Upswing Poker doesn’t offer much in terms of free poker training options, but you can pick up a few resources on this site as well by just entering your email address. These include:

• Free preflop charts
• 10 Laws of Live Poker
• Access to Hand Converter & Replayer

It’s not a long list of freebies, but you might as well pick them up. The hand replayer can be a rather valuable tool to use for your post-game analysis, so you can at least check it out and see how you like it.

Advanced Poker Training

On the very opposite side of free poker coaching options is advanced poker training geared towards serious players who are looking for resources to take their game to the next level by tackling higher stakes or perhaps adding a new format to their grinding routine.

The most important characteristics of advanced poker training are its complexity and focus. These types of courses and learning materials start with certain assumptions about viewers, such as that they already have solid fundamentals and don’t need to be explained basics.

Upswing Poker Advanced Training

Upswing Poker is the leading authority when it comes to advanced poker training content. Over the years, the platform produced over a dozen high-level courses for already successful players who want to move the bar, climb the stakes, and potentially tackle some of the toughest games around. Their advanced courses are created by some of the best players around so you know you’re getting your money’s worth:

• Nick Petrangelo & Darren Elias bringing you top-tier tournament strategies (over $52 million in combined tournament winnings)
• Doug Polk’s secrets to crushing heads-up games (Polk was one of the best online HU players for a long time)
• Secrets & exploits for high stakes cash games from Uri Peleg, an online crusher with a proven track record

This is, without a doubt, some of the best poker training content out there, but it does come at a price. A majority of these top-tier courses are priced at $999 (albeit you can get them at big discounts a few times a year). The knowledge contained within is well worth it, though, as they are designed primarily for players who already play mid to high stakes, where the price equates to one or two buy-ins or much less.

Run It Once Elite Training

The Run It Once platform offers two types of subscription and their Elite membership is an excellent pick for those looking for advanced poker training.

The Elite package gives you access to well over 8,000 videos produced by some of the best players in the world, including Phil Galfond, Dan Smith, Dan 'Jungleman’ Cates, Brian Hastings, Jason Koon, and many more. All of these players and poker coaches have outstanding track records and have accumulated a wealth of knowledge over the years they spent playing and studying the game.

Like with Upswing, the price may seem a bit steep (at $199.99 a month or $1,400 for a full year), but considering the quality of content and the audience Run It Once Elite is designed for, it is quite reasonable.

Advantages of Poker Training Sites

Once upon a time, poker was a game that was played largely based on a gut feeling with some basic math added to the mix. If you were able to master the basics and a few slightly advanced concepts, this was enough to win.

Over the years, things have changed a lot, and poker has become much more precise, methodical, and even scientific. Even at low stakes, especially online, you’ll find that many players are at least solid and in no rush to part with their chips.

To keep up and stay ahead of the curve, you need to continue learning and developing, and poker training sites allow you to do so in the simplest and most efficient manner. They offer you access to materials that are:

• Created by winning players who know what they’re talking about
• Designed in a structured way so you can easily follow them
• Based on up-to-date trends, strategies, and tendencies

Everything there is to learn in poker, you could, in theory, learn on your own. However, without someone to give you some advice and point you in the right direction, you can easily spend hundreds of hours focusing on things that don’t really matter or, even worse, trying to fix something that doesn’t need fixing.

Poker coaching sites help you get around all those pitfalls and make the best use of your time. Whether you are looking to learn how to play tournaments from start to finish or want to focus on a very specific spot, like defending your big blind 30 big blinds deep, you can easily find materials that give you exactly what you need.

How to Choose the Best Poker Training Site or App for You

With so many options out there, picking the best poker coaching site that fits your particular needs can be tricky. We’ve given you some recommendations and explanations earlier on this page, but it is really important to be clear and honest about where you are in terms of your poker career and what it is that you want to achieve.

The first thing to understand is that if you’re a beginner, you don’t need advanced courses, and you’d actually be setting money on fire by buying them. If you’ve only been playing poker for a few months and mostly play low stakes, you don’t need a $1,000 course on how to crush high stakes. A lot of what’s in there will be over your head, and strategies described there might not even work well in a low-stakes setting.

Secondly, figure out what it is that you want to learn. For beginners, the best thing to do is pick a certain format, be it MTTs, cash games, or sit and gos, and pick a course or site that offers the best range of materials on that particular topic. Spend some time watching free videos to see how you like it and if you’re able to follow the lessons.

We all have different ways we like to consume knowledge, and that’s fine. Find the one that works best for you.

Don’t be deterred by having to pay some money for access. While you don’t need to spend thousands as a beginner or even an intermediate player, paying $10 – $100 a month or buying a course that costs around a hundred bucks can be a great investment. If it ends up improving your win rate even slightly, it will quickly pay for itself.

Finally, you need to understand that the quality of poker training isn’t important if you are not ready to put in the work. Be honest with yourself and figure out how much time you can devote to learning. If you spend a lot of money on a course that you can’t properly dive into, you might feel like you’re not getting your money’s worth, but at the end of the day, you are the one who needs to pull the weight.

Poker Training Sites FAQ

Are poker training sites free?

While most poker training sites do have a free membership option, it usually comes with pretty significant limitations. In most cases, you’ll have to pay a one-off or a monthly membership fee to be able to access all training materials.

Do I need to join a poker coaching site as a beginner?

If you’re just starting in poker, you don’t necessarily need a training site, as there is a lot of free information out there. However, signing up with a site or buying a beginners’ course can be a great investment that will save you a lot of time and help you avoid many common mistakes and pitfalls.

How to pick the best poker training site for me?

This is a complicated question that we explain in more detail on our page. In short, however, you need to figure out what it is that you want to learn about, how much time you have to devote to learning and pick a site or a course that matches your skill level/stakes you play.

Can I get my money back if I’m not happy with a poker training site?

It depends on the site, but most sites will give you a certain grace period to check things out and see if you like what they have to offer, and if you’re not happy, they’ll usually cancel your membership and give you back the money upon your request.

Is advanced poker training worth the money?

Advanced poker training courses and subscriptions may seem very pricey at a first glance, but these are targeted at already established players who play mid to high stakes already. If you are a beginner or someone who’s just starting to find some success with poker, you don’t need to pay big money for advanced poker courses as cheaper options will be more than enough to keep you moving in the right direction.