The highly competitive poker training market has a new player. Recently, PokerSwat.com launched, featuring some of the young guns in the poker industry sharing their secrets with the site’s members. Poker News Daily spoke with Donal O’Connor, Marketing Executive for PokerSwat Limited, to learn more about the new venture.
The team of professionals at PokerSwat.com is second to none in the industry. The company has lined up familiar faces in the online poker world such as James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, BoylePoker.com pro Marty Smyth, Alec Torelli (traheho to his opponents on the virtual felts), Christopher Egemo, Terje “Terken89” Augdai, and young poker sensation Aurangzeb Sheikh, who is known by his peers as Ozzy87. Its unique lineup of pros is one of its stronger selling points, O’Connor told Poker News Daily: “It’s a very exciting time for us at PokerSwat as we start to push the site out to the masses. We really believe that we are offering a service to the poker community that can only add to and increase the current high level of instructional videos on the market.”
Other pros who will offer instruction under the PokerSwat.com banner include Soren Kongsgaard, Stephen Costello (affectionately known as PoorUser in the online poker world), Morton Erlandsen (dubiously dubbed Pokergirl1), Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin, and Andy Ward. Jon “Bas” Spinks, Daragh “Hector Thomas” Thomas, David “Pok3rPlaya” Tuite, and David “Roundtower” Murray will also publish instructional material. In total, the site boasts coaches from a wide variety of backgrounds.
Three tiers of membership are available to prospective customers. A Silver membership can be had for $13.99 per month plus a $23.99 sign-up fee (all dollar amounts are approximate given exchange rates). Silver membership customers can access all videos up to $0.50/$1 in cash games as well as micro-limit multi-table and single-table tournaments. Silver members can also check out pro blogs, strategy articles, and gain access to various freerolls. Above the Silver membership is Gold status, which includes the right to view videos up to $3/$6 as well as mid-stakes tournaments. A Gold membership will set you back $19.99 per month plus a $39.99 sign-up fee.
The granddaddy of membership levels is Platinum, which runs $24.99 per month plus a one-time fee of $49.99. Platinum members can access all videos on the site as well as podcasts and live chats with its pros. Discounts on all memberships are available for those customers who wish to sign up for three, six, or 12 months at a time. A free account is also available, which grants access to the site’s forums, five sample videos, and the ability to read blogs.
O’Connor discusses the reasons behind the three-tiered membership, which has become popular in not just the poker training industry, but also in a multitude of others: “We believe that by introducing a three-tiered membership system for members, our customers can view videos that are appropriate for the games they play and their poker bankrolls.” The site has not narrowed its focus to just Texas Hold’em. Instead, it is looking to branch out and produce at least 10 Pot Limit Omaha videos monthly. O’Connor explained the reason for the diversification: “The Pot Limit Omaha market is an area that we intend to concentrate on that will distinguish us from our competition. We have a coaching team that includes some of the biggest winners in online poker over the past six to 12 months.”
The site’s pros hail from the four corners of the Earth. In addition, it can be translated into French, German, and Italian. O’Connor commented, “With a distinctive European association with a lot of our coaches, European poker players can identify with major players from their home countries while still having a good blend of high quality American coaches.”
Recently, poker training industry juggernaut CardRunners merged with StoxPoker. PokerXFactor also features a bevy of well-known poker stars, including Eric “Rizen” Lynch and Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy.
Pretty expensive with all the competition out there. I have seen pretty good sites with good pros and excellent instruction charge less. Also, while the tiered membership is good, usually, the more expensive the tier, the less the startup fee. These guys do the opposite which I figure will not work for them. Also, who is going to pay $14 a month plus $24 to start for videos for micro limits. It’s tough making any money at the micro limits, no matter who you are. I don’t see these guys making it unless they offer something the others don’t or drop those starting fees. Good luck to them though.