Grinder School review
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One of the complaints you’ll often hear about some of the larger online poker training sites is that their videos and instructors are a little out of touch with life at the low stakes. While low stakes and high stakes use the same deck and the same rule sheet, the dominant (and optimal) style of play can vary wildly by stake, as can the profile of your typical opponent. It was with this gap (presumably) in mind that GrinderSchool.com - a coaching site that focuses almost exclusively on micro to small stakes - was started.
Visit Grinder School.
Summary
Cost: $5-$20 per month, depending on plan
New Videos: Every weekday
Hand Replayer: No
Core Focus: Micro to low stakes
Notable Pros: n/a
Video Quality: High
Download / Streaming: Both available
Archive Size: 50+ videos
Overall Ranking
Grinder School gets an overall score of 6/10 from the PTP Staff.
Sit and Go Coverage
A dozen or two videos, primarily focused on normal blind levels, with a couple of turbos in the mix. Buy ins covered are $22 and under.
MTT Coverage
Still growing in this area - just a handful as of this review, with a mix of micro to small stakes buy in videos.
Cash coverage
This is where the site has the largest amount of their video content. There’s a good mix of limits and formats, although not much coverage for heads up cash play. You’ll find videos dealing with everything from .01/.02 to .50/$1, with an even split, more or less, between full ring and six-max.
Non-holdem game coverage
Not much here.
Pros
The specific focus of this site is definitely its biggest advantage. Lower stakes do play significantly differently than higher stakes, and micro-stakes play differently still. While good poker players can certainly adapt to any level, there’s something to be said for getting advice from someone who plays those stakes every day, as they’re likely to have a familiarity that breeds a unique insight.
The forums for the site offer dedicated threads for each videos, and video authors seem readily available to discuss specific hands, answer questions, and so on.
The low price of the service, along with the lack of an upfront fee, is an attractive feature. The variety of payment / access plans should make it easy for a range of budgets to find an affordable option. The site offers a prorated refund guarantee for all subscribers.
Cons
A majority of my complaints stem from the relative newness of the site, and I’m sure most of the quirks will be resolved with a little time and experience. The archive size is small compared to most sites, and the videos, while offering fundamentally solid advice, at times feel a bit unpolished (as do many of the early cardrunners videos).
The articles section is underdeveloped, with only a few entries covering basic topics. GrinderSchool lacks some of the bells and whistles of the larger sites, such as a replayer function or a structured curriculum ala PXF. You also won’t find a ton of promotions or subscriber bonuses, but then again, that’s part of how they keep the price low.
There’s a lack of author info, especially for tournament instructors, where some OPR or Sharkscope stats would be a nice touch for users who might want confirmation that instructors are credible sources.
Overall
This feels like a work-in-progress in some spots, but that shouldn’t detract from the value for the audience GrinderSchool is trying to attract. Micro to low stakes players who are looking to see how regular players in their game deal with scenarios common to those limits can certainly benefit from checking out the free videos and deciding from there.
